Journey‘s “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” returns to Billboard‘s Rock Digital Song Sales chart dated April 23 following the inclusion of a reworked version of the song in the trailer for the fourth and final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things.
The ’80s classic debuts at No. 19 with 800 downloads sold in the April 8-14 tracking period, according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data. It sports a 208% surge over the previous week, sparked by its appearance in the series’ new trailer, which premiered April 12.
Additionally, “Ways” garnered 2 million official U.S. streams April 8-14, an 11% boost week-over-week.
On April 12 alone, “Ways” accumulated 227,000 official U.S. on-demand streams, up from 161,000 on April 11, a leap of 42%. It increased throughout the week, to 270,000 on April 13 (up 19% from the day before) and 283,000 on April 14 (up 5%).
“Ways” hit No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1983, becoming the fourth of Journey’s six top 10s, tallied in 1981-86. The song also spent four weeks atop the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, marking the band’s lone leader among eight top 10s.
In the trailer for the ’80s-set Stranger Things, the song retains frontman Steve Perry’s vocals but alters the instrumentation in certain parts to a moodier, more atmospheric sound.
The fourth season of Stranger Things is scheduled for release in two segments, the first due May 27 followed by the second half July 1.
