Khaberni - In a stunning musical surprise, Joe Keery, star of the "Stranger Things" series, has managed to take the lead on the global Spotify list, ending Taylor Swift's dominance at the top following a wave of massive interest after the series' final episode aired.
Keery, known for his beloved role as "Steve Harrington", is now making his music under the stage name "DJO", according to the Spanish newspaper "Marca".
Over the weekend, fans rediscovered his song "End of Beginning", released in 2022, which suddenly jumped to the top of global listening charts, surpassing Swift's song that had dominated the platform for many weeks.
Taylor Swift had been reigning supreme with her song "The Fate of Ophelia" from her album The Life of a Showgirl (2025), which maintained the top spot for 78 consecutive days before Keery broke this remarkable streak.
This notable shift occurred just days after the end of the "Stranger Things" series aired, where the audience rushed to explore Keery’s musical works away from acting, a phenomenon that reflects the power of major cultural moments in reshaping listener tastes on streaming platforms.
Taylor Swift praises the song
Interestingly, this moment was somewhat bizarre, as years before the song became a global sensation, Taylor Swift herself had praised it. In 2024, during his appearance on the podcast "The Spout", Keery revealed a meeting with Swift at the Electric Lady studios in New York.
He said at the time, "I was completely surprised when she told me she loved the song 'End of Beginning', and I asked myself: How did she even hear it?" before adding that Swift’s passion for music and her constant discovery of new works made sense in the end.
Record numbers in record time
The song achieved 1.378 million listens in the United States alone on a single day, and over 6.5 million listens globally, topping Spotify’s global charts and transforming a work that had previously received limited critical acclaim into a massive popular success.
Observers believe that this meteoric rise highlights the speed at which major cultural events can impact and the ability of a loyal audience to revive artistic works and push them to the global forefront.
Kelsey's struggle
This development comes at a time when Taylor Swift's life is witnessing remarkable milestones outside the artistic arena, as the Kansas City Chiefs ended their 2025 season amid questions about the future of their star, Travis Kelce, Swift's fiancé, following a significant loss to the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day.
While Kelce stated that his focus is currently only on football, all eyes remain on the course of the relationship that has occupied both media and public attention.
