UK’s most-streamed song of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s revealed
A new report has revealed the most-streamed song in the United Kingdom from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s is the classic Oasis track, ‘Wonderwall’.
The iconic song appeared on the Mancunian group’s second album, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, in 1994. Since then, the creation has taken on a life of its own, the official music video have been watched over 460 million times on YouTube alone, and on Spotify, it has been listened to on over 1.9 billion occasions across the world.
Following the meteoric success of their debut album, Definitely Maybe, Oasis had high expectations to meet on their follow-up, a task they rose to with aplomb. Their second LP cemented their place as the most important cultural entity in Britain, and increased their popularity even further.
In 2008, Liam Gallagher famously lambasted the track, stating: “I can’t fucking stand that fucking song! Every time I have to sing it, I want to gag. Problem is, it was a big, big tune for us. You go to America, and they’re like: ‘Are you, Mr Wonderwall?’ You want to chin someone.”
Additionally, his brother, Noel, has also spoken about his ill-feelings towards ‘Wonderwall’ and revealed he wishes a different song by Oasis was their most popular.
The singer-songwriter told Mojo in 2021 when asked about the continued appeal of ‘Wonderwall’: “I have no idea. It beggars belief. ‘Wonderwall’ is one of my least favourite songs because it’s not finished. If I could somehow twist time and go back there, I’d probably pick a different song for our calling card. Probably ‘Some Might Say’.”
For almost 30 years, ‘Wonderwall’ has been a noose around the neck of the Gallagher brothers. However, on the plus side, its earnings have also helped put their children through expensive education, and earned them millions of pounds in the process.
The new study, which placed ‘Wonderwall’ at top spot, has been carried out by the Official Charts Company. In the report, the Queen track ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was named the second most popular and the top three was rounded out by Fleetwood Mac with ‘Everywhere’.
While an Oasis reunion remains out of the picture for the foreseeable future, Liam is set to celebrate the band’s legacy throughout the summer. The vocalist will be hitting the road to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their seminal debut album, Definitely Maybe. He will be playing the album in full across arenas in the UK, including six performances at London’s O2 Arena, and will also headline Reading & Leeds.
The ten most-streamed songs from the 1970s, ’80s and 90s in the United Kingdom:
- Oasis – ‘Wonderwall’
- Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
- Fleetwood Mac – ‘Everywhere’
- Fleetwood Mac – ‘Dreams’
- Queen – ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’
- Toto – ‘Africa’
- Oasis – ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’
- Goo Goo Dolls – ‘Iris’
- Journey – ‘Don’t Stop Believin”
- Whitney Houston – ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’
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