The Weeknd Becomes First Artist to Reach 100 Million Monthly Listeners on Spotify
The Weeknd has become the first artist in Spotify history to hit 100 million monthly listeners, the streaming platform confirmed today.
The news was first shared via Spotify’s social media where the streaming giant wrote, “It’s official: On February 27, The Weeknd became the first artist in Spotify History to reach 100 Million monthly listeners.”
More from Variety
At the time of this article’s publication, Miley Cyrus holds the No. 2 spot for most monthly listeners on the app with over 82 million. Taylor Swift comes in at No. 3 boasting 80 million, followed by Rihanna who has 79 million.
The achievement comes on the heels of the release of his and Ariana Grande’s “Die For You” remix, the duet version of the chart-topping single which currently sits at No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The song has enjoyed a resurgence on the chart for the last seven weeks, with a peak position of No. 6, though the original track was a part of the Weeknd’s 2016 album “Starboy.”
The “Die For You” remix is the collaborators’ fourth joint release following “Love Me Harder” (2014), “Off the Table” (2020) and the remix of “Save Your Tears” (2021). Grande originally teased the release of a remix via TikTok last week where she showed herself working on her portion of the track in the studio.
“Wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14-hour day on set. This certain exception had to be made….” she said in the caption, referencing her current stint portraying Glinda for the movie adaptation of “Wicked.”
The Weekend has released five studio albums in the last 10 years, his first being 2013’s “Kiss Land” and his latest being 2022’s “Dawn FM,” a conceptual record and his most critically acclaimed full-length release to date. He released “The Dawn FM Experience” on Amazon’s Prime video as a visual counterpart to the album.
He most recently premiered “The Weeknd: Live at SoFi Stadium,” a concert special filmed during his “After Hours ‘Til Dawn Tour,” on HBO Max where he is also set to release his first drama series later this year called “The Idol.” Conceptualized alongside “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson, “The Idol” is said to follow “a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult, who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.”
In August, HBO gave a first in-depth look at the series with a trailer that saw some of the cast in character including the Weeknd, Lily-Rose Depp, Mike Dean, Jennie Ruby Jane and Troye Sivan, among others.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.