Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ certified double platinum after 52 weeks in Official Singles Chart

Single has hit over 1.2 million registered sales in the UK alone
Afrobeats star to headline The O2 on 14th November 2023, tickets here

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--‘Calm Down’, a single by Afrobeats artist Rema, has last week been certified double platinum in the UK.

The single, released in February of last year, has spent an incredible 52 weeks in the OCC chart and dominated airways both in the UK and beyond. In the UK, ‘Calm Down’ has notched over 1.2 million registered sales, and it’s resonated globally too; the track has been streamed over 2 billion times on all platforms worldwide. It has also been cemented as the #1 most-streamed Afrobeats song of all time on Spotify and made further history as the #1 most viewed African artist video of all time on YouTube.

The statistics speak for themselves; between August 2021 and August 2022, Apple Music reported a 500% overall streaming increase for African DJ mixes. To support the many independent artists emerging from the region, Virgin Music Group also launched in Africa in 2022.

Rema is an artist riding - and ultimately leading - that wave. After recruiting Selena Gomez for a remix of ‘Calm Down’, his whirlwind ascent is to be celebrated at a headline show at London’s The O2 on 14th November 2023.

Tickets are available here

Vanessa Bosåen, President at Virgin Music UK, commented: “It’s been wonderful to see Afrobeats resonate with music fans around the world and Rema is playing a huge role in its success. For ‘Calm Down’ to go double platinum is a terrific achievement, and yet another milestone in Rema’s fantastic career.”

Guillermo Ramos, General Manager at Virgin Music UK, added: “Rema has evolved the Afrobeats sound with his very own blend of ‘Afrorave’, showing that culturally he is able to push the scene farther than ever before. ‘Calm Down’ is double-platinum now, and the consumption has barely slowed, so it is galloping towards being the biggest song in the genre ever in this country. That is a crown Rema 100% deserves to wear.”

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