In the week after Jimmy Buffett died of skin cancer, sales of the legendary songwriter’s tracks collectively rose over 7,000%, according to to data from Luminate published by Billboard.
For the tracking week dated Sept. 1 through Sept. 7 — which began on the day Buffett passed away at age 76 — paid downloads hit 103,000 in the US, according to Luminate, buoyed by the singer’s famed “Margaritaville” track.
Record sales put Buffett on the Digital Song Sales chart like he never before had been in his six decade-long career.
He occupied 12 of the 50 spots on the list in the week ended Sept. 7, according to Billboard, even topping the chart with “Margaritaville,” which also hit No. 1 on the Country and Rock Digital Song Sales charts after the singer posthumously sold the song 16,000 times.
“Come Monday,” which debuted in 1974, ranked No. 3 after 14,000 sales, and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” landed in the sixth spot with 7,000 sales, per Billboard.
“Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” and a live-recorded version of “Brown Eyed Girl” also appeared on the list, in spot No. 8, 10 and 48, respectively.
The famed “Margaritaville” — which is an ode to the tropical lifestyle and has inspired restaurant and hotel chains across the country — also scored Buffett his first hit on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart, which looks at each week’s most-streamed songs.
“Margaritaville” streams advanced 720%, to 8.1 million, for the week as fans played the song in tribute to the musician, whose family shared that “he lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”
The surge in listens debuted “Margaritaville” at No. 41 on Billboard’s Hot 100 — which ranks based on physical and digital sales, online streaming and radio play — nearly five decades after it was first released.
On the Hot Rock and Hot Country charts, which follow Hot 100’s same methodology, “Margaritaville” placed No. 9 and No. 14, respectively.
The last time Buffett was charted on the coveted Hot 100 list was in October 2011 as a featured singer on Zac Brown Band’s “Knee Deep,” which peaked at spot 13, according to Billboard.
Buffett also posthumously broke his own record on the Greatest Hits & Ballads Album Charts, re-entering the list at No. 4 with “Songs You Know By Heart: Jimmy Buffett’s Greatest Hit(s),” which had previously peaked at No. 100 when it was released in 1985.
For the week ended Sept. 7, sales of the album — which features eight of the 12 tracks that made the week’s Digital Song Sales chart — were up 2,106%, to 52,000.
After selling 15,000 copies the week of Buffett’s death, the album also re-entered the Top Album Sales list at No. 1, which ranks albums across all genres, and nabbed the No. 2 spot on Top Country Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Americana/Folk Albums, per Billboard.
Prior to his death, Buffett was gearing up for the release of a new album, “Songs You Don’t Know by Heart.”
Had he released the album, it would have marked the musician’s 57th over the course of his glittering career.
A majority of his albums have won him gold, platinum or multi-platinum plaques, and his success translated seamlessly into sold out shows and tours across the globe.
While he never won a Grammy — despite being nominated twice — Buffett scooped several Country Music Association awards and was even inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
