Eminem’s surprise performance of “Lose Yourself” on Sunday night at the Academy Awards spurred a big sales gain for the former No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single, according to initial sales reports to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
On Sunday, the track sold 4,000 downloads in the U.S., up a whopping 1,894 percent as compared to the negligible figure it sold Saturday. In total, Eminem’s entire catalog of songs — again, according to initial sales reports — sold a combined 7,000 downloads on Sunday, up 307 percent as compared to the nearly 2,000 sold on Saturday.
“Lose Yourself,” from the 2002 film 8 Mile, won the Academy Award for best original song at the Oscars on March 23, 2003, for the song’s three writers: Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto. However, Eminem and Bass were not present at the ceremony to accept their awards. After his “Lose Yourself” performance on Sunday, Eminem tweeted a message, referencing the lyrics of “Lose Yourself”: “Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity… Thanks for having me @TheAcademy. Sorry it took me 18 years to get here.”
Best Song Nominees Gain: All five of this year’s Oscar nominees for best original song were showcased with performances on the kudocast, including eventual winner “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” performed by Elton John.
Combined, the five nominees (“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” “I’m Standing With You,” “Into the Unknown,” “Love Me Again” and “Stand Up”) sold 5,000 downloads on Sunday — up 423 percent vs. the 1,000 they sold on Saturday.
The biggest seller of the five nominees on Sunday wasn’t the winning tune (which was actually the third-biggest seller of the five), but Cynthia Erivo’s “Stand Up,” which sold 2,000 downloads for a gain of 1,043 percent (up from a negligible sum on Saturday). Chrissy Metz’s “I’m Standing With You” was the second-biggest seller, moving 1,000 downloads for an increase of 2,563 percent (up from a negligible sum).
Mister Rogers, The Beatles and Janelle Monae, too! Aside from the surprise “Lose Yourself” performance and the renditions of the five best original song nominees, there were also a number of other familiar tunes that earned moments on the Oscars this year. Billie Eilish and Finneas performed The Beatles’ “Yesterday” during the In Memoriam tribute segment, and Janelle Monae and Billy Porter opened the awards show with a medley that included Monae’s “Come Alive (The War of the Roses),” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” (from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood) and John’s “I’m Still Standing.”
Collectively, those songs sold a negligible sum on Sunday, but did post a combined sales gain of 123 percent.
A Tuneful Increase: In total, all the songs noted above (“Lose Yourself,” the five best original song nominees and the additional tunes by Monae and others) sold nearly 10,000 downloads on Sunday, up 654 percent from the slightly more than 1,000 sold on Saturday.
This story first appeared on Billboard.com.
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