Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” debuted at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart on Friday (Jan. 15) with 95,000 chart sales, including 10.9 million streams across the week. The runaway hit even surpassed Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” to earn the U.K.’s highest number of streams ever in a single day for a non-Christmas song.
“Drivers License” earned 2.407 million streams on Tuesday, while “Shape of You” previously held the 24-hour record in 2017 with 2.274 million streams.
“I just want to say thank you guys so much. It means the absolute world to me that you guys are listening to and loving ‘Drivers License.’ So sending you all the love in the world,” the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star said in a video message celebrating the news while blowing a kiss and showing off her U.K. No. 1 plaque.
And there’s more: The 17-year-old singer-songwriter also had the biggest opening week of overall chart sales for a No. 1 debut in five years, since Zayn’s “Pillowtalk” in 2016. And she’s one of the youngest artists to score a No. 1 song in the U.K. before their 18th birthday, at 17 years and 10 months old. Jawsh 685 joined the 18-and-under chart-toppers club in July when he scored a No. 1 single with “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat),” alongside Jason Derulo, and led the chart for three weeks at 17 years and 7 months old.
Spotify confirmed to Billboard that, on Monday, “Drivers License” set the platform’s record for most streams in a day for a non-holiday song, with over 15.17 million global streams (and that on Tuesday, the song continued to beat its own record, with over 17.01 million streams). “Drivers License” also topped Spotify’s Global and U.S. Song Debut charts.
Rodrigo seems to have the first runaway hit of 2021 on her hands, so check Billboard next Tuesday (Jan. 19) to see where the song lands on the Billboard Hot 100.
