Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" Reaches Billboard Hot 100 Chart for the First Time

The late Leonard Cohen's iconic "Hallelujah" has finally reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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Complex Original

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Leonard Cohen's iconic song "Hallelujah" has landed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time in the single's history in the week following the legendary singer-songwriter's death.

The landmark achievement comes 32 years after "Hallelujah" was first released on the 1984 album, Various Positions. The song debuted on the Hot 100 chart this week at No. 59 after being downloaded 33,000 times and racking up 3.8 million streams.

It likely received a bump from Kate McKinnon's powerful performance of the song for the first Saturday Night Live episode following the election. McKinnon, who is an outspoken supporter for Hillary Clinton and impersonated the presidential nominee throughout the election performed the song as the show's cold open. McKinnon ended the emotional performance by saying, "I'm not giving up, and neither should you."

Cohen passed away earlier this month, which his record label confirmed in a heartfelt Facebook post. The musician performed and released music up until his death with his new album,You Want It Darker, which came out in October. The album also returned to Billboard 200's Top 10 this week, jumping from No. 48 to No. 7.

This isn't the first time a musician's catalog received a boost following the artist's death. In the wake of Prince’s passing back in April, two albums from his discography scored the top two spots on the Billboard 200 that following week. Similarly, David Bowie's Blackstar skyrocketed to the No. 1 spot on iTunes and earned the icon his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart after his death.

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