The Beatles Were The Most Streamed Rock Artist For The First Half Of 2020

The Beatles were the most streamed rock artist during the first half of 2020 according to Nielsen. Queen follows at Number Two, Imagine Dragons at Number Three, Number Four went to Fleetwood Mac, with Metallica rounding out the Top Five.

Queen's 1981 Greatest Hits took the most streamed album honors, followed by Elton John's 2017 Diamonds compilation sitting at Number Two, Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s 1976 Chronicle collection was Number Three, Journey‘s 1988 Greatest Hits came in at Number Four, followed by Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 classic Rumours.

The most streamed rock song for the first six months of 2020 was “Believer” by Imagine Dragons, followed by the Journey's “Don’t Stop Believing'” at Number Two, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” at Number Three Panic At The Disco‘s “High Hopes” at Number Four, and the Eagles' “Hotel California” sitting at Number Five.

Just prior to Abbey Road's September 1969 release, John Lennon was asked where the band found the material for the then-upcoming album: “From a large number of songs, y-s. Each of us have got, y'know, maybe about 10 songs to contribute to an album — you can't get 'em all on. So, when it's your turn to record, as it were, you've got to, sort of, pick the one you want on most, really. It gets into that.”

The ongoing massive success of “Don't Stop Believin'” doesn't surprise Steve Perry, who told us he was aware of the sing's potential by the reaction it received in the concert halls: “It's a funny thing, because though those other songs were hits — bona fide radio hits — whenever we played 'Don't Stop Believing'; if you see the Journey DVD live, it's 1981 Houston, it's called. If you see that DVD that was filmed in Houston back then, that song gets a response like it's getting now to the live audience. So my, point is, during the live shows that song always got a great response — it just wasn't a radio hit.”