Avicii’s Wake Me Up is now RIAA’s highest-certified dance song ever
The track – released in 2013 – has now surpassed 10 million units sold.
Credit: Rich Polk/Getty Images for Rolling Stone
Avicii’s enduring 2013 dance anthem Wake Me Up has become the highest-certified dance/electronic song in RIAA history.
Released just over 10 years ago on June 17, 2013, the track – an EDM banger driven by bluegrass-style acoustic guitar – has just earned RIAA Diamond Certification, a milestone marking 10 million certified units sold.
But while the track is far and away the most listened-to track in the late Swedish producer’s catalogue – with almost two billion Spotify streams and over two billion YouTube views at the time of writing – it wasn’t always so well received.
When Avicii – whose real name was Tim Bergling – debuted the track at Ultra Music Festival in Miami in 2013, it was met with boos from the crowd. But in the years that followed, it cemented itself as one of the producer’s most defining pieces of work.
According to Billboard, Wake Me Up spent 54 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 4 in October 2013. The track also spent 26 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.
For context, other tracks that sit just behind Wake Me Up on the RIAA certification chart include Major Lazer and DJ Snake’s Lean On at No. 2, followed by Owl City’s Fireflies, Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, Marshmello’s Happier, Mike Posner’s I Took a Pill In Ibiza, Zedd, Maren Morris and Gray’s The Middle, David Guetta’s Titanium, Jack Ü’s Where Are U Now and Swedish House Mafia’s Don’t You Worry Child.
Avicii died by suicide in 2018 while in Muscat, Oman. A little over a year later, his third and final album, Tim, was released posthumously, with contributions from Aloe Blacc, Imagine Dragons, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Vargas & Lagola and more.
Last month, it was revealed that a documentary about Avicii’s life is in the works, featuring unreleased footage as well as new interviews with his family and friends.
“Avicii changed the music industry,” says producer Orlando John. “People think they know the story, but they have really no clue as to what actually happened. I feel a profound responsibility to ensure that it’s told accurately and objectively. This documentary will give the audiences a deeper understanding of the brand that left an indelible mark on music and culture.”
