It’s finally happened. Australia’s very own Gotye has gone #1 in the United States on the Billboard Hottest 100 with his single ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’, following a huge week for the star including a performance at Coachella and numerous television appearances.
The last time an Aussie managed the conquer the US charts was in 1999 with Savage Garden’s ‘I Knew I Loved You’.
The track, which almost didn’t happen after the original duet partner pulled out, has now sold over 5 million copies worldwide and gone #1 in 16 countries.
The breakthrough track was #2 on the charts last week, but was helped up the charts after it was performed on primetime television programs American Idol and Glee.
Gotye and Kimbra also made an appearance over the weekend on the popular comedy skit show Saturday Night Live, where the two performed the duet before Gotye went on to perform another song off Making Mirrors, ‘Eyes Wide Open’.
Their first US appearance was on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this year, an impressive feat given the performance from studios in Los Angeles occurred in the middle of Kimbra’s busy schedule with the Big Day Out 2012 tour.
The appearance on Glee and Saturday Night live this week certainly helped propel the track to astronomical levels. In fact, it sold over 542,000 digital copies in the April 9th-15th tracking period alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That number is the fourth-best since SoundScan began tracking digital sales in 2003.
Total, Title, Artist(s), Chart Date
636,000, “Right Round,” Flo Rida, Feb. 28, 2009
610,000, “TiK ToK,” Ke$ha, Jan. 9, 2010
559,000, “Grenade,” Bruno Mars, Jan. 8, 2011
542,000, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye featuring Kimbra, April 28, 2012
521,000, “Boyfriend,” Justin Bieber, April 14, 2012
