The Weeknd has been crowned the most popular artist on the planet, according to Spotify data.
The Guinness World Records has compiled streaming data from the globe’s biggest stars, and the ‘Blinding Lights’ hitmaker has come out on top with a whopping 111.4 million monthly listeners.
Miley Cyrus is in second place with 82.4 million monthly listeners
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).
It comes after the 33-year-old superstar – whose real name is Abel Tesfaye – trumped Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’ after ‘Blinding Lights’ became the most-streamed song of all time on the streaming platform.
The report comes after the Canadian artist’s ‘Call Out My Name’ copyright infringement case was settled.
The ‘Creepin” singer and co-defendants Nicolás Jaar and Frank Dukes were sued by producers Suniel Fox and Henry Strange in 2021, who claimed the track from the megastar’s 2018 debut EP ‘My Dear Melancholy’ was “strikingly and/or substantially similar, if not identical” to their unreleased track ‘Vibeking’.
However, on March 17, Fox and Strange’s attorneys filed papers confirming both sides had reached a settlement, meaning the case is likely to be dismissed.
The filing, as seen by Rolling Stone, read: “Because the parties are still in the process of formalising, executing, and consummating that settlement, Plaintiff respectfully requests that the Court take all dates off calendar and set a date in 30 days for the parties to file a joint status report if the case has not already been dismissed.”
Jaar had insisted that he had no hand in co-writing the track as The Weeknd used an interpolation of his 2016 song ‘Killing Time’.
Fox and Strange – who make up the duo Epikker – argued that the songs contained “quantitatively and qualitatively similar material in their respective lead guitar and vocal hooks, including melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements distinctive to ‘Vibeking’.”
Despite ‘Vibeking’ never being released, the pair claimed the ‘Die For You’ hitmaker had heard their song.