The Verve’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ has returned to the Billboard charts after news that The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards decided to offer their share of royalties for the hit single.
That’s roughly two decades following the initial release of the hit song. According to Nielsen Music, “Bitter Sweet Symphony” hits the Hot Rock Songs chart this June 8th at No. 13 with a 132% jump to 2,000 downloads sold and a 7% lift to 2.5 million U.S. streams in the week ending May 30.
It’s reported that older songs are eligible for Billboard’s multi-metric song charts, such as Hot Rock Songs and the Billboard Hot 100. This means that songs can resurface based on a combination of streaming, airplay and sales data.
The tracks can accrue enough points to rank in the top half of the surveys and with an especially notable cause for their resurgences.
“Bitter Sweet Symphony” re-enters the Alternative Digital Song Sales and Rock Digital Song Sales charts at Nos. 20 and 23, respectively, marking its first appearance on either list in nearly four years.
Frontman Richard Ashcroft is set to gain songwriters Royalties to ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ following the gift from the Rolling Stones.
In its original run, “Symphony” broke the England-based group in the U.S., reaching No. 12 on the Hot 100 in April 1998. It also hit Nos. 3 and 4 on the Adult Alternative Songs and Alternative Songs airplay charts.
However, issues arose as the track sampled the strings of the Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s rendition of the Stones’ 1965 song “The Last Time.”
Then, Allan Klein, the Stones’ business manager argued that The Verve used more of the sample than its license permitted, 100% of the royalties for the track were taken from the band and its writing credits were updated.
Earlier this year, Ashcroft’s managers appealed to Jagger and Richards to forgo their interests in “Symphony.” Thankfully, on May 23rd, “Mick and Keith immediately, unhesitatingly and unconditionally agreed to this request,” Ashcroft’s publicist announced.
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