Guns N’ Roses infuse Billboard‘s charts dated July 23 thanks to songs from the group’s catalog scoring syncs in the film Thor: Love and Thunder, which opened in theaters July 8 and has since reigned at the box office.
The Axl Rose-fronted band’s 1980s classics “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Welcome to the Jungle” reach the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. They also place at Nos. 7 and 13 on Hot Rock Songs and Nos. 10 and 17 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. (Older songs are eligible for Billboard‘s multi-metric charts if ranking in the top half and have a meaningful reason for their resurgences.)
In the July 8-14 tracking week, “Child” earned 6 million official U.S. streams (up 5%) and sold 2,500 downloads (up 106%), while “Jungle” accumulated 3.2 million streams (a 14% boost) and sold 1,400 (up 127%), according to Luminate. They also collected 1.3 million and 999,000 audience impressions, respectively, in the same span on stations that report to Billboard‘s Radio Songs chart.
Concurrently, “Child” appears at No. 2 on both Hard Rock Streaming Songs and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales, No. 4 on Rock Digital Song Sales and No. 10 on Rock Streaming Songs while also making the all-genre Digital Song Sales list at No. 33.
“Jungle,” meanwhile, ranks at No. 3 on Hard Rock Digital Song Sales, No. 10 on Rock Digital Song Sales and No. 14 on Hard Rock Streaming Songs.
Elsewhere, “Paradise City” and “November Rain,” both also heard in Thor, bound onto Hard Rock Digital Song Sales at No. 7 (1,100 sold, up 120%) and No. 12 (900, up 165%), while the former enters Rock Digital Song Sales at No. 20 and is No. 21 on Hard Rock Streaming Songs. “Paradise” received 2.8 million streams (virtually the same as the previous tracking period), while “November” drew 1.7 million, up 14%.
An additional non-GNR song from Thor appears on Hard Rock Digital Song Sales: Dio‘s 1983 anthem “Rainbow in the Dark,” at No. 11 (900 sold, up 406%).
Each GNR song featured in Thor made the Billboard Hot 100 upon its original release. “Child” ruled for two weeks in September 1988, followed by “Jungle” (No. 7, December 1988), “Paradise” (No. 5, March 1989) and “November” (No. 3, August 1992).
In all, Guns N’ Roses’ catalog made a 9% gain in streams July 8-14, rising from 15.9 million the week before to 17.3 million. The group’s digital song downloads also rose 103%, from 3,800 purchases to 7,800, and its album sales jumped 31% from 3,000 to 4,000 copies.
GNR’s Greatest Hits album concurrently climbs 70-57 on the Billboard 200, with 14,000 equivalent album units earned, up 13%.
The group helps make for an all-’80s top three on Hot Hard Rock Songs, as Metallica‘s “Master of Puppets” reigns for a second week, sparked by its sync in Netflix’s Stranger Things. “Puppets,” originally released in 1986 (while “Child” and “Jungle” arrived in 1987), drew 10.6 million streams July 8-14, a gain of 10%.
