Justin Bieber’s comeback appears to be working swimmingly, as the 21-year-old pop singer has managed to dethrone boy band One Direction to achieve the most streams of any album on Spotify in a single week.
The singer’s new album Purpose, which includes such hits as What Do You Mean? and Sorry, clocked 205 million streams globally on Spotify, and 77 million in the U.S. alone for the first week of its release. By comparison, One Direction’s fifth album, Made in the A.M., was (only) streamed 106 million times, reports Billboard. That’s no small feat, though. The now four-man British pop group still broke the previous record of 90 million streams, held by The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness.
Many expect that Purpose will top the U.S. album charts, as Bieber’s loyal legion of fans have clearly shown their support for the Canadian singer’s attempt to get back into his music and shed the bad boy image. Bieber closed out the American Music Awards last night with a stellar performance that included a medley of tunes from Purpose. He also got tons of publicity when he cried from being overwhelmed at the support and positivity he received following his performance at the Video Music Awards earlier this year.
Even better news for The Biebs: not only has Purpose become his sixth number-one album to date, but it is also reportedly selling twice the amount it was projected to, reports Forbes. Popular tunes from the album were released earlier this year, including Where Are You Now, the singer’s collaboration with producers Skrillex and Diplo. The tune took home the American Music Award last night for Collaboration of the Year, and Bieber graciously handed the mic to the producing duo to give their thank you speech.
That said, Bieber has plenty of work ahead of him if he hopes to take the spotlight from the U.K. heart throbs. One Direction won Artist of the Year at the AMAs, as well as Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock. But if the Spotify streaming numbers are any indication, Bieber is well on his way.
