The Weeknd named world's most popular artist by Guinness World Records

The Weeknd has been named the world's most popular artist by the Guinness World Records.

In a press release published on Monday, the Guinness World Records announced that they had awarded The Weeknd - whose real name is Abel Tesfaye - the title of the most popular artist in the world.

The Weeknd has set the Guinness World Record for becoming the first, and so far only, artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify. He also holds the record for the most monthly listeners, with 111.4 million as of 20 March 2023.

He has almost 30 million more monthly Spotify listeners than Miley Cyrus, who is in second place with 82.4 million. The second-most listened-to male artist was Ed Sheeran, with 77.5 million monthly listeners.

Shakira, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande have between 78.5 million and 81.6 million monthly listeners.

After The Weeknd released his Die For You remix featuring Grande in February this year, his streaming figures reportedly surged, with the track reaching first place on the Billboard Hot 100.

The original Die For You was released in 2016.