The Weeknd Scored the Largest EP Streaming Debut of All Time With My Dear Melancholy
Images via Pascal Le Segretain/Getty, Republic Records Music News The Weeknd
The Weeknd’s quest for pop dominance is reaching new heights, as his latest effort My Dear Melancholy set a record by becoming the largest EP streaming debut of all time.
Since the surprise EP’s release on Mar. 30, it has netted over 26 million streams on Apple Music and 29 million on Spotify (per The Verge), helping it to set the record.
It will be the Canadian R&B artist’s third consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as well as the largest streaming week for an R&B album since 2016’s Starboy (The Weeknd’s previous effort) and the highest physical sales for an R&B album since Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman released just last year, according to Billboard.
Along with the huge debut week for the EP, My Dear Melancholy’s standout track, “Call Out My Name,” came in as the No. 1 song in both streaming and digital downloads.
The physical release of the EP is set for Apr. 13.
You can catch The Weeknd on the festival circuit this summer—he’s headlining Coachella, Panorama NYC and Outside Lands. If you can’t make this weekend’s Coachella, you can catch his set on YouTube.