Bruce Springsteen’s song “The Rising” surged in U.S. download sales on Monday (Aug. 17), according to initial reports to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, following the track’s prominent usage in the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
The song, first released in July of 2002, sold 1,000 downloads on Aug. 17 – up from a negligible sales figure on Aug. 16.
Over Aug. 14-17 in the current tracking week (which runs Aug. 14-20 for next week’s sales charts), the song has sold just under 1,000 downloads total – effectively all on Aug. 17. In turn, the track has already captured its best sales week since the week ending Sept. 11, 2011, when it sold 2,000 downloads. That week marked the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and “The Rising” was written as a reaction to 9/11.
“The Rising” was the title-track and lead single from Springsteen’s 2002 album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated Aug. 17, 2002.
During the first night of the Democratic National Convention, “The Rising” soundtracked a segment of the program that was dubbed “Rise Up,” effectively creating a music video for the track. (Springsteen and Patti Scialfa — his wife and fellow E Street Band member — appear briefly in the video.)
Springsteen shared the video on his Twitter and Instagram accounts with the caption “Come on up for #therising.” The video is also on the front page of his website, with the same caption, and a link to register to vote.
Come on up for #therising https://t.co/ocbt1TfWcS
— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) August 18, 2020
