Posted May 26, 20169 yr Apologies for going full on morbid but this got me wondering. When we lost Bowie and Prince this year, the charts were flooded with their hits. As far as I'm aware, none of their best known songs peaked higher after their deaths than they had on original release. But which artists might see exactly this? There a loads of examples of well known songs which weren't chart hits at the time. Whose death might see another 'Man in the Mirror' moment? The one which first sprang to mind for me is Springsteen's 'Born To Run'. The man looks like he'll go on forever, but it remains pretty incredible that his best known song only reached as high as #16 as a live version in 1987.
May 26, 20169 yr The only one I can think of for certain will be 'Summer of 69'. Hopefully that gets a repeak not by the circumstances of Bryan passing but it looks like that'll be the only way it'll properly go top 40 finally!
May 26, 20169 yr As far as I'm aware, none of their best known songs peaked higher after their deaths than they had on original release. 'Purple Rain' repeaked at #6 (original peak was #8) which was probably helped by very little of his musical output being on streaming services (except for Tidal I think?). As for Bowie, 'Heroes' repeaked at #12 (original peak was #24). 'Changes' (#49) and 'Suffragette City' (#194) also charted for the first time too. But for an answer to your original question, I think either 'Stairway to Heaven' or 'Whole Lotta Love' by Led Zeppelin might repeak if either Jimmy Page or Robert Plant were to pass away. The only other one I can really think of is Dolly Parton ('9 to 5') maybe going Top 40 finally. I would've said 'Anarchy in the UK' by The Sex Pistols too, but I think more people would opt to buy/stream 'God Save the Queen' now that I think about it. Edited May 26, 20169 yr by Jake.
May 26, 20169 yr I can see "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M. beating its original peak of #19 if the lead singer was to pass away. AC/DC could get a lot of new peaks for their songs if one of their members were to pass. Especially with all their material avaiable to stream.
May 27, 20169 yr Back to Black also repeaked Right? Sure people would go for Everything I Do In the case of Bryan Adams
May 27, 20169 yr Back to Black also repeaked Right? Sure people would go for Everything I Do In the case of Bryan Adams "Summer of '69" has twice as many plays on Spotify so it's surely the more popular track worldwide, unless the UK really does side with "Everything I Do"? I see it's higher on iTunes at the moment. For the thread, one that comes to mind is Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" which only peaked at #60 (in 2013!), but then streaming makes this all more difficult so it's hard to say.
May 27, 20169 yr Pretty morbid thread here. It kinda goes hand-in-hand with the Spotify Payola one where streaming services immediately created a Bowie / Prince (where they could) playlist and put it on the home screen - death still the best publicity you can get. There used to be a computer game called "Rock Star Ate My Hamster" where you managed a band. One of the options was to try a publicity stunt and you'd see from the next day's tabloid headlines if it went well or not. It usually ended up with something like "Rock Star Punches Bishop" which would give you a small sales boost, but headlines like "Rock Star Dies in Orgy" or "Rock Star Dies in Nuclear War" would give you a huge sales boost. Cynical programmers or just a touch of reality?
May 27, 20169 yr That's why I put (where they could) in brackets - and there were some on compilations etc. and a whole load of things connected to him. But thanks for your comment.
May 27, 20169 yr Actually "Heroes" had only reached number 24 before Bowie's death, then got to number 7 afterwards
May 27, 20169 yr Actually "Heroes" had only reached number 24 before Bowie's death, then got to number 7 afterwards Number 12 actually, as previously mentioned in this thread. It did however make number 7 in the sales only chart.
May 28, 20169 yr "Ace Of Spades" re-peaked at #13, beating its original peak of #15 following the death of Lemmy
May 28, 20169 yr What does anyone think would be Madonna's highest re-charting single? Was thinking about this and there are quite a few that it could be. Hung Up, Like A Prayer, Into The Groove?
May 28, 20169 yr I think 'Like A Prayer' would benefit the most out of Madonna's collection, but obviously that's already been a #1 so she won't be achieving a new peak with that. Infact she doesn't seem to have anything that peaked a lot lower than its popularity suggests.
May 28, 20169 yr If George Michael or Mariah Carey die just before Christmas, one of the highest-selling #2s of all time could finally get to the top - the Freddie Mercury effect, although Bohemian Rhapsody had already been a #1. Maybe 'Wonderful Christmastime' would go top 10 for McCartney too. But then if Kirsty Maccoll was still alive I'd be saying exactly the same about FONY...
May 28, 20169 yr The Power of Goodbye could do very well by Madonna, beautiful song and peaked at 91 originally.
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