David Bowie’s 1977 hit “Heroes” experienced a dramatic surge in streaming numbers after being included in the closing credits of the final episode of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” on New Year’s Day.
The track jumped from an average of 94,000 daily streams to 342,000 on Jan. 1, peaking at 470,000 by Jan. 3, according to Rolling Stone.
The decision to feature Bowie’s original recording for the closing credits of the series finale came from Joe Keery, who portrays Steve Harrington. The show had previously featured a Peter Gabriel cover of the song in earlier seasons, the report said.
“It was actually Joe Keery who suggested that we do the Bowie version,” show co-creator Ross Duffer said. “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.”
In 2022, Kate Bush’s 1985 song “Running Up That Hill” climbed to No. 3 on the U.S. charts and reached over 1 billion streams after it was featured in “Stranger Things” season four.
Bush went on to thank the Duffer Brothers for the track’s unexpected resurgence.
“The Duffer Brothers have created four extraordinary series of ‘Stranger Things’ in which the child actors have grown into young adults,” she said in a post to her blog at the time.
“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.”
All episodes of “Stranger Things” are streaming now on Netflix.