Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty
Well, it’s official, The Weeknd is the GOAT.
Okay, maybe he’s not. But the man did achieve a GOAT level honor as data gathered by the Guinness World Records suggest the Canadian crooner is the most popular artist on the planet today. Beating out the likes of Drake, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and whoever else you thought might’ve been today’s biggest musician. The “Blinding Lights” singer proved to be the most beloved artist in this digital era as fans have streamed his catalogue way more than anyone else you may call the GOAT.
“No one else even comes close,” the record-keeping organization declared Monday.
Guinness argues its case by citing the “Starboy” performer’s Spotify stats, including an unmatched 111.4 million monthly listeners. The 33-year-old Grammy winner has nearly 30 million more listeners than second-placed Miley Cyrus, which also puts him far ahead of Shakira, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Rihanna.
Miley Cyrus was in second place?? Who knew? No shots.
Now that he knows he’s that dude in 2023, you can expect The Weeknd to strut with all kinds of swagger when he hits the road this Summer for his After Hours Til Dawn tour which kicks off in Portugal in June and returns to North America in September.
While we knew The Weeknd was one of the biggest artists in the game today, we didn’t know he was actually Guinness World Records huge. It would be interesting to see how many records he would’ve moved had streaming not been a thing and fans still had to buy CD’s and vinyl records to get their groove on to the falsetto professional. Maybe five times platinum? Maybe diamond? We’ll never know, but what we do know is that the man is doing his thing, and we can’t be mad at that.
What do y’all think of The Weeknd being the most popular music artist on the planet? Let us know in the comments section below.
