This may not seem like a big number, but these days it’s enough to crow about: for their first studio album in 11 years, the Rolling Stones have scored a pretty whopping hit.
“Blue and Lonesome” debuts this week with 120,000 copies sold– and I do mean copies as in physical CDs and digital downloads. The album had insignificant streaming.
For a 50 plus year old band, and an album of blues covers, this is kind of extraordinary. “Blue and Lonesome” enters the charts at number 4.
Many “legacy” acts have released new albums this year only to find indifference, or an unmotivated fan base. That includes Van Morrison, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, Steven Tyler, and Chrissie Hynde with the Pretenders. There are many, many more examples.
But the Stones came up with a good concept and it translated easily in promotion. Their CBS Sunday Morning interview was a total winner, too.
So Viva the Rolling Stones. They returned to their roots and people got it. There’s life in them ole bones yet!
