Legend Lives On: Neil Sedaka's Streams Skyrocket 700% After His Passing

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where the music industry keenly observes songs, artists, curiosities, and trends catching significant attention. This week’s edition highlights several instances of music finding renewed life, from posthumous surges in streaming to multi-generational hip-hop samples and unexpected viral hits.
Following his death at age 87 on Friday, February 27, legendary pop singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka's catalog experienced a remarkable resurgence. In the first four days of the tracking week (February 27-March 2), his official on-demand U.S. streams soared by 708%, totaling 2.4 million, according to Luminate data. Digital song sales also saw a substantial increase, with nearly 8,000 units sold. Three of his signature hits led this posthumous tribute: “Laughter in the Rain” streams were up 505% to 514,000, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” increased 453% to 307,000, and “Calendar Girl” rose 519% to 212,000. Additionally, The Captain and Tennille’s Sedaka-co-penned “Love Will Keep Us Together” saw a 15% bump to 137,000 streams, while Sedaka’s original “Love” climbed a staggering 1,811% to 55,000 streams. His family’s announcement honored him as “a true rock n’ roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly... an incredible human being.”
Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna’s decade-old track, “Someone Out of Town” from her 2011 Decorate EP, is experiencing an explosion in popularity thanks to its clever sampling in modern hip-hop. The revival began with rising North Carolina rapper Toppoppgen, who signed to Columbia via Signal Records in spring 2025 and released his second full-length album, Kalon, last October. His breakout track “Numb” samples XXXTentacion’s 2015 standalone single “Let’s Pretend We’re Numb,” which itself samples Yuna’s original. Toppoppgen's
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