Sia, Sean Paul’s ‘Cheap Thrills’ Certified 5X Platinum In The UK

Cheap Thrills, a 2016 collab between Australian singer-songwriter Sia and Dancehall superstar Sean Paul, has sold another 600,000 units in the United Kingdom.

According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the Grammy-nominted song was certified Platinum 5X on Friday (March 10), after it surpassed 3 million sales and streaming units, as measured by The Official Charts Company. The song had been certified Platinum 4X in April 2020.

Described as a bouncy, Dancehall-tinged synthpop song, Cheap Thrills has spent a total of 66 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No. 2, and 52 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 1.

It was certified 8X Platinum in the United States for sales exceeding 8 million units, last year.

The song was also nominated at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards for the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Award, and has been featured on the soundtracks for numerous films and TV series, including Black Widow, Veronica Mars, Pitch Perfect 3, and Oh Happy Day.

“It’s so great to see the success that Cheap Thrills has had, and continues to have all around the world,” Sean Paul’s manager Steve “Urchin” Wilson told DancehallMag last year. 

“It was a song that we definitely liked.  Sean always wanted to do a song with Sia and we were really happy when it went to No. 1.”

Interestingly, Cheap Thrills was originally written for Rihanna for her Anti album, but it was rejected by the Bajan superstar because “it sounded a little bit too Brit-pop for her,” according to Sia in an interview with Rolling Stone.

Produced by Greg Kurstin, the song was then released as the second single on her seventh studio album, This Is Acting.  The hit version, with Sean Paul’s patios bars, was later released for digital download.

Cheap Thrills was Sia’s first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song, and it also marked Sean’s fourth song to top that chart—and, at the time, his first in 10 years. 

In the UK, it is Sia and Sean Paul’s top-selling song.

The Dutty Rock artist’s Platinum singles in the country are No Lie with Dua Lipa (Platinum 2X), Breathe with Blu Cantrell (Platinum 2X), and Temperature, Get Busy and She Doesn’t Mind (all Platinum).

Sia’s other Platinum singles in the UK are Titanium with David Guetta (Platinum 4X), Chandelier (Platinum 4X), Wild Ones with Flo Rida  (Platinum 2X), and Elastic Heart (Platinum 2X).

Paul and Sia, who still have not met face to face, have since teamed up again for Dymanite, which appeared on his Island Records album dubbed Scorcha.

That song was certified Gold in France earlier this year.