It’s a sad fact in the music business that whenever a star passes away, sales of his or her music go through the roof — yet in the case of the late George Michael, that roof is apparently on a very tall building.
According to Billboard, sales of Michaels’ music have risen by an astonishing 2,678 per cent since the “Faith” singer’s unexpected death on Christmas Day.
In the week ending Dec. 29, sales rose to 477,000 albums and songs, a huge increase compared to the previous week, when just 17,000 were sold. Of that 477,000 total, 48,000 of that number came from album sales (up from 1,000 the previous week), while sales of individual songs leapt to 429,000, an increase of just 16,000 for the week before.
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In addition, three of Michael’s solo albums and Wham!’s 1984 debut “Make It Big” all returned to the Billboard 200 chart, with Michael’s greatest hits compilation “Twenty Five” re-entering the charts at #12, while his debut solo album, 1987’s “Faith”, charted at #18.
When it comes to singles, Michael’s “Careless Whisper” charted at #33 in the top 100, while the title song from “Faith” landed at #47.