Owl City’s hit single “Fireflies” 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 Owl City’s first song to reach this milestone.
“Fireflies” is the debut single from the synth-pop music project formed by Adam Young. In 2008, the Owatonna, Minnesota native self-released his debut album Maybe I’m Dreaming, which he also recorded and produced himself. While “Fireflies” didn’t make the tracklist, it was ideated during the recording process.
“I found myself battling some insomnia, which was really mostly the inspiration for ‘Fireflies,’” Young said of the song’s inspiration. Rather than simply lying in bed “frustrated because I wasn’t getting sleepy,” the musician used his sleepless nights as inspiration. “I wrote down the things that I was imagining during those bouts of insomnia, and those kinds of musings became the lyrics of the song.”
In 2009, “Fireflies” was released in North America and Australia (a European release followed in 2010) as the lead single from Owl City’s second album, Ocean Eyes. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks and also hit No.1 in the UK, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, and Sweden. The accompanying video revs up Young’s endearing inspiration for the song: the fireflies he witnessed during a camping trip in northern Minnesota. It showcases the artist playing the song on a Lowrey spinet organ in a vintage toy-filled bedroom, with the toys rapidly coming to life.
“Fireflies” was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2023, making it the second-ever Dance/Electronic song to achieve this certification, following Avicii’s signature smash “Wake Me Up” featuring Aloe Blacc.
“When ‘Fireflies’ came out, it was met with such a positive reception that I was absolutely floored, and I still am just completely blown away,” Young said of the international hit’s success. “It’s harder as time goes on [to understand] how a song that I wrote without a second thought – really, I had no agenda when I wrote the song – can be beloved by so many people around the world.”
Listen to Owl City’s “Fireflies” now.