By News18
Arijit Singh is making India proud once again. The singer has now become the most followed artist in the world on Spotify. He has surpassed other globally-popular artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, BTS and The Weeknd, among others.
As of July 1, Arijit Singh had a staggering 151 million followers on Spotify. Reportedly, songs like 鈥淒hun鈥 from Saiyara, 鈥淛aane Tu鈥 from the Vicky Kaushal-starrer Chhaava, have helped the singer achieve this feat.
Arijit Singh is followed by Taylor Swift, with 139 million followers on the platform. Others, including Ed Sheeran, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd have 121 million, 114 million and 107.2 million followers on Spotify, respectively. K-pop group BTS, which was away for a long time due to their mandatory military service, has 80 million followers. Interestingly, Ariana Grande and Eminem have also crossed 100 million followers on the platform.
After Arijit Singh, the only Indian musician who made it to the top 20 list is AR Rahman, with 49 million followers.
The chart only proves Arijit Singh鈥檚 growing popularity at the global level. His journey into music began back in 2005 when he took part in the reality show Fame Gurukul. Though he didn鈥檛 win, it opened the door to bigger opportunities. He made his Bollywood debut in 2011 by singing Phir Mohabbat for the movie Murder 2.
His big break came in 2013 with the hit song Tum Hi Ho from Aashiqui 2, which made him a household name and won him his first Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer. Since then, Arijit has continued to shine. He won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer twice 鈥 first for Binte Dil from Padmaavat (2018), and then for Kesariya from Brahm膩stra: Part One 鈥 Shiva (2022).
Recently, Arijit Singh collaborated with Ed Sheeran on the song 鈥淪apphire.鈥 The track quickly went viral due to its unique combination of Indian rhythms and Ed Sheeran鈥檚 distinctive style. Highlights included Shah Rukh Khan鈥檚 unexpected cameo and Ed Sheeran鈥檚 performance in Punjabi.