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PWR/UP released 13/11-2020 has entered the charts at #1 in many parts of the world, including the US, the UK, Australia, Germany, France and Italy.
It's tracks has over 37 mio plays on Spotify so far, ranked like this:
1 Shot in the Dark - 14,894,488 (released 7/10-2020)
2 Realize - 4,350,815 (released 11/11-20)
3 Rejection - 2,258,787
4 Demon Fire - 2,231,278
5 Through the Mists of Time - 2,041,399
6 Witch's Spell - 2,038,847
7 Kick You When You're Down - 1,941,032
8 Wild Reputation - 1,653,567
9 No Man's Land - 1,542,946
10 Systems Down - 1,461,380
11 Code Red - 1,424,900
12 Money Shot - 1,405,448
Total - 37,244,887
Buzz around the new album also boosts their catalog of course. "Let There Be Rock" recently passed 50M plays on Spotify. AC/DC's 14th track to do so. And "Back in Black" is closing in on 700M!
1 Back in Black - 688.7M
2 Highway to Hell - 679.9M
3 Thunderstruck - 642.4M
4 You Shook Me All Night Long - 482.6M
5 T.N.T. - 323.1M
6 Shoot To Thrill - 184.4M
7 Hells Bells - 181.5M
8 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - 171.4M
9 It's a Long Way to the Top - 118.2M
10 Rock n Roll Train - 90.0M
11 For Those About to Rock - 66.1M
12 Whole Lotta Rosie - 61.8M
13 Rock or Bust - 50.5M
14 Let There Be Rock - 50.044M
"If You Want Blood" & "Moneytalks" are next in line with 47.692M & 47.566M respectively.
Is "Shot in the Dark" gonna make this list of AC/DC classic? Time will tell...
About a year ago I speculated that all BIB tracks would have passed the 10M mark by now. Well, that happened in August (as posted earlier). Anyway here's an update (with increase since early dec 2019)
BIB tracks as of today:
BIB 707.8M (208.2M)
YSMANL 494.9M (148.3M)
STT 189.0M (56.4M)
HB 186.4M (56.0M)
RNRANP 39.4M (12.6M)
HADOM 39.0M (11.0M)
WDYDFMH 19.7M (8.0M)
GTDAB 15.2M (5.7M)
LMPMLIY 14.3M (4.2M)
SAL 11.9M (4.2M)
BIB is the first AC/DC track to join the 700M club (HTH is next with 696.4M) and YSMANL will soon become their 4th track (2nd from BIB) to pass 500M (3rd track was Thunderstuck at 658.5M).
Merry Xmas,
Thomas
Today "Hells Bells" passed 200M plays on Spotify.
It is the 7th AC/DC track to do so, and the 4th track from the classic "Back in Black" album. BIB is the 4th pre-2000 album to have 4 tracks top 200M plays.
Biggest 4th track race:
1. Michael Jackson “P.Y.T.” (“Thriller” – 1982) – 224.7M
2. Pearl Jam “Jeremy” (“Ten” – 1992) – 202.4M
3. Dr. Dre “What’s the Difference” (“2001” – 1999) – 202.3M
4. AC/DC “Hells Bells” (“Back in Black” – 1980) – 200.1M
5. Bob Marley “Waitin’ in Vain” (“Exodus” – 1977) – 178.7M
6. Michael Jackson “Bad” (“Bad” – 1987) – 168.8M
7. Metallica "Sad But True" ("Metallica" – 1991) – 166.1M
8. Fleetwood Mac "Don't Stop" ("Rumours" – 1977) – 160.7M
9. Nirvana "In Bloom" ("Nevermind" – 1991) – 158.6M
10. Pink Floyd "The Great Gig in the Sky" ("Dark Side of the Moon" – 1973) – 129.8M
"Jeremy" recently overtook "What's the Difference" for 2nd place. "Hells Bells" is currently outplaying both of them, and is likely to overtake them both during 2021. "Hells Bells" is actually the biggest gainer since my last update, gaining on "P.Y.T." as well. But that 20M+ lead is unlikely to be dropped.
Tomorrow marks PWR/UP's 1 year anniversary.
It’s tracks has over 163 mio plays on Spotify so far, ranked like this:
1 Shot in the Dark – 50,868,824 (released 7/10-2020)
2 Realize – 24,065,354 (released 11/11-20)
3 Demon Fire – 18,202,226
4 Witch’s Spell – 13,530,652
5 Rejection – 13,255,788
6 Kick You When You’re Down – 7,843,333
7 Through the Mists of Time – 7,837,774
8 Wild Reputation – 6,133,859
9 Code Red – 5,757,999
10 No Man’s Land – 5,576,749
11 Systems Down – 5,350,314
12 Money Shot – 5,323,515
Total – 163,746,387
All tracks 5M+
The album is gaining fast on their previous album, "Rock or Bust". That album has 200,628,029 plays on Spotify since it's nov 2014 release, led by the title track with 61,126,326 plays. Rock or Bust wasn't availble on Spotify for the first 7 months though. It became available along with the rest of the band's catalog jun 2015.
Is "Shot in the Dark" gonna catch "Rock or Bust" (the song)?
Is "PWR/UP" gonna catch "Rock or Bust" (the album)?
We'll see.
Now... let's have a tour!!!
A year after the release of PWR/UP lead single "Shot in the Dark" has in fact passed 50M plays on Spotify. 1 of 18 AC/DC tracks to do so:
As of 12/11/2021:
1 Back in Black – 921.6M
2 Highway to Hell – 885.9M
3 Thunderstruck – 845.5M
4 You Shook Me All Night Long – 632.9M
5 T.N.T. – 422.2M
6 Hells Bells – 240.1M
7 Shoot To Thrill – 239.9M
8 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – 221.8M
9 It’s a Long Way to the Top – 153.8M
10 Rock n Roll Train – 118.8M
11 For Those About to Rock – 85.3M
12 Whole Lotta Rosie – 80.5M
13 Let There Be Rock – 64.0M
14 Moneytalks - 63.4M
15 Rock or Bust – 61.1M
16 If You Want Blood - 59.5M
17 Shot in the Dark - 50.9M
18 Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution - 50.7M
So "Shot in the Dark" is on it's way to become a classic, also topping older hits like "Who Made Who" (48.2M) and "Touch Too Much" (47.1M). But time will tell how it fares 10 years from now...
"Back in Black" will pass 1 Billion plays pretty soon. Actually "Back in Black", "Highway to Hell" and "Thunderstruck" are all likely to pass 1B in 2022!
I know! It's a fave of mine too. But it only sneaks in at #20.
Today "Hells Bells" passed 250M plays on Spotify (250.142M). That's a big threshold for any song, any song that old anyway (1980). But it's also the 3rd song from "Back in Black" to reach this mark. That's big for a catalog album, but not unheard of. I know of 15 other pre-2000 albums reaching that.
"Hells Bells" always kinda went toe-to-toe with "Shoot to Thrill" though, also from BIB. And sure enough, that one stands at 249.614M plays and will become the 4th song from BIB above 250M in just a few days!
THIS is rare as just one other pre-2000 album has done it before: Michael Jackson's "Thriller", the 4th biggest song on that album is "P.Y.T" at 264.901M!
Today AC/DC'S classic song "Back in Black" became their first to pass 1 Billion plays on Spotify (1.000.087.000)!
The track is now 1 of 16 pre-2000 tracks to pass that threshold.
The next in line are likely AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" (962.2M) and Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" (961.4M). "Thunderstruck" is also well on it's way to make it 3 for AC/DC (919.2M).
Leading track is Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" with 1859.2M. So far Queen is the only act with multiple tracks on the list. They have 4 (Bo Rhap, Don't Stop Me Now, Another One Bites & Under Pressure).
Not that Rumours is not insanely popular anyway, but Dreams has went crazy, since that Tik Tok guy on the skateboard.
I've not really been following the pre 2000 songs much of late, will AC/DC have 3 over 1B, before anybody else has 2?
After AC/DC next in line to have 2 pre 2000 songs over 1B are the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Under the Bridge 908.1M
Californication 895.1M
And then Nirvana's 2nd song is Come as You Are with 835.7M.
Of course by then Queen are gonna have 5 songs top 1B!
We Will Rock You 887.2M
Californication was released in the summer of 2000 though, the album is from 1999 but I think the most important thing is when did these songs became famous.
About AC/DC, let's not forget that they arrived late on Spotify (2015), if not Highway To Hell would've probably reach 1B already, and Thunderstruck would be very close.
Californication was indeed released as the 4th single from the album in may 2000. But the album, and first 3 singles, were released in 1999. The album debuted and peaked at #3 in June 1999. Therefore I consider all it's songs released pre-2000.
However, it is possible the song benefitted from being fairly recent when Spotify began. I have a list of top pre-2000 songs dated feb. 2018 on which Californication rank as #10. 4 years later (jan. 2022) it's down to #25. So it's popularity is fading somewhat compared to the other oldies on the list. But the same goes for Under the Bridge (released sep. 1991). In that period it went from #11 down to #23.
The late arrival of AC/DC on Spotify is true (June 30th 2015). And could explain their rise on the list from feb 2018 to jan 2022:
Back in Black - #37 to #16
Highway to Hell - #58 to #17
Thunderstruck - #47 to #22
You Shook Me All Night Long - #?? to #60
Yeah it's possible that Under The Bridge's popularity is partly explained by the Chilis' massive success during the 1999-2006 period, so even though the song is from 1991 its trajectory might be closer to a song from 2000 or so.
Btw I truly have no idea why my post got so many downvotes... I'm gonna assume there's some weirdo out there with fake accounts who doesn't like me 😆
T.N.T. just crossed 500m on Spotify, their fifth song to do so. There are only two other 20th century acts who can match that, Guns N' Roses with also five songs (Knockin' On Heaven's Door is at 509m) and of course Queen who have... eleven songs over 500m 😆
Oh I missed Elton John :
Rocket Man 788m
Your Song 620m
Tiny Dancer 583m
I'm Still Standing 579m
Don't Go Breaking My Heart 536m
There's also Fleetwood Mac;
Dreams 1113m
The Chain 774m
Go Your Own Way 712m
Everywhere 582m
Landslide 519m
The Rolling Stones are getting there
Paint It Black 792m
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 552m
Sympathy For The Devil 462m
Start Me Up 459m
Gimme Shelter 457m
and obviously the RHCP, who have 4 from the 90s and 3 from the 00s.
I'm not including live versions though, I don't think it makes much sense personally... In any case, Landslide has 488m streams so it will reach 500m very soon indeed.
The Beatles are also getting there too:
Here Comes the Sun--893m
Come Together--552m
Let It Be--509m
Hey Jude--470m
Yesterday--451m
I just looked at his digital sales and there are some wild differences when it comes to what used to be his most popular songs :
Tiny Dancer 4.2m
Your Song 2.7m
Rocket Man 2.6m
Bennie & The Jets 2.1m (338m streams)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 1.1m (224)
I'm Still Standing 1.1m !
Can You Feel The Love Tonight 0.9m (238)
Candle In The Wind 0.9m (129)
Step Into Christmas 0.8m (192)
Don't Go Breaking My Heart 0.7m !!
AC/DC's Highway To Hell is also an interesting case, only 50% of Back In Black's sales but now they both have 1.1b streams. And of course Fleetwood Mac :
Go Your Own Way 4.4m
Dreams 3.1m
Landslide 2.9m
Everywhere 2.7m
The Chain 2.1m
That movie Rocket Man changed things. I think Elton's streams were way lower prior to the movie, in fact I think Madonna was outstreaming him prior to the movie (could be wrong about that one though).
February 2018 (15 months before the movie) :
Like A Prayer 85m
Material Girl 63m
Like A Virgin 58m
Vogue 52m
La Isla Bonita 46m
Holiday 28m
Into The Groove 24m
Frozen 23m
Papa Don't Preach 23m
Ray Of Light 17m
Your Song 132m
Rocket Man 130m
Tiny Dancer 111m
Don't Go Breaking My Heart 83m
Can You Feel The Love Tonight 69m
Bennie & The Jets 68m
Step Into Christmas 45m
I'm Still Standing 38m
Candle In The Wind 36m
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 36m
As you can see, it was already very different from his digital sales, just compare Tiny Dancer and Don't Go Breaking My Heart... The main difference after that would be I'm Still Standing, maybe thanks to the movie?
