Indian singer Arijit Singh overtakes Taylor Swift as most-followed artist on Spotify

Indian singer Arijit Singh has officially overtaken Taylor Swift to be the most-followed artist on Spotify.

• READ MORE: Taylor Swift live in Edinburgh: The ‘Eras Tour’ finally hits the UK

Originally reported by The Indian Express, as of today (August 23), Singh has accrued over 119million followers on Spotify, surpassing Swift’s 188.9million. This isn’t the first time the duo have crossed paths – in August 2023, Singh surpassed Swift in followers for a brief moment before the ‘Tortured Poets Department’ superstar reclaimed her spot at the top of the streaming platform.

The third spot is where Ed Sheeran sits comfortably at 115.01million followers. Not far behind him are Ariana Grande (98million) and Billie Eilish (96million).

When it comes to the total amount of Spotify monthly listeners, however, Swift has Singh beat with 95.7million listeners compared to Singh’s 40.3million.

Among Singh’s most played tracks are songs written for Bollywood films Laapataa Ladies and ANIMAL. However, he’s most renowned for his ballads – per his Spotify artist bio, Singh is “the king of sad love hits”, with his 2020 compilation album ‘Ultimate Love Songs’ gaining millions of streams per track.

Singh will embark on a UK and Europe tour next month – an engagement at The O2 is already selling fast, while he will also perform in Birmingham, Manchester, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Find tickets for his UK dates here.

Yesterday, it was suggested by members of the Liberal Democrats that Swift be handed the Freedom of the City of London following her ‘Eras Tour’ dates.

Presented on rare occasions, the award recognises outstanding achievements of an individual in their respective fields.

In their pitch, the Lib Dems highlighted the large-scale charity work of the pop star, including her donations to food banks in every UK city in which she performed. Treasury spokesperson for the party, Sarah Olney, described Swift as showcasing “endless philanthropy and using her platform to bring reforms to the music industry,” (via Metro).

“Taylor Swift is now on track to achieve her most impressive feat yet: patching part of the blank space the Conservative government left in the British economy after years of neglect,” Olney added.

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