Snow Patrol’s ballad Chasing Cars has been named the most played song on U.K. radio and TV of the 21st Century.
Released in June 2006, the track originally only reached number six in Britain’s Official Singles Chart, but had an enduring appeal and was the year’s 14th best-selling single in the U.K. that year.
It was named the most played song of the decade back in 2009, and new figures from music licensing company PPL, show it is now the most played of the last 20 years.
“It’s unbelievable,” Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody told the BBC after hearing the news. “I’m not sure how that happened.”
Asked to explain Chasing Cars’ success, he said: “It’s an emotionally open song and it’s a simple song. But it’s also unabashedly a love song, and we don’t really have any others. The way it unifies an audience is the thing I most cherish about it. It’s a beautiful moment every time you play it.”
As well as becoming a staple on a variety of U.K. radio stations, Chasing Cars has also been used in popular TV dramas, including U.S. hit show Grey’s Anatomy, and holds the distinction of being the last song performed live on a regular edition of iconic BBC chart show Top of the Pops.
Second place in the most played list went to Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling, while Pharrell Williams’s Happy came third.
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