The series finale of Netflix’s Stranger Things featured a classic David Bowie song, and you might be surprised to find out how it ended up soundtracking the end credits.
In an interview with Netflix’s Tudum, the Duffer brothers said it was actually Joe Keery’s – who plays Steve Harrington in Stranger Things – suggestion for “Heroes” to close out the final season. It also calls back to the Peter Gabriel cover featured in earlier seasons.
“It was actually Joe Keery who suggested that we do the Bowie version,” Ross Duffer told the outlet. “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.”
The Duffer brothers said they knew they’d need numerous classic or iconic songs feature in the final episode, after deciding music and a record player would be the trigger to disconnecting the world to the Upside Down. In fact, Ross Duffer also told Tudum that they’d never talked so deeply about song choices as they did for the final moments of the series.
“We knew we needed an epic needle drop, and so many ideas were thrown around,” he said. In the same seasons, fans were treated to not one, but two Prince songs – ones that haven’t ever really been licensed for use in other movies or TV shows. Ross Duffer said there’s “nothing really more epic in Prince”, and landing on “When Doves Cry” and “Purple Rain” were the perfect additions.
Per Rolling Stone, Bowie’s “Heroes” has seen a jump of almost 500% of streaming services following the season finale, logging 342,000 streams on January 1st, 456,000 on January 2nd, and 470,000 on January 3rd, marking a roughly 3.6-to-5 times jump over its daily average in the days following the finale’s drop.
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Variety reports that “Purple Rain” experienced similar upticks, jumping up 243% on Spotify, with a 577% surge among global Gen Z listeners. “When Doves Cry” similarly grew, up 200% from pre-episode figures.
Even Joe Keery’s artist project, Djo, has seen a jump since the season finished, with his song “End of Beginning” climbing its way to No. 1 on the Spotify Global Chart this week, four years since its release, replacing Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” which has stayed in the position for weeks.
