bad guy by Billie Eilish Named Biggest Global Single of 2019

IFPI chief executive Frances Moore presenting Billie Eilish with the IFPI award for biggest global single of 2019

IFPI, the organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, has named bad guy by Billie Eilish as the biggest global single of 2019.

bad guy is the fifth single from Eilish’s first album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? and was released alongside it on 29th March 2019. The song was an instant hit, topping the charts in more than 15 countries around the world, including the US, Australia, Canada and Mexico. bad guy became Spotify’s second-most streamed song globally last year and, according to Shazam, was the most searched-for track of 2019.

bad guy won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 62nd Grammy Awards in January 2020, making Eilish the youngest-ever artist to win the latter category.

Old Town Road by Lil Nas X was the second-biggest global single of last year. The TikTok viral sensation dominated charts for much of 2019. The track, unique in its fusion of country and rap, broke the record for longest consecutive run in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Señorita, the duet by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello (who had the global number one single in 2018 with Havana ft. Young Thug), takes third place in the chart. The collaboration is the second for the artists and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as in thirty-five other countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. It was also the most-streamed song globally on Spotify in 2019.

The IFPI Global Digital Single of 2019 is the second of the annual awards announced this year from IFPI’s global charts, following the announcement that Taylor Swift was named the Global Recording Artist of the Year 2019.

The IFPI Global Digital Singles Chart is the only ranking to accurately measure consumption across audio streaming, video streaming and permanent downloads on a global basis. It is weighted based on the relative value of each method of consumption.

TOP 10 GLOBAL DIGITAL SINGLES 2019

RANK ARTIST TRACK NAME GLOBAL CONVERTED TRACK EQUIVALENTS (MILLIONS)
1 Billie Eilish bad guy 19.5
2 Lil Nas X Old Town Road 18.4
3 Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello Señorita 16.1
4 Post Malone, SwaeLee Sunflower 13.4
5 Ariana Grande 7 rings 13.3
6 Tones and I Dance Monkey 11.4
7 Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber I Don’t Care 10.3
8 Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper Shallow 10.2
9 Lewis Capaldi Someone You Loved 9.1
10 Halsey Without Me 9.1

(source: IFPI)