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Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Reaches 1 Billion Streams on Spotify

Ashley King
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Smells Like Teen Spirit Spotify
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Smells Like Teen Spirit Spotify
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Photo Credit: VEVO

Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has crossed the one billion streams threshold on Spotify.

The song joins an exclusive club of 150+ tracks that have racked up one billion streams. The milestone comes just a few months shy of the Nevermind album’s 30th anniversary. The iconic track appeared on the album and helped define grunge rock.

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” racked up one billion plays on YouTube first, back in 2019. Earlier this month, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic teased a potential reissue of the Nevermind album for the band’s 30th anniversary.

“We’re going to have the 30-year Nevermind, but we’re still putting it together,” Novoselic said in an interview. “It’s kind of late! What’s on it? You’ll see, I don’t want to spoil the surprise! The anniversary is really for the fans and what the album means to them. If it helps people make some sense of the world, that’s great. You have to figure it out yourself, though.”

The Nirvana hit song joins other songs that have achieved over one billion streams on Spotify.

Spotify recently celebrated these milestone achievements by debuting the Billion Streams Club playlist. The playlist launched on June 17 as a way to celebrate some of the hottest songs on Spotify. It currently features all 150+ songs that have achieved over one billion streams. Some of those songs include:

    • Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
    • Billie Eilish – “Bad Guy”
    • Drake – “God’s Plan”
    • J Balvin – “Mi Gente”
    • The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”
    • Harry Styles – “Watermelon Sugar”
    • Dua Lipa – “IDGAF”
    • Maroon 5 – “Memories”
    • Ava Max – “Sweet But Psycho”

“Spotify has long celebrated artist milestones, and we wanted to find a unique way to honor the ard artists songs fans can’t stop listening to,” Ashley Graver, Global Head of Creative Artist Partnerships for Spotify says. “The Billions Club playlist is a natural evolution of the plaques you have seen from multiple artists, and we are excited to give fans a one-stop destination to enjoy some of the most-streamed songs in the world.”

It’s no surprise that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has joined the one billion club, given its generation-defining sound. Kurt Cobain memorabilia continues to sell for thousands of dollars for the mundane. A used pizza plate he wrote a setlist on sold for more than $10,000 recently.

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