Billie Eilish unexpectedly dethroned Sabrina Carpenter’s track “Espresso” as Spotify’s most-streamed song in 2024.
According to Variety, “Espresso” had a total of 1,774,525,704 listens in 2024. Meanwhile, Eilish’s song “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” subsequently passed Carpenter’s pop track with 1,775,172,881 streams last year.
At the time of writing, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” remained in the top spot as it reached 1,781,210,003 streams while “Espresso” had 1,778,582,288.
When the music streaming platform dropped its Wrapped data in December 2024, it declared Carpenter, 25, had claimed the No. 1 spot. At the time, Benson Boone‘s “Beautiful Things” was the second most streamed song while Eilish, 23, and “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” were in third place.
Carpenter released “Espresso” in April 2024 as the lead single from her Short ‘N Sweet album. While “Espresso” debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number three in June. The inescapable viral track was subsequently dubbed the song of the summer. In an August 2024 interview with Variety, Carpenter shared that she initially got pushback for wanting to select it as her album’s lead single.
“I was completely alone in wanting to release ‘Espresso.’ Not so much from my immediate team. But when it came to ‘the powers above,’” Carpenter said at the time. “There was a lot of questioning behind whether it made sense.”
Ultimately, Carpenter got her way — and she was proven right.
Eilish, for her part, dropped her third studio album Hit Me Hard and Soft in May 2024. When the album was released, the first single was the innuendo-laden “Lunch” followed by the more wistful “BIRDS OF A FEATHER.” “Lunch” debuted on the Billboard charts in the No. 5 spot with “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” coming in 12th. In July, Eilish selected “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” as the album’s second single which caused it to soar on the charts.
Eilish’s brother and collaborator Finneas shared in a December interview with Variety that he was unsure if “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” would resonate with fans despite being told otherwise by loved ones.
“I’m sort of extra-mistrustful when people tell me that they think something’s gonna be a big hit, because it feels like jinxing it — or because, usually, people say that about stuff that sounds like something else that already exists,” the producer explained. “You know, nobody said that about ‘Bad Guy’ before it came out, and I think the reason nobody said that was that it really sounded new. Anyway, that being said, every time we played ‘Birds of a Feather’ for the label or our close friends, they would kind of freak out.”
In November 2024, both Carpenter and Eilish received Grammy nominations. Eilish is up for seven awards this year, while Carpenter earned six nominations. “Espresso” and “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” will face off again in two categories: Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
