It’s official: The Weeknd is the most popular artist in the world. The singer-songwriter, whose real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, is statistically the most popular musician on the planet, according to the Guinness World Records (GWR), better known as the Guinness Book.
“Nobody else comes close,” the organization said in a statement earlier this week.
The 33-year-old Canadian artist has set two new Guinness World Records titles. He currently has the highest number of monthly listeners on Spotify with 111.4 million as of March 20th. He also became the first artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners.
The Weeknd’s record-breaking statistics will be bad news for Swifties, Sheerios and Beliebers – more precisely fans of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber – because their idols are behind the Canadian.
Miley Cyrus is The Weeknd’s closest competitor, with 82.4 million monthly listeners, according to GWR. Next comes Shakira (81.6 million), then Ariana Grande (80.6 million), Taylor Swift (80.2 million) and Rihanna (78.5 million). The closest male competitor is Ed Sheeran (77.5 million), GWR reports.
The Weeknd’s growth was driven in part by TikTok, after his remix of “Die for You” featuring Ariana Grande went viral on the platform, according to GWR. The track reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 – The Weeknd’s seventh time at number one. The original “Die for You” was released in 2016 on The Weeknd’s “Starboy” album.
The Weeknd is no stranger to GWR. In 2016, he won an award for most streamed album on Spotify, and another for most consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 by a male solo artist.
(Posted by Carolina Farias)
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
