John Anderson's Songs Climb Charts After His Death at 71

Country singer John Anderson died on Oct. 21 at the age of 71. He was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and his hits included "Swingin'" and "Wild and Blue." Listeners have responded by buying, streaming and requesting his older songs in large numbers.

The New York Times reported that Anderson died peacefully in his sleep, and that his publicist was Don Murry Grubbs. The Guardian noted that he had five No. 1 hits on the U.S. country charts.

Billboard's chart dated Oct. 31 shows the change in buying. "Seminole Wind," a 1992 single that reached No. 2 on Hot Country Songs, ranked No. 9 on the Digital Song Sales chart, which counts individual tracks bought as downloads. It sold 2,000 copies in the tracking week of Oct. 16-22. "Straight Tequila Night" ranked No. 14 on the same chart, and "Swingin'" ranked No. 20.

Streaming rose just as quickly. Billboard reported that Anderson's catalogue produced 7.2 million streams in the same week, nearly double the week before. "Seminole Wind" led with 1.5 million streams, up 56%. "Straight Tequila Night" had 1.4 million, up 49%, and "Swingin'" had 1.2 million, up 44%.

Radio play grew too. Anderson's songs drew 357 spins across Billboard's Country Airplay panel, a measure of how often stations play a track, up 166%. The number of his titles getting airplay rose from 7 to 18. The number of stations playing at least one of his songs rose from 72 to 94.

The biggest jump on radio belonged to "Straight Tequila Night," which logged 138 spins and nearly quadrupled its previous week's total. "Seminole Wind" had 79 spins, more than five times its earlier count.

The tracking week runs from Oct. 16 to Oct. 22. Five of those days came before Anderson's death.

For many listeners, buying or playing a song again is a way of going back to a voice they already know. Each purchase and stream in these figures is a person choosing to hear Anderson's music again in the days after his death.