Post Malone and Swae Lee’s ‘Sunflower’ from Spider-Verse Breaks U.S. Streaming Record For Most Streamed Song of All Time
Post Malone and Swae Lee’s song “Sunflower” has just become the most-streamed song ever in the U.S. The track was part of the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack back in 2018. Now, more than five years later, it has made history.
Luminate, the company that tracks music data, says “Sunflower” has reached 3.96 billion audio and video streams in the U.S., which puts it ahead of “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X. That makes it the most-streamed song of all time in the country.
“Sunflower” was first released as a single in October 2018. It later showed up on Post Malone’s album Hollywood’s Bleeding. Right from the start, the song was a hit. It went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in the top 10 for 33 weeks. At the time, that was one of the longest runs ever in the chart’s top ten.
The song got great reviews too. Patrick Doyle from Rolling Stone said it was “a hyper-catchy diary of a rocky relationship, which walks the line between hip-hop and dream-pop.” And Spin magazine’s Israel Daramola called it “a short and sweet, hazy little pop song” that would fit right into a kid’s movie or an MTV teen show.
The success of “Sunflower” wasn’t just in the U.S. It also hit number one in countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In early 2024, the RIAA officially gave it double diamond status in the U.S., which means it reached 20 million in sales. It also got diamond awards in Canada, Mexico, and Australia.
The song was nominated for two Grammys in 2020—Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Post Malone talked about the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon back in October 2018. He said he had written it for the movie and gave fans a short preview. A few days later, Swae Lee confirmed he was part of it too. He said, “It’s one of my favorite collaborations,” and explained why it meant a lot to him. “The main character sings ‘Sunflower’ and uses my vocals to calm him down. My music was therapeutic for him.”
Spring Aspers, who helped lead the music team at Sony Pictures for Into the Spider-Verse, said the song fit the movie perfectly. “Post and Swae have delivered a song that’s both heroic and emotional, which is exactly what a Spider-Man story needs. It’s anthemic, but also heartfelt.”
Since then, both artists have kept growing. Post Malone’s most recent album, F-1 Trillion, hit number one and got two Grammy nominations. But “Sunflower” still stands out as a song that caught something special. With nearly 4 billion streams in the U.S. alone, it’s now in the record books, and in the hearts of fans everywhere.
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