Ne-Yo‘s’s hit single “So Sick” is the latest to join Spotify’s Billions Club, which celebrates songs that have eclipsed more than one billion views on the streaming platform. This marks the singer’s third song to reach this milestone.
“So Sick” is the second single from the R&B singer’s 2006 debut album, In My Own Words, following his debut “Stay” single. Co-written and produced by Norwegian production team Stargate, “So Sick” became Ne-Yo’s first No. 1 hit, topping both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles charts. It also entered the top 20 in various global charts, including Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, and Switzerland. In My Own Words debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album.
“It’s definitely the one that started it all. So this is when I learned a little something about the way that records are released — or at least in the book of [record label executive] L.A. Reid,” Ne-Yo previously told Billboard. “He says, ‘So we’re going to put out ‘Stay’ first and it’s not going to blow up … but it’s going to be enough to get their attention. And then once we get their attention, ‘So Sick.’ He was right.”
Other songs from Ne-Yo in the Spotify Billions Club are in the form of features: Pitbull’s 2011’s “Give Me Everything” hit alongside Afrojack and Nayer from his Planet Pit album, and 2014’s “Time of Our Lives” from Pitbull’s eighth studio album Globalization and Ne-Yo’s sixth studio album Non-Fiction.
Ne-Yo and Mario recently served as the openers for Mary J. Blige’s For My Fans Tour, which ran from Jan. 30 through April 14. Last summer, Ne-Yo made his debut at the Wynn Las Vegas’ Encore Theater for his “Human Love Rebellion” residency.
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