Jimmy Buffett Charted More Top 10 Hits After His Death Than During His Lifetime

Jimmy Buffett died on September 1, and in the weeks since, his fans have shown their support by consuming the music he left behind in massive numbers. His estate also began promoting what may be his last album, Equal Strain on All Parts, with a trio of new songs from the set. Buffett’s work has performed best on Billboard’s sales-focused charts following his passing, and the musician’s legacy has been improving by leaps and bounds, at least when it comes to his chart success.

Buffett has scored a total of six top 10 hits on the Digital Song Sales chart, the weekly ranking published by Billboard of the bestselling tunes in America. This differs from other, more closely-followed tracks, like the Hot 100, which incorporates streaming and radio consumption data. Of Buffett’s half-dozen top 10 smashes on the tally, five have debuted inside the area since his death was announced.

The week following his passing, Buffett claimed half of all the spaces inside the top 10 on the Digital Song Sales chart. This kind of showing isn’t entirely uncommon for well-known stars after they die, as both longtime lovers of their work and casual listeners head to Amazon
AMZN
and iTunes to purchase their biggest hits.

Four of those five top 10s were new to the Digital Song Sales chart, with only the biggest of the bunch, “Margaritaville,” returning to the list at No. 1. Last week, Buffett’s singles “Come Monday,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” with Alan Jackson, “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes” debuted at Nos. 3, 6, 8, and 10, respectively.

This week, Buffett earns yet another top 10 on the Digital Song Sales chart. His new track “Bubbles Up” opens at No. 4 on the tally with just under 7,900 copies sold, according to Luminate. It serves as the lead single from the forthcoming Equal Strain on All Parts, which will hit store shelves later this fall.

“Bubbles Up” is one of three tracks from his upcoming posthumous album to arrive on the tally this week. Further down on the Digital Song Sales list, “My Gummie Just Kicked In” arrives at No. 24, while “Like My Dog” begins its time on the tally at No. 28.

All told, Buffett has sent 16 different tracks to the Digital Song Sales chart. Many of those, including the aforementioned top 10s, arrived on the purchase-only ranking after his death, though not all of them. The list didn’t exist during his musical heyday, but a few of his biggest chart successes still found their way to the roster during his lifetime.