Grateful Dead’s classic album records sales jump of over 5,700%

The Grateful Dead are a band that can be relied upon to sell well, no matter what year it is and no matter what collection they focus on. The rockers returned to the American charts this week, not with a new release, but with one of their classics that has once again become a bestseller.

In the last tracking week, Luminate reported that Grateful Dead from Mars Hotel 14,000 copies sold. That’s a huge amount for a title that isn’t new, and especially one that was released decades ago and that most diehard fans probably already own.

Last week, Grateful Dead from Mars Hotel Fewer than 250 copies were sold in the United States. From one frame to the next, the title’s sales increased by 5,765%.

What drove this massive growth? Grateful Dead from Mars Hotel was re-released to celebrate the title’s fiftieth anniversary after it first went on sale in June 1974. The band recently released a new, expanded edition that included demos and a full concert recording that is notoriously popular with Grateful Dead fans.

All the thousands of fans who bought the deluxe edition of Grateful Dead from Mars Hotel pushed the title back into the Billboard 200. The album originally peaked at number 16 and is now number 58 on the country’s most-consumed LP list. Almost all of the 14,300 corresponding units are pure purchases, and most of them are likely the recently released version.

When it re-entered the Billboard 200, Grateful Dead from Mars Hotel also appears in four other charts. These positions didn’t exist in the ’70s when the band turned the title into a win, so it’s not entirely surprising that the album is now finding its way into several more positions.

Grateful Dead from Mars Hotel enters the vinyl album charts at number 4. It almost achieves this feat in the best-selling albums chart, opening at number 5. The title is also new at number 11 on the Top Rock Albums list and number 14 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums list.

ForbesGrateful Dead simultaneously reaches new top 10 positions in several Billboard chartsFrom Hugh McIntyre