Who would have guessed back in 1970 that British rock band Queen would be the leading name in digital music streaming as the second decade of the 2000’s winds down almost 50 years later?
That appears to be the case, as Universal Music Group proudly announced on Monday afternoon that Queen’s beloved arena rock anthem, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, is now the most-streamed song of the 20th century, as it recently eclipsed a grand total of 1.5 billion streams.
The total number of streams is collected from all major platforms, including video-based websites like YouTube. It’s worth noting that the sample size of total streams is still relatively new, as industry-approved platforms like Spotify have only been active here in North America since the European company arrived back in 2011. A report from Reuters also goes on to state that other notable era-defining anthems including Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’Mine” had been right up there with “Bohemian Rhapsody” until recently. According to Spotify community, “one play” or “one stream” only counts when said song has to be listened to for 30 seconds or more, but that time-based requirement doesn’t necessarily apply to other streaming services like Apple Music.
Bohemian Rhapsody, the new Queen biopic which takes its name from the song, surely played a role in the song’s re-emergence in popularity. The film was released in October and went on to earn an impressive $50 Million from North American theaters in its first weekend on its way to breaking a number of box office records.
The classic rock song initially appeared on the Queen’s 1975 A Night at the Opera LP. The nearly six-minute single/suite has always stood out among the rest of the Queen catalogue—and most classic rock songs for that matter—with its diverse, distinct sections and operatic themes to go with the Brian May‘s piercing guitar sound of the era. The song was originally penned by the band’s equally famous singer, Freddie Mercury.
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody – Official Video
[Video: Queen]
The surviving members of Queens will head back out on tour with singer Adam Lambert next year for a run of summer concerts scheduled to begin in early July and continuing into August.
[H/T Consequence Of Sound]
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