British rock group Badfinger is experiencing a mini-resurgence thanks to Sunday night’s explosive “Breaking Bad” finale.
The now-defunct rock band’s 1972 single “Baby Blue” is set for a nearly 3,000% sales increase after being featured in the final frames of AMC’s popular crime-drama series, according to Billboard, with the song logging 5,000 downloads on Sunday night alone. That would be the biggest digital sales week ever for the track, which was taken from the group’s 1971 album “Straight Up.” The song also briefly rose into the Top 25 on iTunes’ top songs list, though it appears to have fallen off the chart since. Billboard predicts the track will place on this week’s Rock Digital Songs chart (it hit a peak of No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released); final sales figures are set to be released on Wednesday.
In addition to increased sales, “Baby Blue” was up 9,000% in Spotify streams in the 11 hours following the finale.
Badfinger (originally known as The Iveys) first formed in Swansea, Wales in the early 1960s. The band – made up of Pete Ham, Mike Gibbins, Tom Evans and Joey Molland at their height – were signed to the Beatles’ Apple record label in 1968 and released a total of ten studio albums, the last of which was delayed for 19 years before finally hitting stores in 2000. Marred by tragedy, the group lost two members to suicide over an eight-year period, with Ham taking his own life in 1975 and Evans following in 1983.
Are you a fan of “Baby Blue”? Have you bought and/or streamed the song since the “Breaking Bad” finale? Sound off in the comments.