advertisement
Chart Beat

The Weeknd Reclaims No. 1 Spot With Top Monthly Listeners in the World on Spotify

The Scarborough native dethrones Bruno Mars, who falls to the No. 2 spot.

The Weeknd
The Weeknd
Holly McCandless Desmond

The Weeknd is reclaiming the top spot on Spotify.

The Canadian-Ethiopian superstar, born Abel Tesfaye, is back as Spotify’s most listened to artist with 111 million monthly listeners. He dethrones pop singer Bruno Mars, who now sits at No. 2.


Since the montly listens feature was made public in 2015, The Weeknd has previously held the No. 1 spot at various points — most recently in 2024. Back in February 2023, the Scarborough native was the first artist to hit 100 million monthly listeners on the platform.

Throughout the past decade, fellow Canadians Drake and Justin Bieber have held the No. 1 spot for Spotify’s top monthly listeners around the world.

advertisement

Last September, The Weeknd's track “After Hours” hit one billion streams. The After Hours chart-topping hit, “Blinding Lights,” remains the most-streamed song on Spotify, with nearly 4.9 billion streams. In 2020, it held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and nearly doubled its ranking on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, sitting at the top for seven weeks.

Tesfaye isn't the first Canadian to make Spotify history — Drake's "One Dance" was the first song on the streaming platform to reach one billion plays.

Currently, The Weeknd has 25 songs in Spotify’s Billions Club, making him the artist with the most tracks on the list, which includes hits like “Save Your Tears, “Can’t Feel My Face,” and “The Hills.” At the end of last year, he celebrated the win with a one-night-only Billions Club Live concert in Los Angeles for nearly 2,000 fans.

Tesfaye has since released a concert film of the Billions Club show, his sixth studio album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, as well as a psychological thriller film of the same name.

He's currently on his After Hours Til Dawn tour, which includes Canadian stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal — which may account for some of his recent surge in streams.

advertisement

advertisement
Daphni (Dan Snaith)
Courtesy Photo

Daphni (Dan Snaith)

Music

Looking Ahead: A Release Calendar of New & Upcoming Canadian Albums In 2026

A regularly updating list of new and upcoming albums from Canadian artists. Keep checking back as artists announce new releases.

Canadian artists have moved into 2026 with some big releases on the horizon.

Some have begun their album cycles, others have confirmed release dates and some have just teased that their records will be out this year. It has been a growing industry trend for major name artists to put out new music with little or even no advance notice, so coming out with a definitive and iron-clad release schedule is an ongoing process. That's why we will now be updating this calendar throughout the year. Check back each week to see the new additions.

keep readingShow less
advertisement