The Weeknd breaks Spotify record with 5 billion streams of “Blinding Lights”

The Weeknd has made history again, as his song Blinding Lights is now the first song ever to reach 5 billion streams on Spotify. This is a new record for the platform. It is big news, as no song has ever achieved that number on Spotify before. To put it in simple terms, a record with Spotify is when a song is played worldwide. Blinding Lights now has 5 billion of those streams. His fans are truly happy and are celebrating this moment.

For her fans, it is not just 5 billion streams; it also means "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd is the most-streamed song ever played on Spotify. Before this, it was the record holder for lower levels, such as the record for four billion streams, three billion streams, and two billion streams.

What does this mean for The Weeknd?

Spotify is one of the biggest music services in the world. So having a song get billions of streams means a huge number of people must have been listening to it every day. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd did not just get 5 billion streams at once. It was able to get them over time. The song was continually streamed years later, often over and over again.

At one point, Blinding Lights was the fastest song ever to reach 2 billion plays. Then it broke another record by being the fastest to reach 3 billion. In early 2024, it became the first song to hit 4 billion. And now, in 2025, it is the first to pass 5 billion.

A useful chart site, ChartMasters, showed that as of August 30, 2025, Blinding Lights had nearly 5 billion, just under that mark, about 4.998 billion plays. Then, this milestone was crossed soon after.

It matters to note that other songs, like Ed Sheeran’s "Shape of You," had also reached 4 billion plus. But Blinding Lights has gone further, now standing alone at the top. Also, beyond Spotify, the song is a best-selling single globally. By some measures, it has the most "stream-equivalent" sales, 5.31 billion units, according to the music industry body IFPI.

Spotify has a "Billions Club" to mark songs with very high play counts. As of early 2025, only a few songs were in the 4-billion club, including "Blinding Lights" and "Shape of You." It is a small, exclusive group.

More Context and what comes next?

"Blinding Lights" was released in 2019 as part of The Weeknd’s album After Hours. It hit number one in many countries and stayed in the top 10 in the US for a whole year, longer than any other song. It also got huge awards and recognitions.

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Over the years, many songs have been popular for a while and then faded away. But "Blinding Lights" has stayed strong. It is still being played millions of times every day, years after its release. That speaks to its lasting appeal. Reaching 5 billion now makes The Weeknd’s record even bigger. It raises the bar for any artist who wants to beat it in the future. For now, no song has done what "Blinding Lights" has done.

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