Welcome back to the Billions Club, John Newman. The English singer and DJ’s 2013 debut solo single “Love Me Again” just cracked a billion streams on Spotify, gaining entry into the platform’s vaunted Billions Club. It’s Newman’s second song to reach the billion-stream tier following “Blame,” his 2014 collaboration with Calvin Harris.
Released as the lead single from Newman’s debut solo album Tribute, “Love Me Again” was an instant hit on impact and has been a ubiquitous force ever since. The song made waves in the U.S., climbing to No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it hit especially big in Newman’s native U.K., where it soared to No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart and was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 2014 BRIT Awards. It was also up for Best Song Musically and Lyrically at the London-based Ivor Novello Awards.
“Love Me Again” topped the chart in more than a dozen other countries, too. The track further gained a foothold in pop culture via its inclusion on the soundtrack for the FIFA 14 video game, a capacity it reprised as part of the FIFA 23 extension for 2022 World Cup. It was in Just Dance 2015 too, and it has routinely popped up in movies, TV shows, and ads.
The reasons for the song’s popularity are obvious. Written by Newman and Steve Booker, who produced the track with Mike Spencer, “Love Me Again” boasts a humongous vocal hook, delivered in Newman’s powerful, distinctive voice and strengthened by a small army of shout-along backup singers. Its arrangement is equally contagious, built around rolling piano chords, buoyant brass, and a relentless backbeat.
Prior to “Love Me Again,” Newman enjoyed a pop-chart breakthrough via his work with Rudimental. Newman co-wrote and featured on the electronic dance act’s chart-topping “Feel The Love’ and reprised the collaboration on “Not Giving In.” In 2013, just after the release of “Love Me Again,” he reflected on his success so far in an interview with The Line of Best Fit, telling the site, “I didn’t want to become just the Rudimental singer.”
He knew he’d be transcending that reputation during the making of “Love Me Again.” Newman told Digital Spy about writing the song with Booker: “We turned around and had massive grins on our faces thinking, ‘There’s something good here.’ But you just never know how good it is, you know?” Good enough, apparently, to tally a billion streams and counting.
