Late musician David Bowie’s iconic song Heroes has seen a streaming spike of nearly 500 per cent after it featured in the Stranger Things finale earlier this year.
David Bowie’s song Heroes has seen a huge streaming spike after it featured in the Stranger Things finale.
The 1977 tune played out at the end of Netflix’s epic sci-fi series on New Year’s Day (01.01.26), which has resulted in the track’s streams being boosted by nearly 500 per cent.
According to Luminate data acquired by Rolling Stone magazine, the song had been averaging around 94,000 digital streams daily in the past five months.
However, that dramatically increased following the finale’s release.
On New Year’s Day, Heroes amassed 342,000 streams, and that rocketed to 456,000 a day later, followed by a massive 470,000 on January 3rd.
Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers revealed it was one of the show’s cast members, Joe Keery – who plays Steve Harrington in the series – who came up with the idea to feature Bowie’s iconic track in the episode’s conclusion.
A Peter Gabriel cover of the tune was already part of earlier seasons of the show, and Joe believed Bowie’s original would be a perfect fit to end the programme.
Ross Duffer told Tudum: “It was actually Joe Keery who suggested that we do the Bowie version.
“Once Joe said that, we immediately knew that was the right song to end the show on because it is, in some ways, an anthem for Stranger Things.
“To use the original Bowie version just felt fitting for the conclusion.”
Bowie’s Heroes played out over animated credits, which were created for the final episode by the show’s design studio Imaginary Forces.
In 2022, Kate Bush’s 1985 song Running up that Hill hit the top of the UK Singles charts after it was featured in Stranger Things season four that year.
Afterwards, Kate thanked the Duffer Brothers for the song’s resurgence.
She said on her website: “The Duffer Brothers have created four extraordinary series of Stranger Things in which the child actors have grown into young adults.
“In this latest series the characters are facing many of the same challenges that exist in reality right now.
“I believe the Duffer Brothers have touched people’s hearts in a special way, at a time that’s incredibly difficult for everyone, especially younger people.
“By featuring Running Up That Hill in such a positive light – as a talisman for Max (one of the main female characters) – the song has been
brought into the emotional arena of her story. Fear, conflict and the power of love are all around her and her friends.
“I salute the Duffer Brothers for their courage – taking this new series into a much more adult and darker place. I want to thank them so much for bringing the song into so many people’s lives. (sic)”
