Most Streamed Spotify Songs of All Time
We can’t help but be a little bit proud here at Bodog when it comes to Canada’s incredible success in the music industry. We played a role in that success during the mid-Aughts with our Bodog Music label, and here we are today with Canadian acts taking up three of the spots on the top 10 most streamed Spotify songs of all time – including the biggest hit of them all at No. 1.
Spoiler alert: It’s “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd. But you probably knew that already, given the billions and billions of times this song has been streamed on the free world’s leading music provider. And that doesn’t even include official re-mixes like this one by Major Lazer.
There’s plenty of Canadian talent elsewhere on this list. Let’s start at No. 10 and work our way to the top; these rankings (and song titles, some of which appear differently on their albums) are straight from Spotify and accurate as we go to press, but you never know – maybe “Starboy” by The Weeknd and Daft Punk will have moved up from No. 12 by the time you read this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-veIBimasx0
10. “Believer” – Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons is one of those pop rock bands that sometimes gets passed off as indie or alternative, but no – this Las Vegas band is all about earworms. It must be working; “Believer,” from their third studio album Evolve (2017), is one of four Imagine Dragons tunes to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify. No other band has ever done that.
9. “Closer” – The Chainsmokers, Halsey
According to Forbes, the Chainsmokers (Americans Alex Pall and Drew Taggart) were the world’s most highly-paid DJs in 2019. Then they caught a bit of flack for hosting shows in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But all was well in 2016 when they collaborated with Halsey for “Closer,” which became the first No. 1 on the Billboard 100 for both artists.
8. “STAY (with Justin Bieber)” – The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieber
Our first Canadian entrant on the most streamed Spotify songs of all time is actually the sidepiece in this number – Australian singer-songwriter The Kid LAROI co-wrote this song with London, Ontario’s own Justin Bieber, along with assorted music producers from across the globe. “STAY” won the ARIA Award for Best Pop Release of 2021, and Song of the Year at their 2022 awards show, proving once again that “years” don’t mean anything at these events.
7. “One Dance” – Drake, Wizkid, Kyla
Aubrey Drake Graham has done quite well for himself since the days of Degrassi: The Next Generation. He’s the most-streamed artist at Spotify for the entire 2010s, with the most songs (294 and counting) ever to hit the Billboard Hot 100. “One Dance” is a dancehall number off his 2016 album Views, which also gave the world “Hotline Bling,” and features guest vocals from Nigerian afrobeats artist Wizkid and British house music singer Kyla.
6. “rockstar (feat. 21 Savage)” – Post Malone, 21 Savage
Post Malone may have been the leading voice for disaffected American youth in the late 2010s – although not everyone appreciates a white man from Syracuse, New York spitting hip-hop. Having 21 Savage on board helps – you may know him better from his collaborations with Drake. “rockstar” was released in 2017, the lead single from Malone’s second album Beerbongs & Bentleys. Reviews were mixed, but this song was Grammy-nominated for both Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Performance.
5. “Sunflower – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” – Post Malone, Swae Lee
One year later, Malone was back on the charts with the single from the soundtrack of that massive 2018 animated Spider-Man film – watch for his cameo as “Brooklyn Bystander.” The critics were much happier with this number, and for good reason; it’s a catchier tune than most of Malone’s previous work, and it has American rapper Swae Lee riding shotgun. Still, it wasn’t enough to earn the Record of the Year Grammy (or Best Pop Duo/Group Duo Performance) after getting nominated.
4. “Someone You Loved” – Lewis Capaldi
And now for something completely different. Lewis Capaldi is Scotland’s answer to Adele. It was all too easy to mash up “Someone You Loved” (from Capaldi’s 2018 EP Breach) with “Someone Like You.” If you love heartbreak, this is your jam: It spent seven weeks at the top of the UK charts before finally reaching No. 1 stateside, and while it didn’t earn Song of the Year at the Grammys, it did win the same prize at the 2020 Brit Awards.
3. “Dance Monkey” – Tones And I
You know you’ve made it big when you knock Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” off the charts. That’s what Australian singer Toni Watson did in her guise as Tones And I. “Dance Monkey” spent 24 weeks Down Under at No. 1, beating Crosby’s 1943 classic by two weeks. It also reached No. 1 in Canada and more than 30 other countries. You can find this song on her debut 2019 EP The Kids Are Coming.
2. “Shape of You” – Ed Sheeran
When the big one hits, only two things will remain: cockroaches, and this barely-there song by Britain’s biggest export since James Bond. Sheeran was already a multi-platinum pop star when he released “Shape of You” as the first single off his 2017 album Divide (stylized as ÷); it was the world’s biggest-selling album that year, and the song – which takes elements from TLC’s 1999 hit “No Scrubs” – was No. 1 all-time at Spotify until a certain Canadian crashed the party last December.
1. “Blinding Lights” – The Weeknd
It happened on New Year’s Eve, to be precise. That was the day “Blinding Lights” passed “Shape of You” with 3.335 billion streams, leaving Sheeran and his puny 3.333 billion streams in the dust. Will our Canadian hero end up with multiple entries on a future version of this list? The world can only hope.
So there you have it. A Canadian sitting proud at the top of the most streamed Spotify songs of all time. We want to know who your favourite Canadian artist is ever. Let us know on X.