Van Halen Song Sales Spiked Over 6,000% Following Eddie’s Death

On Wednesday, the day after Eddie Van Halen’s death, while firmly ensconced in the Van Halen trance that still holds me, I tweeted this:

Good news: streams haven’t spiked 200,000% — although I’m holding out hope they still could by next week — but the 6,198% jump Billboard is reporting on the day he died is pretty hot dang incredible.

According to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, Van Halen’s collected albums and songs together sold 40,000 copies on October 6, up 6,198% compared to just under 1,000 sold on October 5. Albums alone sold 9,000 copies on October 6, with their top-selling album the 1978 self-titled debut, moving 2,000 units.

The biggest selling individual songs were (rounded to the nearest thousand):

“Jump” (3,000)
“Panama” (2,000)
“Eruption” (2,000)
“Runnin’ With the Devil” (2,000)
“You Really Got Me” (2,000)
“Dance the Night Away” (1,000)
“Why Can’t This Be Love” (1,000)
“Hot for Teacher” (1,000)
“Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” (1,000)
“Jamie’s Cryin’” (1,000)

Streaming figures will be reported in the coming days, and it’s expected that Van Halen will appear on next week’s Billboard charts.