The Post Malone and Swae Lee track ‘Sunflower’ has become the first single ever to be certified double diamond by the RIAA.
To go double-diamond in the US means it has accumulated 20 million equivalent song units and is now the highest certified song ever by the RIAA in the US.
The track was released on October 19, 2018, and was taken from the soundtrack of the animated hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
On release, the track entered the US Billboard Hot 100 songs chart at number 9, before steadily climbing to the top on January 19, 2019, making it Post Malone’s third chart-topper, and Lee’s first as a soloist.
In all, ‘Sunflower’ stayed in the Billboard top 10 for 33 weeks, which at the time equalled the record for most weeks in the top 10 along with Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B and Ed Sheeran. Malone would later set a new record for most weeks in the top 10 with Circles in 2019.
The track was an international hit, going to number one in the charts in Australia, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand and cracking the top 10 in 12 other countries.
A lyric video of the song was released to accompany the single’s release, which comprised footage of the film, the first Spider-Man film to focus on the Miles Morales character, and included lyrics edited into various scenes in the comic book style of the film. By 2023, the video had been viewed more than 2.1 billion times on YouTube. The official video, released in January 2019 showing live footage of Post Malone and Swae Lee, has been viewed a mere 70 million times.
‘Sunflower’ was also included on ‘Hollywood’s Bleeding’, Post Malone’s third studio album, released in 2019.
Interestingly, the track was the first Hot 100 number one by two co-billed male leads since George Michael and Elton John’s ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ way back in 1992.
