Billboard has revealed just how influential RuPaul’s Drag Race is—reporting significant boosts across streaming services in the US for songs that have been featured on the TV series.
Whitney Houston’s "So Emotional" saw a massive spike in listens after it was used in the Season 9 finale—when queens Sasha Velour and Shea Coulee lip-synced for their lives. Streams of the 1987 hit were up 510% in the week following the airing of the performance.
Online listens of Ariana Grande’s "Greedy" jumped up 118% in May—following the infamous Valentina vs Nina Bonina Brown performance.
In fact, massive spikes in streams for all the songs used in the ninth season of Drag Race—with tracks from the B-52s, Bonnie Tyler, Britney Spears and Madonna all receiving a boost in listens.
But it seems as though Dolly Parton’s "Baby I’m Burning" has benefited the most from being featured on the reality show, seeing a whopping 2114% increase in streams across all audio and video streaming services in the United States.
The song was used in a lip-sync battle between Farrah Moan and Alexis Michelle this year and while it sent Farrah home, she was nonetheless excited about the news.
“That's absolutely amazing. I never thought that would happen. But I love Dolly Parton and that makes me extremely happy.”
Billboard has compiled a full list of stats for the influential season nine songs below:
"Love Shack" by The B-52s - 384,000 streams, up 25% in the week ending April 6. (Jaymes Mansfield vs Kimora Blac)
"Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler - 528,000 streams, up 10% in the week ending April 13. (Aja vs Kimora Blac)
"I Wanna Go" by Britney Spears - 240,000 streams, up 16% in the week ending April 20. (Charlie Hides vs Trinity Taylor)
"Woman Up" by Meghan Trainor - 148,000 streams, up 69% in the week ending April 27. (Cynthia Lee Fontaine vs Farrah Moan)
"Music" by Madonna - 81,000 streams, up 33% in the week ending May 4. (Cynthia Lee Fontaine vs Peppermint)
"Finally" by CeCe Peniston - 173,000 streams, up 104% in the week ending May 11. (Aja vs Nina Bo’Nina Brown)
"Baby I'm Burning" by Dolly Parton - 37,000 streams, up 2114% in the week ending May 18. (Alexis Michelle vs Farrah Moan)
"Greedy" by Ariana Grande - 743,000 streams, up 118% in the week ending May 25. (Nina Bo’Nina Brown vs Valentina)
"Cool for the Summer" by Demi Lovato - 790,000 streams, up 22% in the week ending June 1. (Nina Bo’Nina Brown vs Shea Couleé)
"Macho Man" by The Village People - 93,000 streams, up 28% in the week ending June 8. (Alexis Michelle vs Peppermint)
"U Wear It Well" by RuPaul - 23,000 streams, up 154% in the week ending June 15. (The entire top four competed: Shea Couleé, Peppermint, Trinity Taylor and Sasha Velour)
"Stronger" by Britney Spears - 185,000 streams, up 21% in the week ending June 29. (Peppermint vs Trinity Taylor)
"So Emotional" by Whitney Houston - 375,000 streams, up 510% in the week ending June 29. (Sasha Velour vs Shea Couleé)
"It's Not Right But It's Okay" by Whitney Houston - 427,000 streams, up 190% in the week ending June 29. (Sasha Velour vs Peppermint)
