The Weeknd Is Officially The “Most Popular Artist”, According To The Guinness World Record

The Weeknd shattered a number of records throughout his illustrious career but according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Canadian star is officially the biggest artist across the globe. According to statistics, largely made up of unmatched streaming numbers, The Weeknd is now the “most popular artist” worldwide. The Guinness World Records bestowed the title upon the After Hours singer this morning, weeks after Spotify named The Weeknd as the only artist to surpass the 100M listener mark.

In late February, the streaming platform revealed the Weeknd as the sole artist who ever reached this benchmark. However, he’s accrued even more followers since. Guinness reports that the “Starboy” artist’s streaming followers boosted to 111.4M since he reached the milestone in late February. The Weeknd leads the pack by a landslide with Miley Cyrus just behind him at 82.4M monthly listeners and Shakira in third place with 81.6M. Both of these accomplishments have been documented as two separate records in the Guinness Books.

The Weeknd Makes History In Guinness World Records

If numbers are any indication, then The Weeknd will go down as the greatest of all time. It’s an interesting feat, especially since he just matched Michael Jackson’s record as the only two male soloists to have numerous #1 hits on the Hot 100 from three separate albums. This came after the release of the “Die For You” remix ft. Ariana Grande, which spread across TikTok and propelled to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 a week after its release. Guinness credits the song’s success and massive streaming numbers for boosting The Weeknd to the title of most popular artist. 

Besides The Weeknd’s world record, he has a few projects in the world right now. Along with the controversial HBO series The Idol, which has been under scrutiny following a report from Rolling Stone, he’ll make his feature film debut in his first starring role, where he’ll also serve as a writer and producer. Little information surrounding the movie is available but perhaps, we’ll find him breaking another Guinness World Record when he makes his official foray in the film world. 

The Weeknd Is ‘Statistically’ The Most Popular Artist In The World, According To Guinness World Records

The Weeknd has his hands full with new music, his controversial HBO series The Idol, his concert film, and more. Meanwhile, he’s been breaking records left and right following last year’s release of the seismic album Dawn FM.

In January, the “Blinding Lights” performer became the first artist in history to cross 96 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Then, in the following month, he became the first artist in Spotify History to reach 100 million monthly listeners. So it comes as no surprise that Guinness World Records have deemed him “statistically the most popular musician on the planet.”

“There’s two new world records for @theweeknd as he has become the first artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners on @Spotify,” they wrote on Twitter. In their article, they noted that “no one else even comes close,” with Miley Cyrus trailing behind with 82.4 million monthly listeners on the app.

Following Cyrus is Shakira with 81.6 million, Ariana Grande with 80.6 million, Taylor Swift with 80.2 million, Rihanna with 78.5 million, and Ed Sheeran with 77.5 million.

Last month, The Weeknd teamed up with pop powerhouse Grande for a “Die For You” remix, which definitely helped boost both of their streaming numbers since the 2016 song has been experiencing a resurgence on the charts due to TikTok.