The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is still the king of Spotify, sitting at 5.26 billion streams right now. It’s the first song ever to break past 5 billion plays on the platform.
Seven songs have now crossed 4 billion streams, which shows just how much music streaming has grown.
This article gives you the complete list, shows which songs might break in soon, and explains exactly why these tracks keep getting played over and over again.
Top 30 Most Streamed Songs on Spotify
The top 30 shows you the full picture of which songs define the streaming era. Here’s every track that’s broken into the 3 billion club on Spotify:
| Rank | Song Title | Artist(s) | Total Streams (Billions) | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blinding Lights | The Weeknd | 5.26 | 2019 |
| 2 | Shape of You | Ed Sheeran | 4.76 | 2017 |
| 3 | Sweater Weather | The Neighbourhood | 4.36 | 2012 |
| 4 | Starboy | The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk | 4.35 | 2016 |
| 5 | As It Was | Harry Styles | 4.23 | 2022 |
| 6 | Someone You Loved | Lewis Capaldi | 4.21 | 2018 |
| 7 | Sunflower | Post Malone & Swae Lee | 4.11 | 2018 |
| 8 | One Dance | Drake ft. Wizkid & Kyla | 4.02 | 2016 |
| 9 | Perfect | Ed Sheeran | 3.82 | 2017 |
| 10 | Stay | The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber | 3.79 | 2021 |
| 11 | Believer | Imagine Dragons | 3.73 | 2017 |
| 12 | Heat Waves | Glass Animals | 3.65 | 2020 |
| 13 | Lovely | Billie Eilish & Khalid | 3.64 | 2018 |
| 14 | Closer | The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey | 3.59 | 2016 |
| 15 | I Wanna Be Yours | Arctic Monkeys | 3.58 | 2013 |
| 16 | The Night We Met | Lord Huron | 3.58 | 2015 |
| 17 | Yellow | Coldplay | 3.56 | 2000 |
| 18 | Say You Won’t Let Go | James Arthur | 3.52 | 2016 |
| 19 | Something Just Like This | The Chainsmokers & Coldplay | 3.50 | 2017 |
| 20 | Riptide | Vance Joy | 3.49 | 2013 |
| 21 | Birds Of A Feather | Billie Eilish | 3.45 | 2024 |
| 22 | Another Love | Tom Odell | 3.42 | 2012 |
| 23 | Die With A Smile | Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars | 3.39 | 2024 |
| 24 | Dance Monkey | Tones And I | 3.39 | 2019 |
| 25 | Take Me To Church | Hozier | 3.34 | 2013 |
| 26 | Counting Stars | OneRepublic | 3.32 | 2013 |
| 27 | Rockstar | Post Malone ft. 21 Savage | 3.32 | 2017 |
| 28 | Photograph | Ed Sheeran | 3.29 | 2014 |
| 29 | Every Breath You Take | The Police | 3.25 | 1983 |
| 30 | Señorita | Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello | 3.24 | 2019 |
Keep an eye on the lower half of this list; tracks like “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” are climbing so fast they’ll likely hit the top 10 by summer.
Each song here got big for different reasons. Some blew up on TikTok years after release, others dominated playlists from day one.
Why This Song Became the Most Streamed on Spotify
“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, listen here on Spotify, became the most-streamed song in history for three specific reasons.
- First, the 80s synth-pop sound gave people instant nostalgia without feeling dated.
- Second, it went viral on TikTok with the “Blinding Lights Challenge” right when everyone was stuck at home in 2020.
- Third, it dominated radio and playlists for over two years straight, which is basically unheard of for a single song.
The track crossed 5 billion streams in August 2025 and now sits at 5.26 billion, with no one catching up anytime soon.

The Weeknd’s vocal melody sticks in your head after one listen, and Spotify’s algorithm keeps feeding it to new listeners because the skip rate stays incredibly low compared to other tracks.
Most Streamed Artist on Spotify (2026)
The artist rankings show which musicians dominate the entire platform, not just individual songs. Here’s the current top 10 most-streamed artists based on their total catalog streams:
| Rank | Artist | Lead Streams (Billions) | All-Credits (Billions) | Monthly Listeners (Millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drake | 98.3 | 127.3 | 86.6 |
| 2 | Taylor Swift | 118.6 | 119.8 | 107.3 |
| 3 | Bad Bunny | 102.8 | 114.1 | 83.7 |
| 4 | The Weeknd | 81.5 | 91.2 | 122.0 |
| 5 | Justin Bieber | 55.3 | 71.1 | 102.8 |
| 6 | Ariana Grande | 60.9 | 64.7 | 123.8 |
| 7 | Travis Scott | 43.2 | 62.2 | 60.1 |
| 8 | Ed Sheeran | 57.6 | 62.2 | 101.5 |
| 9 | Eminem | 54.6 | 61.8 | 72.3 |
| 10 | Kanye West | 51.5 | 61.1 | 66.9 |
While Drake holds the “All-Credits” crown with his endless features, Taylor Swift is the undisputed queen of solo power as she has 118 billion lead streams.
Ariana Grande and The Weeknd are currently fighting for the highest monthly listener count. Bad Bunny sits in third place. His success proves that non-English music is the main engine driving global streaming in 2026.
Most Streamed Songs on Spotify by Year
Each year produces different winners based on what sounds and trends dominated that specific period.
Here’s the song that pulled the most annual streams for each year:
| Year | Song | Artist | Annual Streams (Millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Señorita | Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello | 2,147 |
| 2020 | Blinding Lights | The Weeknd | 2,693 |
| 2021 | STAY | The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber | 2,508 |
| 2022 | As It Was | Harry Styles | 2,214 |
| 2023 | Flowers | Miley Cyrus | 1,891 |
| 2024 | BIRDS OF A FEATHER | Billie Eilish | 2,140 |
| 2025 | Die With A Smile | Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars | 2,108 |
“Blinding Lights” still holds the record for most streams in a single year, which it hit during 2020’s lockdown period. The 2025 winner is particularly interesting because “Die With A Smile” held Spotify’s global #1 spot for 201 consecutive days.
Most Streamed Non-English Song on Spotify
Spanish completely dominates the non-English streaming world, but other languages are starting to break through.
Here’s the current top 10 non-English tracks:
| Rank | Song | Artist | Language | Streams (Billions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Despacito | Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee | Spanish | 3.12 |
| 2 | LA CANCIÓN | Bad Bunny & J Balvin | Spanish | 2.45 |
| 3 | DÁKITI | Bad Bunny & Jhayco | Spanish | 2.41 |
| 4 | Who | Jimin | Korean | 2.22 |
| 5 | Me Porto Bonito | Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone | Spanish | 2.18 |
| 6 | Tití Me Preguntó | Bad Bunny | Spanish | 1.99 |
| 7 | Ojitos Lindos | Bad Bunny & Bomba Estéreo | Spanish | 1.89 |
| 8 | La Bachata | Manuel Turizo | Spanish | 1.87 |
| 9 | Gata Only | FloyyMenor | Spanish | 1.81 |
| 10 | Yonaguni | Bad Bunny | Spanish | 1.76 |
“Despacito” made history as the first non-English song to cross 2 billion streams, and in late 2025, it became the first to pass 3 billion.
While that record is impressive, the real story is Bad Bunny. He has six separate songs in the top 10, doubling his previous record. This is a feat no other artist has ever come close to achieving.
How Spotify Counts Streams
The basic rules are simpler than you’d think, but Spotify has specific thresholds that determine what actually counts as a “stream” for artists and their royalty payments.
Here’s exactly when Spotify registers a stream:
- The song must play for at least 30 seconds to count.
- Skip before 30 seconds equals zero streams recorded.
- Replaying the same song immediately still counts each time.
- Premium and free users both contribute equally to stream counts.
- Offline plays sync and count when the device reconnects to the internet.
While free and premium users both count toward the total stream number, premium plays generate significantly higher royalty payments for the artists. This distinction is why artists often push for fans to subscribe to the paid tier.
Conclusion: Blinding Lights By The Weeknd Is The Most Streamed Song on Spotify
The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” has locked down its spot as the most-streamed song in Spotify history, and the 500 million stream lead over Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” means nobody’s catching up anytime soon.
These numbers show that people around the world love songs with either nostalgic sounds, emotional honesty, or TikTok moments (best if you have all three).
The real question now is whether Billie Eilish’s “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” or Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With A Smile” will break into the Top 10 by December 2026. Start watching those numbers if you want to win music debates later.
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FAQs
Both “As It Was” by Harry Styles and “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi are at 4.20 billion streams right now, tied for fifth place all-time.
The Weeknd has the #1 spot with “Blinding Lights” at 5.24 billion streams, making him the first artist to cross 5 billion with one song.
Many songs passed 3 billion, including “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran (3.79B), “Stay” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber (3.77B), and Jung Kook’s “Seven” (2.75B).
“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd is the #1 most-streamed song ever on Spotify, with over 5.24 billion streams as of January 2026.
Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” holds the 24-hour record with 17.4 million streams on release day, though big new releases keep threatening that record.
