Gordon Lightfoot's Music Streams Hit Whopping 290% Mark After His Death

Gordon Lightfoot's streams reached a three-digit mark following his death.

Lightfoot's family revealed the legendary singer-songwriter's death in a statement on May 1. It disclosed that Lightfoot, 84, passed away at a hospital in Toronto.

Nearly two weeks after his death, his catalog's streams, sales, and radio airplay reached a whopping percentage.

Gordon Lightfoot's Catalog Streams, Sales, and Radio Airplay Hit 290%

Billboard released the details of Lightfoot's new record, revealing that the singer's music streams ballooned 290 percent from April 28 to May 4. It cited Luminate's recorded data, saying that the official on-demand US streams increased from the prior week's 3.6 million streams.

Aside from the streams, Lightfoot's catalog also saw 41,000 song downloads, recording a 3,629 percent surge compared to the previous 1,0000 downloads. Around 20,000 album units were also consumed; 6,000 of which were via album sales.

On the other hand, his radio airplay audience reached 3 million from 730,000 impressions, showing a 317 percent jump.

His songs also dominated Digital Song Sales, including "If You Could Read My Mind," "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," "Sundown," and "Carefree Highway." Some of Lightfoot's tracks also started appearing on different charts like Billboard Hot 100, Rock Digital Song Sales, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, and Billboard 200 charts.

His album "Gord's Gold" reappeared on Top Country Albums, Americana/Folk Albums, and Top Rock & Alternative Albums.

Gordon Lightfoot's Death

His catalog's newfound success occurred more than a week after the singer died at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto on May 1, at 7:30 p.m.

His family noted that he died of natural causes, but he previously canceled his US and Canada tour dates due to health-related issues. When Lightfoot's team announced the postponement of his shows, they revealed that he was struggling because of an undisclosed illness.

For what it's worth, the singer endured several health problems in the years leading to his death. He suffered a stomach aneurysm in September 2002 and another emergency health issue before his two-night show in Orillia which caused him to be airlifted to Hamilton's McMaster Medical Center where he underwent emergency vascular surgery.

Lightfoot was also in comatose for six weeks and had a tracheotomy before undergoing four other operations and another follow-up surgery in 2003. He also had a minor stroke in 2006 which affected his middle and ring fingers; though he was able to regain their mobility the following year.