Even Taylor Swift Will Bow Down to Miley Cyrus’ One Record-breaking Achievement That Left All of the Eras Tour Singer’s Hit Tracks Behind
Regarded as a pop icon, Miley Cyrus is one of the most influential artists in the country. The singer-songwriter actress was 13 years old when she starred on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana alongside her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. With starring in Hannah Montana, Cyrus became a household name. Over the years, she is also regarded as one of the few child actors who’ve managed to have a successful musical career after outgrowing their child artist image.
Just like Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift is also one of the artists who started her career at the age of 14, and with her hard work, dedication, and a few hiccups on the road, she has gone on to become one of the world’s best-selling artists. Currently on her Eras Tour, Swift’s recent album, The Tortured Poets Department, achieved the highest single-day and single-week global stream for an album on Spotify. But there is one record that Swift’s discography has not been able to achieve, but Cyrus’ has.
Flowers’ co-writer Michael Pollack says Miley Cyrus’ greatest strength is her taste
The pop icon Miley Cyrus released her eighth studio album titled Endless Summer Vacation in March 2023, which was reportedly a shift from her synth-pop, rock, and glam rock to pop and dance-pop genres of music. The singer explained that the concept for the album was her affection for Los Angeles, where she recorded the album.
Flowers was the lead single of the album which was followed by River and Jaded. But it was the lead single that broke records, as it spent eight weeks at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100. With the release of Flowers, Cyrus surpassed Harry Styles’ As It Was and Stay by Justin Bieber and The Kid LAROI and became the fastest-ever artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify. At the time, Cyrus took to her social media to write a sweet thank you to the fans.
In an interview with Vogue India, the singer opened up about writing the song that resonated with billions:
I wrote it in a really different way. The chorus was originally, ‘I can buy myself flowers and write my name in the sand, but I can’t love me better than you can.’ It used to be more like the 1950s. The saddest song. Like, Sure, I can be my own lover, but you’re so much better.’ The song is a little fake until you make it, which I am a big fan of.
Her co-writer, Michael Pollack, explained in his conversation with Billboard that the idea for Flowers began with the word flowers, and it has been incredible to watch the reaction. He added that such a record is something one can dream of having their whole career, and he feels so grateful to be a part of it.
Talking about working with Miley Cyrus, he said that she has impeccable taste, which is her greatest strength. He revealed that the only line while working on Flowers where they were stuck was the pre-chorus (I didn’t want to leave you, I didn’t want to lie), adding that for them it was really important to contrast the empowerment of the chorus with a little bit of sadness and vulnerability.
In October 2023, with the release of Seven feat. Latto, BTS’ Jung Kook took over and became the fastest-ever artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify.
Flowers becomes the fastest female song to reach 2 billion streams on Spotify
Miley Cyrus’ Flowers not only became one of her biggest hits but also resonated with billions of her fans across the world. The song’s lyrics expressed an ex-lover’s acceptance of being independent after no longer feeling the need to rely on someone else for her happiness. The song is allegedly about her ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth, but it has not been confirmed officially.
Miley Cyrus is a queen 👸🏼🛐
— 𝐀𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚 (@aile_aajmc) May 28, 2024
Now, according to Pop Base’s X account, the song, which initially held the record for the fastest-ever artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, has recorded 2 billion streams on Spotify. This makes Cyrus’ Flowers the fastest female song to reach the number one spot in the history of Spotify.
Fans called Flowers’s song of the decade’, with another user mentioning that it almost feels like the song came out yesterday. They noted that the song deserved the achievement it had.
The song of the decade
— Khalid (@khalidauad) May 28, 2024
2 billion is no small achievement. Congratulations to her
— Ijeoma Ebisike (@EbisikeIj) May 28, 2024
Absolutely, it's pretty awesome, no denying that!
— Sworvx (@sworvx) May 28, 2024
Surprisingly, Taylor Swift’s songs have not been able to break this record. The Wrap reports that Swift’s Cruel Summer holds the record for 2 billion streams, but it took the song a couple of years to surpass 2 billion streams. Swift’s Fortnight has 80 million, Down Bad has 44 million, and So Long London has 42 million streams on Spotify. The TTPD album has successfully crossed 1 billion streams on Spotify in a single week.
