Tame Impala‘s 2015 hit “The Less I Know The Better” has officially racked up one billion streams, earning itself a spot on APRA AMCOS’ The 1,000,000,000 List.
The milestone was announced by the Australian music rights organization today on May 3, with Kevin Parker receiving his award at a ceremony in Sydney. During his acceptance speech, the Tame Impala figurehead explained how it had originally been written for British producer Mark Ronson.
“During the recording session, I was working myself up to tell him I was going to take it back,” said Parker of the song, which was released on Tame Impala’s third LP Currents.
“I owe APRA a lot, thank you everyone, this means a lot. Thanks for supporting me.”
Presenting Parker with the award, APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston called the producer a “visionary” and applauded his far-reaching success.
“He has created a sound and a global following, and has the world’s best creatives queuing to work with him,” Ormston said. “It’s a testament to Kevin’s work that his 2015 hit “The Less I Know The Better” has remained globally current.”
“APRA AMCOS and all of our staff are so proud to support Kevin and celebrate his global achievements.”
The music industry body’s 1,000,000,000 List takes into account streaming numbers from all major services such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, YouTube Music, Vevo and Amazon.
Parker joins 18 other artists on The 1,000,000,000 List, including Tones And I for “Dance Monkey”, 5 Seconds Of Summer with “Youngblood”, Flume for “Never Be Like You”, and Vance Joy‘s “Riptide”, among others.
It comes just after Parker was awarded Songwriter of the Year at the 2021 APRA Music Awards last week. Friend and collaborator Ronson handed Parker the award virtually from his studio in London, offering words of praise.
“When you think of the music of Kevin Parker and Tame Impala it’s very easy to get caught up in the atmosphere and the sonics and the waviness of it all. And it has all those things and I love those things,” Ronson said.
“But really what I love the most at the root of it is the songs… You think of “The Less I Know The Better” – it’s one of the most iconic basslines of the past 20 years.”
