Johnny Cash’s cover of Depeche Mode’s smash “Personal Jesus” earns the late superstar a new top 10 … [+]
More than two decades after his passing, Johnny Cash is back on the Billboard charts. The superstar’s estate has not shared anything new, but rather, one of the last tracks he released during his lifetime has become a smash thanks to an important sync.
“Personal Jesus” debuts on a pair of Billboard tallies this frame. The Depeche Mode cover becomes a bestseller across multiple genres, and it enters the top 10 on a pair of similarly-composed lists.
Cash’s cut lands highest on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart. On that tally, which ranks the bestselling rock tunes throughout America, the late star enters in the runner-up space. Only “Hard Fought Hallelujah” by Brandon Lake keeps him from earning his first No. 1 on the list.
Despite being one of the most popular country musicians of all time, Cash only collects his first top 10 hit on the Country Digital Song Sales chart this week. On that list, “Personal Jesus” opens in ninth place, narrowly managing to enter the highest tier.
Cash has previously collected a single top 10 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart. “Hurt,” his cover of a Nine Inch Nails track of the same name, peaked at No. 9 in November 2016. That same cut stood as Cash’s highest-rising win on the Country Digital Song Sales list until now. “Hurt” rose as high as No. 11, also in 2016, and it still stands as his longest-running win on the country-only list, as it has now racked up 10 stays somewhere on that roster.
According to Luminate, Cash’s reworking of “Personal Jesus” sold 1,700 copies in the past tracking frame. It didn’t even manage double-digit sales the period before, so the tune experienced a growth in pure purchases of just under 22,000%.
“Personal Jesus” has become a hit thanks to its use in one of the advertisements that aired during the Super Bowl. Christian nonprofit Come Near used the tune to soundtrack its spot, which highlighted how kindness is a virtue in an attempt to win people over to the organization’s religious direction.
Cash released “Personal Jesus” as the lead single from his album American IV: The Man Comes Around. The tune dropped in September 2002, and the album arrived later that year. Cash himself passed away the following September.
His last release during his lifetime was regarded as one of his finest in the latter part of his career, and it also produced “Hurt,” his Nine Inch Nails reworking, which was a surprising hit for the musician and even won him the Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video.
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