This Nostalgic Power Ballad Is the Fastest Song to Ever Reach 1 Billion Streams
There are over 1,200 songs in Spotify's Billion's Club, but one fan-favorite track was the fastest to ever do it.
According to new data released by Spotify as part of its 20th anniversary, the song fastest song to ever reach one billion streams was the Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars duet, "Die With a Smile."
The retro-inspired single was released in August 2024, and by November of that year it had already amassed one billion streams. It only took 96 days for it to reach a milestone that most songs never achieve, never mind doing so in a matter of months.
"Die With a Smile," a long-awaited collaboration between the two music superstars, is a nostalgic, soulful ballad reminiscent of 1970s soft rock. Its bittersweet lyrics about holding on to love as the world ends - along with the smooth yet powerful vocals harmonies from Mars and Gaga -made the song an instant hit with listeners.
The song spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it even won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2025 ceremony. (It was also nominated for Song of the Year, though that award ultimately went to Kendrick Lamar for his smash hit "Not Like Us.")
But while Mars and Gaga's duet may be the fastest song in Spotify history to reach one billion streams, it certainly wasn't the first. That title belongs to Drake, Wizkid and Kyla for the 2016 chart-topper "One Dance," which hit the milestone just over sixth months after its release.
Meanwhile, other songs have taken years, or even decades, to amass one billion streams, such as the Goo Goo Dolls' beloved 1998 track "Iris," which surpassed the milestone in 2022, 24 years after its initial release.
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This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 4:04 AM.