“My ‘skip’ button officially retired”- Internet reacts after The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights turns into first track to achieve 5B+ Spotify streams

On August 31, Blinding Lights by The Weeknd turned the first-ever track to hit 5 billion streams on Spotify. The streaming big introduced the information through a congratulatory put up on Instagram. It was shortly adopted by The Weeknd (born Abel Tesfaye) sharing the put up along with his 78.4 million followers on Instagram.

Released in November 2019 through XO and Republic Records, Blinding Lights combines genres like synthwave, synth-pop, electropop, new wave, and the like. The track was written by Max Martin, Oscar Holter, DaHeala, and Belly, and was additionally the second single from The Weeknd’s fourth studio album, After Hours.

Blinding Lights was a chartbuster post-release, changing into the primary track to stay inside Billboard Hot 100 for a whole yr. In 2021, it rewrote historical past once more by topping Billboard’s Greatest of All Time 100 chart after surpassing Chubby Checker’s The Twist.

At current, Blinding Lights is the most-streamed track on Spotify, changing into the first-ever musical quantity to surpass 5 billion streams. In January 2024, it turned the first-ever track to cross the 4 billion mark on the platform.

Fans on-line have reacted to The Weeknd’s historic achievement. Some common on-line feedback are as follows:

Another person shared the replay worth of Blinding Lights, commenting:

As per Kworb, Blinding Lights at present has 5,000,010,581 streams on Spotify as of writing. Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You comes second with simply over 4.5 billion streams. The different songs to make up the highest 5 are The Weeknd’s Starboy (4.06B), Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved (4.03B), and Harry Styles’ As It Was (4.02B).

The Weeknd can also be the artist with the best variety of songs in Spotify’s Billions Club with 28. He was additionally part of the platform’s first Billions Club: Live live performance in December.

On August 28, 2025, the track additionally climbed atop the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of the twenty first Century chart. It was adopted by Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow’s Industry Baby, Mary J. Blige’s Be Without You, Miguel’s Sure Thing, and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ Thrift Shop.

The Weeknd would not advocate following the “dark” which means of Blinding Lights

The Weeknd spoke candidly concerning the which means of Blinding Lights in his 2019 synth-heavy track of the identical title. During an interview for the September 2020 cowl for Esquire, the Grammy-winning singer opened up concerning the “dark” which means behind Blinding Lights.

During the dialog, the interviewer requested concerning the story behind the high-speed video, which allegedly exuded a heist-y undertone. It prompted The Weeknd to dissect the importance of the track.

“‘Blinding Lights’ [is about] how you want to see someone at night, and you’re intoxicated, and you’re driving to this person and you’re just blinded by streetlights,” he defined.

He continued:

“Nothing might cease you from attempting to go see that particular person, since you’re so lonely. I don’t wish to ever promote drunk driving, however that’s what the darkish undertone is.”

The music video for Blinding Lights has already amassed over 960 million views on YouTube. It begins with the singer laughing along with his enamel stuffed with blood and a bloody nostril. Thereafter, the scene switches to a seemingly inebriated Weeknd waking to his automotive and breaking all of the pace boundaries.

The fast-paced sequence is adopted by the singer dancing in the midst of the highway with blood pouring down from his brow. The scene progressively shifts to The Weeknd getting punched by individuals inside what looks like a bar. In the top, Tesfaye runs inside a tunnel along with his face crammed with blood, and the track ends with the digital camera zooming in on the melancholy-looking protagonist.

When The Weeknd claimed he was completely satisfied Blinding Lights dropped a decade into his profession

The Weeknd spoke concerning the timing of Blinding Lights‘ launch and its impression on his profession throughout a November 2021 interview with Billboard. The track had been named because the No. 1 observe on the Greatest Songs of All Time Hot 100 Chart shortly earlier than the interview.

During the dialog, Tesfaye claimed he was glad that the track wasn’t his debut single and was launched a decade into his profession.

“[There were] songs that transcended into pop culture, like “The Hills.” But by the time “Blinding Lights” happened, I was 10 years into my career and established as a music figure in the industry already. So I’m glad “Blinding Lights” happened when it happened as opposed to it being the first single I’ve ever dropped. That’d be scary for me,” stated the singer.

Speaking concerning the track’s record-breaking numbers, he added:

“I don’t think [the success of “Blinding Lights”] has hit me yet. I try not to dwell on it too much. I just count my blessings, and I’m just grateful.”

Despite the overwhelming success of Blinding Lights, it acquired zero Grammy nominations. The singer spoke concerning the awards in a November 2020 put up on X, claiming:

“The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans, and the industry transparency.”

At current, The Weeknd is in the midst of the After Hours Til Dawn tour with Playboi Carti. It lately turned the highest-grossing R&B tour in historical past, beating Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour and grossing $635.5 million as of writing.