Just when you thought the steamroller that was Gotye’s worldwide smash duet with Kimbra had slowed down, the pair have scooped a whole other cabinet-full of gongs for ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’.
The ubiquitous single has claimed four major awards at today’s Billboard Music Awards in the US, as Billboard themselves report. Gotye and Kimbra have claimed ‘Top Rock Song’, ‘Top Radio Song’, ‘Top Hot 100 Song’ and ‘Top Streaming Song (Audio)’ at the annual awards ceremony.
The pair come just behind Taylor Swift and Rihanna in the Sunday evening’s top winners, with the country pop and RnB stars taking home six and four awards a piece, but the success of the Australian multi-instrumentalist and his Melbourne-via-NZ counterpart demonstrate another awards-storming turn for ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’.
The awards for ‘Top Hot 100 Song’ should come as no surprise given that Billboard reported back in October that Gotye’s single was the highest selling single in America in 2012, while the “Top Streaming Song (Audio’ is a logical nod for a #1 tune that has become one of the most downloaded songs ever in Britain, one of the most streamed songs of last year, while the bodypaint music video remains one of the most watched YouTube videos of all time, with over 400+ million views.
The Billboard Music Awards get added to a trophy cabinet that also includes three Grammys from this year’s 55th Annual Awards ceremony and domestically scooping the platitudes at last year’s ARIA Awards. The ubiquitous single has claimed four major awards at today’s Billboard Music Awards in the US…
Despite the seemingly deathless success of ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’, along with the news that the song has celebrated its one year anniversary in the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart came the reminder that half of the royalties are going to a dead Brazilian.
Gotye is splitting his fortunes, now estimated to be in the millions, with Luiz Bonfa, the Brazilian guitarist and composer whose playing forms the central sample at the heart of ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’, with Wally De Backer sharing the profits of the song with Bonfa’s estate in a 55/45 split.
“[The guitar] sample directly prompted the first line of lyrics,” De Backer told Billboard in a previous interview, adding that “the back and forth left me thinking about these different break-ups and different relationships over the years, and the lyrics flowed from there.”
Kimbra (who was a fill-in for another female vocalist pulling out at the last minute) also receives a small percentage of the royalties for the #1 single which went on to push the pair into worldwide notoriety and the seemingly never-ending torrent of accolades and world-breaking records.
Instead of jumping into a blockbuster sequel to his all-conquering success – ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ taken from the third Gotye record, Making Mirrors – De Backer has instead turned his focus to a local level, using his high profile in a number of grassroots movements.
Namely showing his support for live music by contributing to SLAM’s cause through their crowdfunding campaign, recording an a capella cover with Perfect Tripod of The Reels’ ‘Quasimodo’s Dream’ to help raise money for the live music activist group. Then penned an open letter to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy about the need to address the $1.4 million budget shortfall to help community radio stations make the leap to digital.
Given that last week’s reveal of the 2013 Federal Budget failed to cover the $1.4 million costs\ essential to community radio’s survival, now facing tough decisions regarding its finances and future, the chorus hook and title of ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ now takes on a new significance: ‘You didn’t have to cut me off…”
You can view the full list of Billboard Music Award Winners here.
