advertisement
Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2023 Billboard Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
advertisement
Popular
Latest News
advertisement
BILLBOARD CANADA FYI
A weekly briefing on what matters in the music industry
By signing up you agree to Billboard Canada’s privacy policy.
advertisement
advertisement
Matt Barnes
Three Days Grace
Rock
Three Days Grace Become the First Canadian Band with Two Songs to Enter Spotify's Billions Club With ‘Animal I Have Become’
The song is the Ontario rockers' second to pass a billion streams on the platform, following their debut single “I Hate Everything About You" last year.
10m
Three Days Grace are making Spotify history.
The Ontario rock band has scored a second entry into Spotify’s Billions Club, with their 2006 hit, “Animal I Have Become,” becoming the first Canadian band to have two songs pass a billion streams.
It joins their debut single, “I Hate Everything About You,” which surpassed a billion streams last June.
Since its release nearly 20 years ago, “Animal I Have Become” has become one of the group’s most popular songs, despite its dark subject matter. Co-frontman Adam Gontier revealed that the hard rock anthem was inspired by his addiction to painkillers and the heavy emotions that followed. The then-quartet wrote the track’s demo nearly two years before its release while touring Europe.
advertisement
“I remember saying [that] that riff would be great heavy,” bassist Brad Walst told Billboard back in 2018. “As soon as we got back to North America, we started jamming it as a heavy song, and it was like, ‘Shit, I think we’ve nailed it.’”
The song peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart, spending seven of its 48 weeks at the top. It shared a similar result on the U.S. Alternative Airplay chart, peaking at No. 1 for two weeks, while it lasted 41 weeks on the ranking. In their home country, the track became double platinum in 2018, selling over 160,000 certified units.
“On the back of a bus in Germany, what started as a dissonant riff and a nod to the Beatles became ‘Animal I Have Become.’ What began as a raw idea on the road for a band from a small town like Norwood grew into a song that connected with millions around the world,” the band shared in a statement.
“Seeing it now join the billions club — and becoming the only Canadian band with two songs there — is pretty incredible.”
advertisement
Over two decades into their career, Three Days Grace have continued to hold down their spot on the rock charts.
In January, the group scored another No. 1 on the Billboard Canada Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with “Kill Me Fast.” It marks their third chart-topping single from their latest album Alienation, the first release since the band reunited with Gontier to form a dual-lead-singer lineup with Matt Walst.
The reunion has proven to be a massive success, with Walst telling Billboard Canada in a Global No. 1s cover story last year, "It’s pretty crazy that more than two decades after the first song was released, we'd have a song that was the No. 1 song in rock."
Other singles from their album, including “Mayday” and “Apologies,” have been active on Canadian rock radio, with the former track securing the top spot on the Billboard Canada 2025 Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
Three Days Grace aren’t the only Canadian act that are securing new entries into Spotify’s Billions Club. Last month, hits from The Weeknd and Justin Bieber surpassed one billion streams, with “Party Monster” and “Confident” featuring Chance the Rapper, respectively.
advertisement
Potentially ushering in their biggest era yet, the 2000s rock juggernauts are embarking on a major trek across Canada next month, bringing their decades-spanning hits to the stage.
keep readingShow less
advertisement
Popular
advertisement
Published by ARTSHOUSE MEDIA GROUP (AMG) under license from Billboard Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation.
advertisement