Posted on 01/18/2020 10:53:46 PM PST by DoodleBob
Since the passing of legendary drummer Neil Peart, who died on January 7th after a 3 year battle with brain cancer, Rush has seen a significant climb in their music streams and album sales. According to Billboard, the prog-rock legends have seen upwards of a 776 percent increase in their total streams and a 2000 percent increase in their album sales.
These streaming and sales boosts are all compared to the 4 days before Neil’s death was made public; January 6th-9th. Nielsen Music/MCR Data measured that the band’s streams were at an estimated 2.8 million during the four days prior, and it increased to 24.54 million streams between January 10th-13th. Notably, the band’s most popular song, “Tom Sawyer,” saw a 305 percent increase in streams; from 698,000 to 2.82 million streams.
Apart from streams, Rush’s song catalogue grew 2,304% with their albums gaining a 1,820% in sales. As a result of the band’s streaming and sales surge, Billboard predicts that Rush are to likely impact next week’s Billboard Top 200 list, with some albums and songs re-entering the top 200.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
I wish people would stop using “progressive rock” as a label. Rock n roll is rock n roll, but it’s not all the same, end of story. Rush was / is awesome. I was lucky to see them a couple times.
Why do you not like more specific genres? Do you not understand what progressive rock means? It has nothing to do with politics :)
RIP Neil. The Spirit of Radio will live on in your memory.
I hope that it will bring some younger listeners to the wonderful world of RUSH.
Hard to believe, but they are the fourth largest in record sales ever.
Oops - wiki says they are now the third in sales. Behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
In addition to Peart’s lyrics and arrangements, all three were virtuoso’s with the instruments they played.
Never heard Rush sign, as he’s usually too busy slamming Democrats the media.
But if he did release a single, it would probably be similar to Telly Salavas ‘singing’, while smoking a cigarette, as in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J94-_w9ARX0
Great drummer - too bad his band had that ugly girl singing vocals....
Rush has been my favorite band since around 1977 when I was 10 and my 13 year old brother bought 2112. Saw them in concert several times including their last tour in 2015.
RIP Neil.
**Great drummer - too bad his band had that ugly girl singing vocals....**
Exactly why (when I listened to rock years ago) I couldn’t stand the singer. Neither could my wife. But then again, we didn’t do drugs, so maybe that makes a big difference in music comprehension and appreciation.
I could never get in to this band. I had to work with a hippy-ish douche for a year and he loved Rush. Wouldn’t shut up about Neal Peart.
Rush was as clean as they come. No drugs involved. These guys were just family men and musicians.....really good ones. As for Lee, try not liking Time Stands Still and Dreamline. Beautiful vocals and lyrics.
You might have missed the interview where the band was discussing the lyrics “we’re on our way to Bangkok aboard the Thailand Express “. I think they liked to toke up.
Perhaps I was being too stereotypical of rockers. Actually, most of my experience of hearing Rush songs was at a couple of jobs I worked, which had “classic rock” stations blaring the same old songs all day. It got old hearing that stuff in the background over and over.
Rush is #85 in the US in terms of millions of album-equivalent albums sold. Their 25 million units puts the right ahead of ZZ Top but right behind Nirvana.
“Rush was as clean as they come. No drugs involved.”
Say what? They were total potheads. Very well known.
Geddy has one of the most unique voices in rock, love it or hate it. His range is incredible. It is also perfect for the lyrics, which are very cerebral and, accordingly, repell drugged out people.
Thanks for that link. Upon further searching I see that the “third place” is for consecutive gold or platinum albums.
In another search I saw that Rush was 31st or something in sales of Platinum albums with 14. The Beatles had 41, and Elvis Presley was on top with 67!
“According to the RIAA, Rush’s sales statistics also place them third behind the Beatles and the Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum albums by a rock band. Rush also ranks 79th in US album sales with 25 million units.”
Geddy Lee’s voice wasn’t for everyone. On the more recent albums he couldn’t scream out every song like he used to, so many probably saw that as a good thing. But even years earlier when they did some more melodic stuff he could sing in a more “acceptable” great voice. (I liked it all!)
Bravado:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUSpBAmSMb8
I saw them in their “Running Man” tour in PHX.
It was great.
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