Darude 'Sandstorm' Back in Charts Thanks to Peking Duk at Stereosonic

Everyone has heard it. Whether or not you like electronic music or not, you know Darude "Sandstorm." For better or for worse, it has been one of the most iconic songs in electronic music since it was first released 15 years ago. "Sandstorm" has also become the butt of just about every music joke on the nether regions of the internet -- a testament to its popularity. It got over during the past ten days when Peking Duk did a sit down with "Sandstorm" at Stereosonic Sydney and the video of the ensuing madness with tens of thousands going wild went viral (via In The Mix). The song shot back up all the way to 18 in the iTunes dance charts in Australia and, at the current writing of this article, has climbed to 43 in the US on the same chart, though it may have risen higher. It currently sits above songs from acts with high record sales like Calvin Harris, Skrillex and Avicii.

What may be the strangest thing about this whole story is that everyone who watched the video didn't have "Sandstorm" before. It is ubiquitous across all sectors of the music population, whether or not people like dance music. The University Of Southern Carolina has been using it as a pre-game pump up song for quite some time and it seemingly never fails to get the job done (via EDM Tunes).

Darude has tried to get out from the under the impossibly large shadow of "Sandstorm," but no matter what, his career will always be defined by the one song he released in 1999.

The legend of "Sandstorm" forges on 15 years after Darude made the worldwide dance smash. It is still played at sports games and arenas worldwide. The song may never die out and for this one track, that is OK.