The Weeknd just made chart history. The Canadian superstar’s smash hit, “Blinding Lights”, is now the first song to ever spend an entire year in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Ever since the iconic singles chart was first established on August 4th, 1958, there’s never been a song that’s remained in the Top 10 for a full 52 weeks, until now. Sure, the artist born Abel Tesfaye didn’t get the Grammy nomination he was hoping for, but the enduring success of “Blinding Lights” is arguably a more historic feat.
Interestingly, the After Hours single didn’t look like a runaway success when it was first unveiled. The Weeknd released the tune on November 29th, 2019 as the second single for his album rollout. However, it only debuted at No. 11 on the Hot 100 during its first week, and then it plummeted 41 slots to No. 52 in its second week.
For an artist of The Weeknd’s scale, that early performance wasn’t promising. However, 12 weeks later, the song took on a new life and peaked at No. 10 on the Hot 100, and once After Hours arrived in full on March 20th, the track became the obvious hit and has since evolved into a global sensation that seemingly cannot be stopped.
Along with the Billboard record, the recent Superbowl Halftime star also earned the 2020 IFPI Global Digital Single Award for “Blinding Lights”, meaning that it was the best-selling single of the year across digital downloads and ad-supported streams. By another unit of measurement, it’s gone Platinum seven times over.
In other words, “Blinding Lights” is exceedingly popular even if you haven’t been able to hear it in the wild at bars, restaurants, and parties due to that pesky coronavirus. Give it another listen to help Abel get that eight platinum certificate.
