Corona makes R.E.M.’s 'End of the World' climb charts

Last week, in the shadow of the coronavirus outbreak, R.E.M.’s 1987 classic 'It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' unexpectedly re-entered the American singles charts. According to Billboard, 'End of the World' was the 22nd most purchased song in all-genres last week, which pushed it, combined with 1.7 million streams, to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart. Some other songs saw unexpected sales as well - Disturbed’s 'Down With the Sickness' and Gloria Gaynor’s 'I Will Survive' are both popular at the moment, as is The Knack’s 'My Sharona', just because it rhymes with “corona”. Similarly, riding the COVID-19 wave are songs with especially thematic titles, like Shwayze’s 'Corona and Lime', The Minutemen’s 'Corona', 'Isolation' by Joy Division, and 'Quarantined' by At the Drive-In.