David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ Saw Massive Streaming Spike After ‘Stranger Things’ Finale
Show co-creator Ross Duffer revealed that it was Joe Keery's idea to feature Bowie's song: "To use the original Bowie version just felt fitting for the conclusion"
By Tomás Mier
David Bowie‘s ‘Heroes’ might be stuck in your head after that iconic Stranger Things finale — and it’s being streamed by thousands of people, too. According to new Luminate data acquired by Rolling Stone on Monday, the classic track, which soundtracked the end credits of Stranger Things‘ Dec. 31 finale, saw a jump of almost 500 percent on streaming services.
On average, the 1977 song has been earning about 94,000 digital streams daily over the last five months. But after New Year’s Eve — when the song was used in the Netflix show’s final episode — it logged a rounded 342,000 streams on Jan. 1, 456,000 on Jan. 2, and 470,000 on Jan. 3, marking a roughly 3.6-to-5 times jump over its daily average in the days following the finale’s drop.
In a Monday interview with Netflix’s outlet Tudum, the Duffer Brothers revealed that it was Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington in the show, who suggested that the Bowie song would be the perfect way to conclude the show during its end-credits segment. It was also a nostalgic nod to the Peter Gabriel cover of the song that was featured in earlier seasons.
“It was actually Joe Keery who suggested that we do the Bowie version,” Ross Duffer told the outlet. “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.”
Speaking of Keery, the actor’s artist project Djo also saw a surge on streaming following the finale. His song ‘End of Beginning,’ originally dropped in 2022, climbed its way to Number One on the Spotify Global Chart this week — replacing Taylor Swift’s ‘The Fate of Ophelia,’ which held the position for weeks.
Stranger Things slayed at helping revive Eighties culture and music throughout its run, especially with its song choices. The show’s finale also featured two classic Prince songs, ‘When Doves Cry’ and ‘Purple Rain,’ and Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ returned to the charts in 2022 after being featured in Season Four.
The Duffer Brothers knew they would need several songs for key parts of the last episode after they figured out they’d have a record player serve as the trigger for the bomb that would end the bridge connecting the world to the Upside Down. Ross Duffer told Tudum they “never talked about a song choice as much as we did for that moment,” adding: “We knew we needed an epic needle drop, and so many ideas were thrown around. I think there’s nothing really more epic than Prince.” When it came to hitting those two moods, side two of Purple Rain “lined up perfectly for us,” Ross said.
According to Variety, since the finale aired on New Year’s Eve, ‘Purple Rain’ has seen a 243 percent jump in streams on Spotify, with a 577 percent surge among global Gen Z listeners.