Gordon Lightfoot’s music returns to the charts following his death

The death of singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot on May 1 sparked lots of renewed interest in his classic songs. According to Billboard, in the week following Lightfoot’s death, on-demand streams of his music jumped 290%, while downloads jumped from 1,000 songs to 41,000 songs, an increase of 3,629%.

The songs seeing the biggest increase include the classic “If You Could Read My Mind,” which tops the Digital Song Sales chart this week, thanks to a 4,162% increase in sales. Other Lightfoot songs landing in the top 10 include “Sundown” at #3, up 2,976%; “The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald” at #5, up 3,429%; and “Carefree Highway” at #10, up 4,283%.

In addition, all four songs land in the top five on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart: “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown” and “Edmond Fitzgerald” in the top three, with “Carefree Highway” at five.

Also returning to the chart is Lightfoot’s 1975 compilation album, Gord’s Gold, which jumps to #95 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, its first return to the chart since January 1977, when it landed at 34.