It’s Official: The Weeknd Named Most Popular Artist by Guinness World Records

Celebrated music artist The Weeknd has officially been named the world’s most popular artist by Guinness World Records. After recently reaching the 111-million monthly listeners mark on Spotify, the Canadian-born singer became the first act in any genre to accomplish the feat.

To put his stunning rise and subsequent popularity into perspective, the next artist on the list of the streamer’s monthly listeners list is Miley Cyrus (who rakes in 82.4 million spins), followed by Shakira (81.6 million), Ariana Grande (80.6 million), Taylor Swift (80.2 million), Rihanna (78.5 million), and Ed Sheeran (77.5 million). The Weeknd’s numbers not only stand out among his peers, it greatly exceeds them.

The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, joins the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, as the only artist to have No.1 singles from three separate albums. The Weeknd’s track “Die For You (Remix),” featuring Grande, steadily climbed the charts before taking the top spot.

Since his memorable, headlining stint at the Super Bowl halftime show two years ago, The Weeknd’s fans have made sure that his music continues to dominate. His 2020 single, “Blinding Lights,” has achieved the most Spotify streams in history while also being the longest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100. With over 90 weeks on the charts, the song itself is headed towards a Guinness World Record of its own.

Recently, The Weeknd dominated the Juno Awards, Canada’s version of the Grammys, walking away with four awards: artist of the year, song of the year, songwriter of the year, and pop album of the year. The wins come on the heels of a long legal battle over his 2018 track “Call Out My Name.” The song, from his My Dear Melancholy album, was said to have infringed upon a song entitled “VibeKing” produced by Suniel Fox and Henry Strange. Earlier this week, a settlement was reached.