The stats clocked up by The Killers' debut single Mr. Brightside are truly extraordinary.
Initially released in the UK in September 2003 by indie label Lizard King in a limited run of just 500 CD singles, then re-released in May 2004 ahead of the emergence of the Las Vegas quartet's debut album Hot Fuss, the song currently has just south of three billion plays on Spotify (making it the most streamed song from the 2000s on the platform) and 621 million plays on YouTube. It has been on the UK charts for an astonishing 489 weeks, currently sitting at number 60, and is the biggest single of all time yet to reach Number 1 in Britain, with singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran hailing it as "the UK's alternative national anthem". Perhaps surprisingly, the song peaked at number 10 on both the UK and US singles charts, but its popularity shows no sign of slowing down.
Not a bad return for a song based on heartbreak and betrayal, and not bad for a song that didn't chart at all first time around.
