Gnarls Barkley, the genre-bending duo consisting of vocalist CeeLo Green and producer Danger Mouse, has reached a new milestone on Spotify.
Their 2006 hit single “Crazy” has surpassed one billion streams on the platform. It’s the duo’s first song to achieve this feat.
“Crazy” was the lead single from Gnarls Barkley’s debut album, St. Elsewhere. Before it was officially released, it was mysteriously leaked online in 2005.
In a 2021 interview with Rated R&B, Green reflected on “Crazy” and St. Elsewhere in honor of the album’s 15th anniversary. He referred to “Crazy” getting leaked as a miracle.
“It didn’t give me enough time to be disappointed or panicked. That sh*t got leaked and before you know it, that sh*t went BOOM,” Green told Rated R&B.
And boom, it went. “Crazy” made history in the U.K. as the first song to reach No. 1 on the Singles Chart solely from digital downloads. It spent nine consecutive weeks atop the chart.
In the U.S., “Crazy” blasted to No. 2 on the Hot 100, later going platinum and earning a Grammy nod for Record of the Year and winning Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
As of July 2016, “Crazy” is certified 4x platinum, with more than four million copies sold.
St. Elsewhere reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart. It’s Gnarls Barkley’s only top 10 album on that chart. Their sophomore album, The Odd Couple (2008), opened at No. 12.
Unlike St. Elsewhere, the duo’s second album didn’t generate another “Crazy” hit. Their single “Going On” peaked at No. 88 on the Hot 100.
It’s been 16 years since Gnarls Barkley released an album. In 2020, Green told Rated R&B that they were making plans for a follow-up.
“I just talked about Danger Mouse yesterday, so we are on board and on schedule. There was never a formal date; it was just kind of taking these moments to get together,” Green said.
Green continued, “We just got ideas, and we are now about to embark upon a formal arrangement of getting back in the studio. It’s always been scheduling conflicts, but it’s also been us just waiting for the right time. We are finally getting to a point where we can make it happen for real.”
Stream “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley below.