Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’ Returns to Charts After Surprise Newport Performance

The song leads LyricFind U.S. and Global and sees sales and streaming bumps.

by Kevin Rutherford
Billboard
August 5, 2022

Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" returns to multiple Billboard charts dated Aug. 6 after her viral live performance of the song at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I., July 24.

"Now" re-enters the LyricFind U.S. and LyricFind Global charts at No. 1, marking the song's first time ruling both lists, which began in 2015. (The LyricFind Global and LyricFind U.S. charts rank the fastest momentum-gaining tracks in lyric-search queries and usages globally and in the U.S., respectively, provided by LyricFind. The Global chart includes queries from all countries, including the U.S. The company is the world's leader in licensed lyrics, with data provided by more than 5,000 publishers and utilized by more than 100 services, including Amazon, Pandora, Deezer, Microsoft, SoundHound and iHeartRadio.)

According to LyricFind, "Now" saw boosts of 1,276% in lyric searches and usages in the U.S. and 1,266% globally following the live performance.

Renewed attention in the song propels it onto Digital Song Sales for the first time at No. 20. In the July 22-28 tracking week, it earned 3,200 downloads, according to Luminate. Those downloads allow it to appear at No. 4 on Rock Digital Song Sales as well.

It also accrued 386,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, up 86% from 207,000 the previous period (July 15-21).

In all, Mitchell's catalog accumulated 2.3 million official U.S. on-demand streams from July 22-28, up 90% from 1.2 million July 15-21.

One other Mitchell song made a Billboard chart dated Aug. 6: "A Case of You," which reached No. 10 on both LyricFind U.S. and LyricFind Global, seeing bumps of 789% and 772% domestically and globally, respectively.

Neither "Now" (1969) nor "Case" (1971) made the Billboard charts amid their original releases, though Judy Collins' version of the former reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968.

Mitchell performed her first full set in over 20 years during the festival. The surprise appearance featured musicians such as Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford, Wynonna Judd and more.


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