On May 9-10, songs by the icon born Richard Penniman drew 4.1 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The sum represents a whopping 2,228% surge from the previous two days, May 7-8, during which his songs were streamed 175,000 times.
Little Richard’s streams on May 9-10 were led by his breakthrough 1955-56 hit, “Tutti Frutti.” The song earned 412,000 streams on May 9-10, up 1,210% from 32,000 on May 7-8.
Next up, his 1958 smash “Good Golly Miss Molly” racked up 367,000 streams on May 9-10, up 985%, followed by 1956’s “Long Tail Sally” (255,000 streams, up 1,056%).
As for digital song sales, Little Richard’s catalog sold 10,000 downloads on May 9-10, up 6,928% from a negligible amount on May 7-8.
While streaming and sales chart moves following the R&B/rock pioneer’s passing will be reflected on Billboard surveys dated May 23 (covering those metrics over May 8-14), he did reach the LyricFind U.S. and LyricFind Global tallies dated May 16, due to both lists, which track lyric search/usage, operating on a Monday-Sunday (May 4-10) schedule.
“Good Golly Miss Molly” placed at No. 4 on LyricFind U.S., with a 2,415% spike in searches, with “Long Tail Sally” (No. 6) and “Lucille” (No. 7) also reaching the top 10. On the Global list, “Tutti Frutti” bowed at No. 5.
Little Richard died May 9 at 87 years old from bone cancer. (His passing was announced the morning of May 9.)
Article Appeared @ https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9377325/little-richard-streams-after-death