The Weeknd’s hit single “Blinding Lights” has just marked a major milestone, as Billboard revealed on Tuesday that the song is now No. 1 on their Greatest Songs of All Time Hot 100 chart.
The synth-heavy track, which dominated the No. 1 spot for four weeks, had a record-breaking run on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, earning the most weeks as a top five hit (43 weeks), a top 10 hit (57 weeks) and a top 40 hit (86 weeks). Therefore, “Blinding Lights” surpassed Chubby Checker’s 1960s classic “The Twist” as the all-time No. 1 song, spending 90 total weeks on the Hot 100 Chart.
Billboard’s latest issue features the Weeknd as its cover star — with the musician and a group of his closest collaborators and team members opening up about how “Blinding Lights” broke Checker’s record, the creative process behind the hit and the evolution of the Weeknd’s vision for the song.
“I’ve always been tinkering with the [sounds of the] ’80s,” the Weeknd told Billboard when speaking on the single’s concept. “It was much more subtle before, but I’ve always wanted to completely dive into it. And 10 years in, I think I’ve earned it.”
Billboard has also launched a special collection of trading card packs to accompany the milestone, including five different designs created by trading card veteran Karvin Cheung. Each card is a full bleed card design accentuated with two different foil colors on 120 pt paper stock. Each pack also includes one random trading card from the collection and an information card breaking down the chart data.
“This collaboration highlights a momentous achievement and a very special moment in time for one of the most influential artists today,” said Julian Holguin, president of Billboard. “We’re thrilled to celebrate that moment and translate the most quoted rankings in music to innovative, new formats.”