The Weeknd Beats Justin Bieber’s Spotify Record, Becomes No. 1 Artist On Music Platform

Move aside Justin Bieber, The Weeknd has now secured the top spot on Spotify’s most-streamed global artist list.

The 31-year-old singer-songwriter, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, beat his fellow Canadian artist’s record on the digital music service Saturday. The Weeknd amassed 85.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, surpassing the $83.3 million record set by the 27-year-old Bieber last August.

The “Sorry” hitmaker held the record for a consecutive 190 days before Abel took over the top spot. Before the milestone, The Weeknd was already tailing Bieber as he was No. 2 during the latter’s 6-month reign on the platform, TMZ reported.

The release of Abel’s new hit album, “Dawn FM,” boosted his numbers and enabled him to set the new record over the weekend. The album is currently soaring on various charts after receiving rave reviews from critics.

“Dawn FM” is The Weeknd’s follow-up to his massively successful 2020 record “After Hours.” It features collaborations with Lil Wayne and Tyler, the Creator. Abel’s good friend Jim Carrey also participated in the production as he is the one who narrates and serves as DJ of the record’s namesake radio station, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Even though The Weeknd was named the top artist on Spotify in terms of average monthly listeners, Bieber still has the ultimate honor for having the most listeners. During his reign, Bieber’s listeners reached a peak of 94.6 million.

Meanwhile, the Grammy-winning singer recently made headlines amid rumors that he’s dating actress Angelina Jolie, 46. An insider told Us Weekly that the two stars actually “have more things in common than people would think.”

However, the same tipster quashed the romance rumors, saying that even though the singer and the actress have had a few meetups, “nothing romantic [was] going on between them.”

The dating rumors started when The Weekend and Jolie were spotted having dinner together at celebrity hotspot Giorgio Baldi in Los Angeles in July 2021. They were photographed on other occasions after that.

The speculations received more attention after The Weeknd dropped his fifth studio album earlier this month. In the eighth track of the album, entitled “Here We Go… Again,” Abel mentions a new relationship with a “movie star.”

Both The Weeknd and the “Eternals” star have yet to confirm or deny the romance rumors.