Call me old school, but I always thought determining something like the “world’s most popular artist on the planet” is something that is subjective.  I might say it’s Michael Bible, you might think it’s Carrot Top, and someone else might select Chris Rock. But no — there is a way to quantify ultimate popularity, and a Canadian recording star has the top spot, and his name is not Drake or Justin Bieber. 

It’s The Weeknd; he’s the main man — and proud owner of two Guinness World Records. 

The first is for the most monthly listeners in Spotify history. An impressive mark, and he earned it by hitting the 111-million marker.  If that’s not impressive enough, he became the first artist to notch 100 million monthly listeners.

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (his real name) is on one heck of a roll. He and Michael Jackson (whom he sounds a lot like) are the only artists with multiple No. 1 hits from 3 albums. 

And how about this for something he can showcase on his Linkedin bio – his song “Blinding Lights,” released in 2020, is the most successful and popular song ever. It has more Spotify streams than any other tune and spent an incredible 90 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.  That is mind-blowing. 

The man has done it all. He treats his fans great, continues to work hard, and doesn’t seem interested in being in tabloids. 

Now, if he can only get a do-over for a less-than-stellar Super Bowl halftime show a few years ago. 

Add comment