The Weeknd breaks another record with “Blinding Lights”.
The Weeknd continues to earn new accolades with his record-breaking song “Blinding Lights” from the 2020 album “After Hours“. The track has now surpassed 3 billion streams on the music streaming platform Spotify, and it is the fastest ever to do it. It is only the second song to surpass 3 Billion on the platform, the first being Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You”.
.@theweeknd‘s “Blinding Lights” becomes the fastest song in history to surpass 3 billion streams on Spotify.
— chart data (@chartdata) June 15, 2022
The song recently surpassed 10 million sales in the US, and it became the Canadian artist’s third track to get RIAA Diamond Certifications, after “The Hills” and “Starboy”. The track topped the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2020 and spent four weeks on the top. Last year, the song also made history as it became the new #1 song on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of All Time on the Hot 100 Chart.
“I feel like I’ve been making that record for a decade,” he said in the interview with Billboard. “[There were] songs that transcended into pop culture, like “The Hills.” But by the time “Blinding Lights” happened, I was 10 years into my career and established as a music figure in the industry already. So I’m glad “Blinding Lights” happened when it happened as opposed to it being the first single I’ve ever dropped. That’d be scary for me. I don’t think [the success of “Blinding Lights”] has hit me yet. I try not to dwell on it too much. I just count my blessings, and I’m just grateful.”
The After Hours cut, according to Billboard, eclipsed Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive,” which went 87 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 between 2012 and 2014. “Blinding Lights” debuted at No. 11 in December 2019 and spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning April 4, 2020. With 43 weeks in the top five, 57 weeks in the top ten, 79 weeks in the top 20 and 84 weeks in the top 40, the song became the longest-charting single in the Hot 100’s top five. It is presently at No. 18.
