Etta James’ Album Sales Spike 378% Since Her Death

Becky Bain | January 26, 2012 10:00 am

It’s both inevitable and unfortunate that an artist will often see the best sales of their career after their death. Since her passing on January 20, Etta James’ music sales have risen 378% from the following week, with 30,000 albums sold.  The iconic singer also nets her highest-charting album ever with The Best of Etta James – 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection, which hit #46 on the Billboard 200 with 8,000 sold.

Her signature song “At Last” was her best-selling song of the week, re-entering at #29 on the Digital Sales Chart. In 1961, the song peaked on the Hot 100 at #47. Overall, her catalog of songs have sold 118,000 downloads with a gain of 1,091% from the week before.

James’ voice can be heard on the Hot 100 today: her 1962 song “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” is sampled in both Avicii’s “Levels” (#68) and Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling” (#3).

If you’d like to remember James’ music through her modern day musical contemporaries, check out our list of the 10 Best Etta James Covers.

[Via Billboard]

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