The Weeknd Makes History: Sets Guinness World Record For Most Popular Artiste
Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, has established a new Guinness World Record as the world’s most popular artiste.
According to Guinness World Records, the Canadian singer is now statistically the most popular musician on the planet, with no one else coming close.
The Weeknd has smashed two world records in music streaming: he has the most monthly Spotify listeners and is the first artiste to exceed 100 million monthly Spotify listeners. On Spotify, he currently has 111.4 million monthly listeners, whereas Miley Cyrus has 82.4 million monthly listeners in second place.
He is also comfortably ahead of Shakira (81.6 million), Ariana Grande (80.6 million), Taylor Swift (80.2 million), Rihanna (78.5 million), and his closest male challenger, Ed Sheeran (77.5 million).
There’s two new world records for @theweeknd as he has become the first artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners on @Spotify 👏https://t.co/Z2zCtVay8n
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) March 20, 2023
The Weeknd’s rising streaming stats are the result of his “Die For You” remix, which included Ariana Grande and went viral on TikTok.
The song landed at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming The Weeknd and Grande’s ninth number-one single. Grande previewed the song prior to its release by releasing a TikTok video of herself in the studio with the caption, “wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14-hour day on set.” “This certain exception had to be made.”
The Weeknd’s Guinness World Records achievement is not his first. For his album “Beauty Behind The Madness,” he received two certifications in 2016: one for the most streamed album on Spotify in 2015 and another for the most continuous weeks in the UK top 75 chart.
Before signing with Republic Records in 2012, the Toronto-born Ethiopian began his career in 2009 by anonymously uploading R&B songs to YouTube that displayed his dark lyrics and musical ability. Two years later, he co-founded theXO record label and released the “House of Balloons,” “Thursday, and “Echoes of Silence” mixtapes.
His accolades include four Grammy Awards, twenty Billboard Music Awards, twenty-two Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, and several nominations for an Academy Award.
Recently, The Weeknd received four Juno Awards, including artiste of the year (for the fourth time), songwriter of the year, single of the year for “Sacrifice” for a record-tying third time, and pop album of the year for “Dawn FM.”
“Blinding Lights” from The Weeknd’s fourth album, “After Hours“, remains the most streamed track on Spotify, with over 3.4 billion streams as of February 2023. The song ousted Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” which had held the top spot since September 2017.
Source – Tru News Report
