CLASSIFICATIONS

The 20 most played songs ever on Spotify

Spotify is one of the world's leading music streaming platforms and its charts can often give us an indication of the success of a song or album.

The list of the most listened songs, in particular, is often subject to change, and in the first months of 2023, there was a major overtaking at the top of the chart. 

At the top of the most streamed songs, in fact, there is no longer Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You', which for a long time seemed unapproachable, but this is not the only song to have changed position in the Top 20. Here is the ranking of the most played songs on Spotify.

Getty Images
The 20 most played songs ever on Spotify
Spotify is one of the world's leading music streaming platforms and its charts can often give us an indication of the success of a song or album. The list of the most listened songs, in particular, is often subject to change, and in the first months of 2023, there was a major overtaking at the top of the chart. At the top of the most streamed songs, in fact, there is no longer Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You', which for a long time seemed unapproachable, but this is not the only song to have changed position in the Top 20. Here is the ranking of the most played songs on Spotify.
Getty Images
20. Lucid Dreams - Juice WRLD (about 2 billion 223 million listens)
Opening the Top 20 is 'Lucid Dreams', the song that enabled Juice WRLD to achieve success. A year and a half after the song's release, however, the rapper died of a seizure due to a drug overdose: Juice WRLD had been 21 years old for six days.
Getty Images
19. Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa (about 2 billion 224 million ratings)
Released in November 2019, this song was praised by most music critics, especially as it symbolises Dua Lipa's artistic growth. In total, 'Don't Start Now' achieved 41 platinum and 5 diamond records (including 3 in Brazil).
Getty Images
18. As It Was - Harry Styles (about 2 billion 231 million listens)
The first single from the multi-award winning album 'Harry's House', this track received unanimous acclaim and within a year of its release it had entered the Top 20 most listened to songs of all time. 'As It Was' also earned the record for the most played track globally in a day on Spotify for a male artist, with over 16.1 million streams.
Getty Images
17. Lovely - Billie Eilish & Khalid (Approximately 2 billion 240 million listens)
In seventeenth position we find 'Lovely', a song released in 2018 and included in the soundtrack of the Netflix TV Series '13 Reasons Why'. To date, the song has achieved 41 platinum records and one diamond record.
Getty Images
16. Bad Guy - Billie Eilish (Approximately 2 billion 260 million listens)
Billie Eilish is on the charts again, this time with the song 'Bad Guy', which made her known to audiences around the world. The song won two Grammy Awards for Recording of the Year and Song of the Year. A curiosity: in an interview with Rolling Stone, Billie and her brother Finneas stated that they had incorporated the sound of a traffic light in Sydney into the base of the song, a sound recorded by the singer herself with her phone.
Getty Images
15. Say You Won't Let Go - James Arthur (Approximately 2 billion 331 million listens)
'Say You Won't Let Go' is one of the most famous songs by James Arthur, a singer who became famous after winning the ninth edition of The X Factor UK. The song has achieved a total of 53 platinum records (including 16 in Australia and 7 in Sweden), but also 4 diamond records (2 in Brazil, one in Canada and one in France).
Getty Images
14. Starboy - The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk (Approximately 2 billion 395 million listens)
'Starboy' was released in September 2016 as the first single taken from The Weeknd's same-named album. The song's video clip won an MTV Europe Music Award in the Best Video category.
Getty Images
13. Señorita - Camilla Cabello & Shawn Mendes (Approximately 2 billion 414 million listens)
Camilla Cabello and Shawn Mendes on their second collaboration scored an incredible worldwide success with 'Señorita'. The song's video clip won four nominations at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, in the categories of Best Collaboration, Best Set Design, Best Cinematography and Best Choreography, winning in the categories of Best Collaboration and Best Cinematography.
Getty Images
12. Heat Waves - Glass Animals (about 2 billion 418 million listens)
'Heat Waves' is the most successful song by the British indie rock band Glass Animals. The song became very popular thanks to TikTok and went 47 platinum and 3 diamond records.
Getty Images
11. Perfect - Ed Sheeran (about 2 billion 443 million listens)
Ed Sheeran stated that in writing 'Perfect', his goal was to make the best love song of his career, surpassing even 'Thinking Out Loud'. Besides the original version, there are two other versions of this song: 'Perfect Duet', sung with Beyoncé, and 'Perfect Symphony', performed with tenor Andrea Bocelli.
Getty Images
10. Believer - Imagine Dragons (about 2 billion 485 million listens)
'Believer' is the first single from Imagine Dragons' third album, 'Evolve'. The track stayed at the top position of Billboard's Rock Songs for 29 weeks in a row, but that's not enough: together with two other Imagine Dragons singles, 'Thunder' and 'Whatever It Takes', 'Believer' occupied the top 3 positions of the Rock Songs for 16 weeks in a row in 2018. In the video clip of the song, singer Dan Reynolds challenges actor Dolph Lundgren, who played the famous Ivan Drago in the film 'Rocky IV', to a boxing match.
Getty Images
9. Closer - The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey (about 2 billion 525 million listens)
The writing of 'Closer' was inspired by the song 'I Miss You' by Blink-182, so much so that the group is also mentioned in the song's lyrics. The song stayed at the top of the Billboard 100 chart for 12 weeks, earning it the title of longest-running single at number one during the year 2016.
Getty Images
8. Stay - The Kid Laroi feat. Justin Bieber (about 2 billion 534 million listens)
This is the second collaboration between The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber, following the track 'Unstable', contained on Bieber's album 'Justice'. 'Stay' was much more successful, however, being the second best-selling single globally during 2021 with a total of 2.07 billion streams accumulated.
Getty Images
7. One Dance - Drake feat. Wizkid & Kyla (about 2 billion 618 million listens)
'One Dance' features Nigerian singer Wizkid and British singer Kyla and is part of Drake's fourth studio album, 'Views'. The song achieved 56 platinum and 3 diamond records.
Getty Images
6. Sunflower - Post Malone & Swae Lee (about 2 billion 640 million listens)
'Sunflower' is part of the soundtrack to the animated film 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'. The track debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 100, becoming the fifth Top Ten song for Post Malone and the second for Swae Lee.
Getty Images
5. Rockstar - Post Malone feat. 21 Savage (about 2 billion 662 million listens)
In fifth position we find Post Malone again, this time with 'Rockstar', the first track taken from the singer's second studio album, called 'Beerbongs & Bentleys'. The song features British rapper 21 Savage.
Getty Images
4. Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi (2 billion 764 million listens)
'Someone You Loved' is the song that launched Lewis Capaldi's career: it was thanks to this song that the singer-songwriter became known to an international audience. The song was nominated at the 2020 Grammy Awards as Song of the Year, as well as at the BRIT Awards, where it triumphed in the same category.
Getty Images
3. Dance Monkey - Tones And I (about 2 billion 809 million ratings)
'Dance Monkey' holds a special record: it is in fact the most searched song ever on Shazam, being searched about 41 million times. The song has achieved extraordinary success worldwide, being certified with 77 platinum and 8 diamond discs.
Getty Images
2. Shape of You - Ed Sheeran (about 3 billion 464 million listens)
It no longer tops the chart of most listened to songs on Spotify, yet the success of 'Shape of You' remains universal. From 2017 until early 2023, the song was the most listened to song ever, and its success was certified with a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Solo Performance category.
Getty Images
1. Blinding Lights - The Weeknd (about 3 billion 555 million listens)
In first place is 'Blinding Lights' by The Weeknd. Released more than two years after 'Shape of You', the song has become the most listened song ever on Spotify, so much so that the Canadian singer-songwriter himself on Twitter wished his fans a happy 2023 by celebrating this achievement. Of course, this achievement does not mean that 'Blinding Lights' is the most listened song ever in general. For example, on YouTube there is no history: the official video of 'Shape of You' has 5.9 billion views, that of 'Blinding Lights' about 1.4 billion.
Informativa ai sensi della Direttiva 2009/136/CE: questo sito utilizza solo cookie tecnici necessari alla navigazione da parte dell'utente in assenza dei quali il sito non potrebbe funzionare correttamente.