Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Long Long Time’ Rules Multiple Billboard Charts Thanks to ‘The Last of Us’
Linda Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time” tops multiple Billboard charts more than 50 years after its release, thanks to its inclusion in a recent episode of HBO’s The Last of Us.
“Time,” originally released on Ronstadt’s 1970 album Silk Purse, bows at No. 1 on the Rock Digital Song Sales, LyricFind U.S. and LyricFind Global rankings dated Feb. 11.
The LyricFind Global and LyricFind U.S. charts rank the fastest momentum-gaining tracks in lyric-search queries and usages globally and in the U.S., respectively, provided by LyricFind. The Global chart includes queries from all countries, including the U.S. The company is the world’s leader in licensed lyrics, with data provided by more than 5,000 publishers and utilized by more than 100 services, including Amazon, Pandora, Deezer, Microsoft, SoundHound and iHeartRadio.
After its synch in the Jan. 29 episode of the show, “Time” garnered lyric search and usage increases of 3,013% in the U.S and 2,074% globally in the Jan. 30-Feb. 5 tracking week, according to LyricFind.
Additionally, in the tracking period running Jan. 27-Feb. 2, the song earned 6,000 downloads in the U.S., according to Luminate, enough to place it atop the Rock Digital Song Sales ranking. Its jump was 11,181% from a negligible amount the prior week.
As previously reported, “Time” also appears at No. 6 on the Hot Trending Songs chart, powered by Twitter, for Feb. 11.
Its gains weren’t limited to sales, social media chatter and lyric usages. In the U.S., “Time” saw a 1,042% lift in official streams in the Jan. 27-Feb. 2 frame, to 903,000 streams from 79,000 the previous period.
The No. 1s mark the first rule on a Billboard chart for “Time,” which peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1970.
Its parent album, Silk Purse, also peaked at No. 103 on the Billboard 200 in November of that year.
It’s the second synch success for The Last of Us on the Billboard charts, following Depeche Mode‘s “Never Let Me Down Again,” which returned to multiple rankings after being heard in the series premiere two weeks prior.
Kevin Rutherford
Billboard