The Beatles officially stopped making music together back in the ‘70s, but they are still immensely popular to this day. So popular, in fact, that their “last” single, which was released only a few days ago, has rocketed to No. 1 on a Billboard chart the band has never ruled before.
“Now and Then” opens at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, the weekly ranking of the bestselling tracks in America. The tally is different from the more closely-watched Hot 100, which incorporates other forms of consumption, such as streams and radio airplay.
The track opens atop the Digital Song Sales chart with 16,000 copies sold, according to Luminate (and shared by Billboard). That’s not a huge sum, but enough to give the band the top-selling tune in an otherwise quiet frame when it came to sales of individual cuts in America.
What’s most impressive about the immediate success of “Now and Then” is how quickly it racked up enough purchases to rank as the No. 1 seller in America. The Beatles dropped the tune on Thursday, November 2–the last day of the tracking frame. It sold well enough in less than one full day to hit No. 1, while most songs require an entire week to collect enough purchases to have a shot at the highest reaches of the list.
“Now and Then” marks The Beatles’ first No. 1 hit on the Digital Song Sales chart. In fact, it’s also their first top 10 on the tally. The group released all of their music–except for this latest track–decades before the introduction of the ranking, which was only created by Billboard after platforms like Amazon
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Before “Now and Then” arrived, the highest The Beatles had risen on the Digital Song Sales chart was No. 26. The group’s hit “Let It Be” once climbed to that space back in 2010. By then, the smash had been out for decades, but from time to time they managed to chart again, based on special events. So far, The Beatles have sent 12 tunes to the list, including this latest win.
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