On December 10, “Bohemian Rhapsody” became the most-streamed song of the 20th century. The song, initially released as a single by Queen on October 31, 1975, has seen over 1.6 billion streams globally. Universal Music Group has used all registered streams on global streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and music video streams on YouTube to come to this conclusion.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was Queen’s first Top 10 hit in the US and remained at #1 in the U.K. for nine consecutive weeks, the record at the time. It is also the only song to ever top the U.K. charts twice at Christmas. Queen has seen a lot of success as a group, and has sold more than 300 million albums worldwide.
The recently released Bohemian Rhapsody film has further emphasized the music of Queen and increased demand for it. Five weeks after its initial showing, the movie took in $600 million in box office sales, making it the highest grossing musical biography film in history. Rami Malek, who starred as the late Freddie Mercury, was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance and is expected to receive an Oscar this coming January.
