Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since U Been Gone’ Reaches 1 Billion Streams on Spotify — A Major Career Milestone
Kelly Clarkson has officially joined the elite Spotify Billions Club. The pop superstar and Emmy-winning talk show host celebrated a major achievement this week as her iconic hit “Since U Been Gone” surpassed 1 billion streams on the platform — becoming her first song ever to reach this milestone.
Released in 2004 as the second single from Clarkson’s Grammy-winning album Breakaway, the pop-rock anthem peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and quickly became one of the most defining songs of the 2000s. The track has been certified platinum by the RIAA for more than one million units sold, though the certification has not been updated since 2006.
“Since U Been Gone” received massive acclaim upon release, earning Clarkson the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2006. Its high-energy music video also won two MTV Video Music Awards in 2005 for Best Female Video and Best Pop Video.
The single was written and produced by Max Martin and Lukasz ‘Dr. Luke’ Gottwald, though Clarkson has previously been open about the difficult creative process behind the scenes. In a 2023 interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Clarkson revealed that she was misled about her involvement in the songwriting process, saying she was flown to Sweden to write lyrics only to learn the song had already been written.
“I looked like a fool,” Clarkson said at the time, explaining that her label had provided false information. “That’s why I had a bad vibe with that song. They told me something completely different.”
Still, Clarkson acknowledged that performing the hit remains one of the highlights of her live shows.
“It’s fine as hell to sing,” she added. “I can compartmentalize and still sing the hell out of it on tour.”
While “Since U Been Gone” marks her first track to cross the 1-billion-stream mark, several of Clarkson’s other fan favorites are rapidly climbing. “Underneath the Tree” has more than 863 million streams, while “Because of You” and “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” have each surpassed 800 million streams.
With her powerful vocals, long-lasting hits, and continued influence across music and television, Kelly Clarkson remains one of America’s most beloved pop icons — and her Spotify milestone only reinforces her enduring impact.
