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Kevin Parker thanks fans after Tame Impala’s single The Less I Know the Better passes one billion streams

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Simon CollinsThe West Australian
Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker with his award for The Less I Know the Better reaching one billion streams.
Camera IconTame Impala frontman Kevin Parker with his award for The Less I Know the Better reaching one billion streams. Credit: Matt Barber

Kevin Parker has thanked music lovers for propelling Tame Impala’s 2015 single The Less I Know the Better past one billion streams.

And he revealed that the infectious disco-influenced song from the Fremantle psych-rockers’ chart-topping third album Currents was originally written for New York-based super producer Mark Ronson’s album.

“During the recording session I was working myself up to tell him I was going to take it back,” Parker said on April 29 when he received The 1,000,000,000 List award in Sydney from peak songwriting body APRA AMCOS.

But before the Tame Impala frontman could give his friend the bad news, Ronson told him to keep it for his next release.

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The Less I Know the Better becomes only the 27th song written or co-written by an Australian to officially reach one billion streams across Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Vevo and other major services.

Other songs to hit the milestone include Troye Sivan’s Youth, Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know, Vance Joy’s Riptide and Tones and I’s Dance Monkey, while Sia boasts nine tracks that have been streamed more than a billion times.

Kevin Parker of Tame Impala has been described as a ‘visionary’.
Camera IconKevin Parker of Tame Impala has been described as a ‘visionary’. Credit: Noam Galai/WireImage

Written, recorded, produced and mixed by Parker, The Less I Know the Better was the fourth single from the Grammy-nominated album Currents and eventually topped Triple J’s Hottest 100 of the Decade.

The hit is quadruple platinum in Australia, platinum in the UK and reached double platinum in the US after going viral on TikTok.

The streaming honour came the day after Parker was named Songwriter of the Year at the APRA Music Awards.

APRA AMCOS chief executive Dean Ormston said the Fremantle-based yet world-renowned musician is a “visionary”.

“He has created a sound and a global following, and has the world’s best creatives queuing to work with him,” Ormston said.

Sony Music Publishing Australia managing director Damian Trotter added that The Less I Know the Better is “an incredible song, with one of the greatest basslines ever written”.

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