Lady Gaga gave the most impassioned performance on the Oscars, with her Diane Warren co-written “Til it Happens to You.” The date was February 28th– exactly one year since the documentary containing the song — “The Hunting Ground”– was released in theaters.
“The Hunting Ground” played in theaters through June and was shown on CNN in September. Despite the film’s praise and awards, and Lady Gaga’s fame, no effort was made to turn “Til it Happens to You” into a radio hit.
I wrote about in September, and still, alas, nothing happened.
Now, a year after release, “Til it Happens to You” is number 10 on iTunes. Even better: the single is zooming up the Adult Contemporary radio chart. Today it’s at number 14, up from 19, with more radio stations adding it every day. Lady Gaga’s stunning performance on the Oscars has driven sales and radio requests.
Still, “Til it Happens to You” might have actually won the Oscar if it had been released and promoted last year when it was issued. Oscar voters had trouble connecting it to the doc– which was not nominated for an Oscar– and they didn’t know it from the radio. How differently things might have gone.
Meantime, Sam Smith’s doorstop of a James Bond song, “Writing’s on the Wall,” which wasn’t a hit when it was released, continues to be a chart disappointment.
