It’s official: Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” towered over all others in 2023, completing the year as the biggest-selling single on the planet, the IFPI reports.
Cyrus is presented with the IFPI Global Single Award, which each year recognizes the artist with the top-selling single across all digital formats – including paid subscription streaming, ad-supported platforms, and single-track downloads.
The trade body today (Feb. 26) counts down the top 10 singles for 2023, with Cyrus marking her first appearance on the list.
The success of “Flowers” was a truly global one, as the single simultaneously locked up No. 1 spots in 29 markets around the world, and finished at No. 1 on the year-end charts for the U.K., France and Australia.
In the U.S., “Flowers” showed serious staying power with an eight-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Those commercial muscles were rewarded at the 2024 Grammy Awards, where Miley performed the song and “Flowers” won for best pop solo performance and record of the year – her very first Grammys.
Cyrus can make it a week to remember at the 2024 BRIT Awards, set for Sunday, March 3 at The O2 in London, where she’s shortlisted for international artist of the year and “Flowers” is up for international song.
Presenting the latest award on behalf of the trade body, Lewis Morrison, director of global charts and certifications at IFPI, remarks, “Topping the charts in so many countries simultaneously, the song – along with its message of empowerment -resonated across the world and is the definition of a truly global hit. Congratulations to Miley and her team for this incredible achievement.”
Meanwhile, the reigning, four-time IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Taylor Swift is the only artist to double up in the IFPI top 10, doing so with “Cruel Summer” at No. 7 and “Anti-Hero” at No. 9.
There are first-time appearances for artists from Nigeria (Rema’s “Calm Down” with Selena Gomez at No. 2) and Mexico (Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma’s “La Bebe” at No. 6), reflecting the border-crossing phenomenon of Afrobeats and Regional Mexican music.
All told, artists representing 10 nationalities (Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea, U.K., and U.S.) impact the top 20, up from six nationalities in 2022.
“It is also fantastic to see so many nationalities and genres represented in the IFPI Global Single Chart,” remarks Morrison. “It is a wonderful reflection of the wide range of extraordinary artists that – working in partnership with their record labels – are finding international success.”
The IFPI’s charts capture streaming, downloads and physical formats in every country directly from the participating record labels, which is then converted using the trade body’s “unique” methodology to a single, global chart figure.
The previous winner of the IFPI’s Global Single Award was Harry Styles’ “As It Was.”
Top 20 IFPI Global Singles Chart 2023:
1Miley CyrusFlowers2.702Rema, Selena GomezCalm Down1.893SZAKill Bill1.844The Weeknd, Ariana GrandeDie For You1.785Harry StylesAs It Was1.466Yng Lvcas, Peso PlumaLa Bebe1.457Taylor SwiftCruel Summer1.398Morgan WallenLast Night1.379Taylor SwiftAnti-Hero1.3110Jung KookSeven (feat. Latto)1.2411David Guetta, Bebe RexhaI’m Good (Blue)1.2312Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, 21 SavageCreepin’1.2013The WeekndSave Your Tears1.1914Stephen SanchezUntil I Found You1.1815Karol G, ShakiraTQG1.1816Sam Smith, Kim PetrasUnholy1.1717SZASnooze1.0618Tom OdellAnother Love1.0119YOASOBIIdol1.0120The WeekndStarboy1.00