Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy Was Really Big

Mar 11, 2020 | 6:03 AM

Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” has officially been named the biggest global single of 2019 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI.

The song ranked No. 1 on the IFPI Global Digital Singles Chart, which measures consumption across audio streaming, video streaming and permanent, downloads on a global basis. It had 19.5 million global converted track equivalents.

“bad guy” is the fifth single from Eilish’s first album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? and was released alongside it on March 29, 2019. The song was an instant hit, topping the charts in more than 15 countries around the world, including the US, Australia, Canada and Mexico.

“bad guy” became Spotify’s second-most streamed song globally last year and, according to Shazam, was the most searched-for track of 2019.

“bad guy” won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 62nd Grammy Awards in January 2020, making Eilish the youngest-ever artist to win the latter category.

Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI, said: “Billie Eilish has taken the world by storm with her incredible voice and genre-defying sound. She is also an artist who addresses important issues like mental health in her lyrics that clearly resonate with her fans all over the world. We wish her success for what will no doubt be another standout year.”

The Top 10 Global Digital Singles of 2019:

  1. Billie Eilish – “bad guy”
  2. Lil Nas X – “Old Town Road”
  3. Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello – “Seorita”
  4. Post Malone, SwaeLee – “Sunflower”
  5. Ariana Grande – “7 rings”
  6. Tones and I – “Dance Monkey”
  7. Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber – “I Don’t Care”
  8. Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper – “Shallow”
  9. Lewis Capaldi – “Someone You Loved”
  10. Halsey – “Without Me”