‘Murder on the Dance Floor’ Is a Smash Hit Again—23 Years Later

Gen Z is discovering Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s hit “Murder on the Dance Floor” 23 years on thanks to its placement in the viral film, Saltburn.

During the song’s original run the track never hit the #1 spot, instead beat out by Daniel Bedingfield’s “Gotta Get Thru This” in 2001. Now Ellis-Bextor may get a bit of the Kate Bush treatment as Gen Z discovers the hit, sending it flying up Spotify charts with 340% interest since the movie debuted on Prime Video for the United States.

The song was used as a credits roll scene for the psychological thriller Saltburn, directed by Emerald Fennell. The final scene of the movie features full frontal nudity, with Barry Keoghan’s character Oliver Quick dancing nude to the song. The ending of the film sparked several discussions on social media—and renewed interest in the song. Ellis-Bextor celebrated that interest on TikTok, where she mirrors said dance movies while wearing a multi-colored sequined dress with antlers on her head.

“I really loved the movie,” Ellis-Bextor told Pink News in November 2023. “It’s funny because whenever you get asked about having a song involve din something, you always get a tiny synopsis or rough idea of placement. I just thought it was brilliant. It’s so beautifully shot. The script is bouncy and fun and sharp and witty, and then you get someone dancing full frontal nude to my song.”

The song earned its most-ever global Spotify streams in a single day on New Year’s Eve. The track received 1.5 million Spotify streams on December 31, 2023—a 340% increase in listenership compared to the same day in 2022. The additional interest in the song helped it earn its debut placement on the Spotify Global Songs chart, around #130.

The official Saltburn playlist on Spotify also saw its streams increase 250% globally since the film dropped on Amazon Prime Video on December 22.