Benson Boone is finding out about the “sophomore jinx.”
The follow up to his “Beautiful Things” album — “Fireworks and Rollerblades” — which has sold 2.2 million — has been a bust.
“American Heart” sales have been heart-breaking. Just 42,144 downloads and CDs. A total of 282,172 copies including streaming. Fans did not flip out for “American Heart,” although Benson flipped, and flopped. The album is now at 39 on iTunes top albums.
Meanwhile, “Beautiful Things” — with over 9 million copies sold (including 2.6 million downloads) — remains in the iTunes top 10 this week. It won’t go away, more than a year after its release. It seems to grow stronger by the week while Boone’s new singles are met with apathy.
“Beautiful Things” has turned into Boone’s “Call Me Maybe,” and a lot of other one-off hits that lodge on the radio and the charts permanently. Why? Who knows?
“American Heart” was released with a full heart, based on Boone’s initial success. But the songs were few — 10 — and seemingly pedestrian pop. None of them caught fire. And now they will vanish while “Beautiful Things” just keeps going.
The same may be happening to the current number 1 single, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary.” The song and the album are indeed ordinary, but the single has stuck like crazy and pulled along an album that is not memorable. Warren should learn a lesson from Benson Boone if he’s planning another record.
Boone is 23 and has made a fortune from the first song. He’s also toured like crazy, doing acrobatic flips that make the audience go crazy. How long can he keep that up? He’ll have to come back with a third album that shows actual musical skill or he will wind up in carnivals. We don’t want that to happen, do we?
