The music industry seems like a one-size-fits-all gig for every artist, but anyone tuned into its complex choreography knows it is a far cry from it all. While Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik have garnered their own dedicated fanbases and claim equal stature on popularity charts, these once-collaborators now dance in very different orbits, each ruling their own corner of the globe. But despite their individual stardom, their iconic partnership has them reunited on fans’ playlists, with listeners celebrating the anniversary of their unforgettable track like a hit sequel they just cannot stop streaming.

Time really flies, and if there is no universal stopwatch to prove it, anniversaries sure make the perfect countdown. Exactly eight years ago, Republic Record released Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik’s collaboration, ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,’ on December 9, 2016, later serving as the standout soundtrack to the 2017 film, Fifty Shades Darker. But when the reminder popped up on socials for fans, the reaction was pretty much the same chaos as when the track first dropped.

The sultry electro-R&B and pop ballad, written by Taylor Swift, Sam Dew, and Jack Antonoff, debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’ eventually climbed to the second spot, becoming Zayn Malik’s second top-five hit and the pop empress’s eleventh. Not only did it land in the top ten best-selling singles of the year in the US, but also claimed the crown as the highest-charting track from the Fifty Shades franchise.

A Christmas Surprise? Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Has an Elf Spotted Backstage

While Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik earned fifty shades of applause for the hit, its eighth anniversary has fans hitting replay, as the timeless banger takes them back to the golden days.

The record industry has confronted its fair share of heartbreaks this year, but it is times like this when nostalgia ties those broken heartstrings tighter than ever. While showbiz sees countless hits every minute, only some have the potential to endure years and years after with the same gridiron glory they flaunted with their arrival. Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift may not have crossed each other’s paths musically since their collaboration, but the banger they dropped still has fans crowning it as the “best collaboration” ever.

Since nostalgia was already getting Swifties all moist-eyed with the Eras Tour’s conclusion, this anniversary intensified the emotional rollercoaster even more.

Of course, the memory prompted fans to plead for another collaboration. However, most were busy dropping their jaws to the floor over how the track’s relevance did not fizzle out even by an inch despite the years it has passed. While wordsmiths weave wonders unseen by the naked eye, Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift are masters of traveling back in time who have successfully left fans to doubt their eyes and ears with their effortless rewinding of the clock with every note and lyric.

Zayn Malik Posts Flood X as Fans Welcome the “2012” ‘Entertainer’ in Manchester

What do you think of fans celebrating the anniversary of Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift's 2016 hit? Let us know in the comments below!