An ’80s Classic Is Suddenly One of the World’s Most-Streamed Songs: 'Staggering'
Parade
Andrea Reiher
September 23, 2025
Over 40 years after it first topped the charts, The Police’s iconic ballad "Every Breath You Take" is suddenly back among the most-played songs in the world.
On September 23, the 1983 hit made a new entry into Spotify’s Top 50 Global chart, which is updated daily to reflect the most-streamed tracks around the world right now. According to Spotify, the song was streamed more than 2 million times in the past 24 hours alone.
That surge adds to an already enormous legacy: "Every Breath You Take" has amassed almost 3 billion all-time streams (2,906,028,234), and it has spent 636 consecutive days on Spotify’s daily Top 200 before finally breaking into the Top 50. The track first entered the Top 200 chart back on Valentine's Day 2019, which is a little funny given the ambiguous nature of the song's lyrics.
Sting Reflects on the Song’s Ambiguous Power
In a 2023 interview with The Project, frontman Sting said he still marvels at the reach of "Every Breath You Take."
"It’s a staggering figure, I can’t even picture a billion plays. There’s something about the song that is ambiguous — to some people it’s a love song, to other people they think it’s some sort of anthem for a stalker, so there’s something a little off about it. I think that’s its power, so I never contradict people about how they interpret the song," said the legendary rocker.
He added that the song’s origin might have contributed to that complexity:
"I wrote that song in Jamaica in 1982, staying at the house that used to belong to Ian Fleming, the writer of the James Bond books. I wrote the song at his desk late one night, so I feel the ghost of James Bond is there. He’s an ambiguous kind of character anyway — he’s our guy, but he also has a dark side to him. He kills people, so I think that that ambiguous quality somehow invaded the writing of that song," Sting said with a laugh.
A Timeless Hit for Weddings and Beyond
Though its lyrics have sparked debate for decades, Sting said he embraces the fact that people interpret it in their own way, saying, "Some people get married to that song, so I’m not going to say it’s wrong to do that, but I’m just happy that people like it."
The track originally spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983 and went on to win the Grammy for Song of the Year. Its enduring streaming success proves that "Every Breath You Take" remains one of the most powerful and recognizable songs of the past century — still finding new life in 2025 playlists.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/an-80s-classic-is-suddenly-one-of-the-world-s-most-streamed-songs-staggering/ar-AA1NaqAo?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=68d3dfb8e0164a80b9bf3cf1aa98a2ed&ei=16Every Breath You Take is now the 41st most streamed song in the history of Spotify.
It is the 2nd most streamed song, in the history of Spotify, from the 20th century.
It is the 4th most streamed song, in the history of Spotify, released prior to 2010.