The Weeknd Dethroned Ed Sheeran For the Most-Streamed Song on Spotify
For five years, Grammy-winning singer Ed Sheeran has reigned at the top of the Spotify charts with the most-streamed song on the platform of all time. But just as 2022 turned into 2023, Sheeran was dethroned from his position with the most-streamed song by hit-making performer The Weeknd.
Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Shape of You’ was the most-streamed song on Spotify for 5 years
Drake‘s smash single “One Dance” became the first song in Spotify history to register one billion streams in December 2016, and in September 2017, Ed Sheeran surpassed the song in streaming numbers with his hit song “Shape of You.” The song became the first song on Spotify to hit two billion streams in December 2018, and three billion streams in December 2021.
“Shape of You” remained the most-streamed song on Spotify for another year, ending 2022 with 3.332 billion streams.
The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ replaced Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ as the most-streamed song on Spotify
“Shape of You” spent a total of five years as the most-streamed song on Spotify. But according to Chart Data, The Weeknd’s 2019 smash single “Blinding Lights” — the only other song in history to reach three billion streams on Spotify — overtook “Shape of You” on New Year’s Eve. The second single from his 2020 album After Hours, “Blinding Lights” boasts 3.334 billion streams on Spotify today.
In late 2021, “Blinding Lights” earned a special distinction for its massive popularity: it was crowned the biggest Billboard Hot 100 single of all time by the music publication. It has spent over 100 weeks on the chart, and throughout that time, it set a new record for the most weeks in the top five of the chart (with 43 weeks) and the top 10 of the chart (with 57 weeks). As a result, it replaced Chubby Checker’s 1960 hit “The Twist” as the biggest Billboard Hot 100 single of all time.
The Weeknd took to Twitter on New Year’s Eve, hours before the end of a stellar 2022 that saw the release of his hit album Dawn FM, to celebrate “Blinding Lights”‘ domination of Spotify. “Happy new years to ‘Blinding Lights,'” the Super Bowl halftime show performer wrote. “The most streamed song of all time tonight.”
The Weeknd and Ed Sheeran have collaborated before
The Weeknd and Ed Sheeran are both music powerhouses with millions of fans around the world, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the two artists have worked together in the past. In 2015, Sheeran appeared as a featured guest on “Dark Times” on The Weeknd’s breakout sophomore album, Beauty Behind the Madness.
In 2021, Ed Sheeran came under fire for seemingly lifting The Weeknd’s After Hours aesthetic for his own music. According to Pop Buzz, some fans online noted the similarities between the promo for Sheeran’s new single “Bad Habits” and the dark and horror present in The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” visuals.
Sheeran is gearing up to release his sixth studio album in 2023 and has been on his worldwide +–=÷× Tour (the Mathematics Tour) since April 2022; the tour is scheduled to take him around Oceania and North American in 2023.
