BeyoncĂ© sees spike in record sales after performance at Kobe’s memorial
Sales and streams for “XO” and “Halo” grew significantly after her heartfelt rendition of one of Bryant's favorite songs
Beyoncé has seen a hike in sales since she performed at Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna’s memorial service.
Beyoncé has seen a hike in sales since she performed at Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna’s memorial service.
Since the singer performed at Bryant’s Feb. 24 service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, sales and streams for “XO” and “Halo” grew significantly. In addition, sales for the albums that those songs are on grew as well.
READ MORE: BeyoncĂ© performs ‘XO’ and ‘Halo’ to open Kobe Bryant Memorial: ‘This was one of his favorite songs’
For example, “XO” sold 3000 downloads in the week ending Feb. 27, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, prompting a No. 9 return to the Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales chart. The song also came in at No. 17 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales. Meanwhile “Halo” brought in 2,000 more sales during the same timeframe, and is back up at No. 12 on the R&B Digital Song Sales and No. 25 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales, Billboard reports.
On top of this, streaming rose significantly for both songs. “XO” pulled in 1.3 million on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending Feb. 27, a 258 percent hike from the previous week’s 362,000 streams, and “Halo” scored a 1 percent jump to 3.5 million on-demand streams during the same timeframe, according to Billboard.
Beyoncé’s 2008 I Am… Sasha Fierce album, which features “Halo,” also came back on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart at No. 24 and the Billboard 200 at No. 177. The singer’s self-titled 2013 album, which features “XO,” roared back at No. 25 on the R&B albums chart and No. 195 on the Billboard 200.
During the memorial service, Beyoncé said she chose “XO” since it was “one of (Kobe’s) favorite songs.” A few days later, Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, later posted a video to Instagram that showed Kobe and their daughter, Gianna, while “XO” plays.
READ MORE: Vanessa Bryant is ‘devastated’ by deputies allegedly sharing Kobe crash photos
Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on Jan. 26, en route to a youth basketball game at his sports academy. It’s been speculated that the crash was caused by foggy weather conditions. An investigation is ongoing.
