Industry body IFPI has announced that the winner of 2021’s IFPI Global Digital Single Award is The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears.” It makes the Canadian star the first artist to win the award two years in a row, after “Blinding Lights” took the title for 2020.
The award recognizes the bestselling single in the world across the year in all digital formats. These include paid subscription streaming, ad-supported platforms, and single-track downloads and streams.
“It has been another brilliant year for The Weeknd and ‘Save Your Tears’ has unquestionably been one of the world’s most loved songs,” said Frances Moore, Chief Executive of IFPI. “We’d like to send huge congratulations to The Weeknd and all of his team on winning our Global Digital Single of The Year Award for the second year in a row – an incredible achievement.”
“Save Your Tears,” released in August 2020, was the fourth single from The Weeknd’s fourth studio album After Hours. It reached No.1 in the US and in a host of other countries around the world. The track has been certified platinum in 14 countries, spanning three continents.
The song had 2.15 billion global subscription stream equivalents, according to the IFPI. Remarkably, “Blinding Lights” continued its popularity into 2021, landing at No.7 for the year after topping the IFPI list the year before.
Runner-up in the 2021 chart was “Stay” by Australian rapper The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber, with 2.07 billion global subscription stream equivalents. Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” came in at No.3, and the Top 5 for 2021 was rounded out by the BTS single “Butter” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License.”
Last Thursday (24), BTS were announced as winners of the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award. Tomorrow (Tuesday), the organization will reveal the Top Global Albums of the Year.
Buy or stream “Save Your Tears” on the After Hours album.