New OCC Data Reveals Paul McCartney’s Biggest Post-Beatles Streaming Hits
New data from the Official Charts Company has revealed Paul McCartney’s most-streamed tracks of his post-Beatles years.
New data from the Official Charts Company has revealed Paul McCartney’s most-streamed tracks of his post-Beatles years. And the winner is…“FourFiveSeconds,” his 2015 collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West, which stands at No.1 with just over 100 million streams to date.
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Standing at a distant No.2, well behind that triple-header with 56.6 million streams, is his holiday recurrent “Wonderful Christmastime.” Originally a UK hit for McCartney in 1979, when it reached No.6, it continues to re-chart every year in the digital era, like so many festive favorites. It’s at No.34 on this week’s OCC singles survey.
In third place on the list is Paul’s 1974 classic with Wings, “Band On The Run,” with 14.6 million streams. “Only One,” also with Kanye West, is No.4 with 8.6m, while McCartney’s 1973 James Bond movie theme “Live And Let Die” is No.5 with 5.9m.
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In an interesting example of how modern-day digital popularity of tracks does not always tally with their original sales performance, “Maybe I’m Amazed” is at No.6, even though the studio version of the song, from 1970’s McCartney album, was not a single, and the live recording from 1976’s Wings Over America only reached No.28 in the UK.
The chart reveals plenty of other fascinating results, including the fact that three UK No.1 singles by McCartney are in the Top 20, but none higher than the No.9 ranking for his mega-hit with Wings, “Mull of Kintyre.” His duets with Michael Jackson (“Say Say Say”) and Stevie Wonder (“Ebony and Ivory”) land at Nos.7 and 10 respectively; another Wings staple, “Jet,” is at No.8.
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Two tracks from his 2018 album Egypt Station, “Come On To Me” and “Fuh You,” are in the countdown, at Nos.11 and 12. Two non-single tracks from Band On The Run, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” and “Let Me Roll It,” underline the enduring appeal of that album, placing at Nos.13 and 14, ahead of McCartney’s 1983 UK No.1 “Pipes Of Peace,” at No.15.
Paul’s McCartney III album, released last Friday (18), looks on course to enter the OCC chart at No.1 on Christmas Day.
McCartney III can be bought here.
Listen to the best of Paul McCartney on Apple Music and Spotify.
