FANS TURN TO "HALLELUJAH" TO MOURN COHEN

“Hallelujah” is proving to be more than the opening song on this week's Saturday Night Live. The song has become the balm for people mourning the death of Leonard Cohen as five versions of the tune are currently on the iTunes Songs Chart. Meanwhile, nine Cohen titles are in the Top 200 on the albums chart.

Cohen’s 1984 recording of “Hallelujah” is #5 at iTunes while versions by Pentatonix, Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright are at #12, #17 and #48 respectively. k.d. lang’s version is at #114. Sony/ATV is the song’s publisher.

Cohen has only one other track on the chart: A live version of “Dance Me to the End of Love” is sitting at #199.

Pentatonix’s video of the song is #1 on the iTunes Videos chart followed at #3 by Cohen’s live version from a London concert. Celtic Thunder’s video is at #50 followed by a live version by Buckley at #55. Cohen’s video for 1988’s “First We Take Manhattan” is #59.

On the album side, Cohen’s Oct. 21 release You Want It Darker is #4, the Essential compilation is #5, 2009’s Live in London is #53 and The Best of Leonard Cohen, released on vinyl in 1975, is #97. His 1967 debut, Songs of Leonard Cohen, is #106 and Various Positions, the album where “Hallelujah” first appeared,” is #128.

His 1988 synth-pop album I’m Your Man is #153 and 2014’s Popular Problems is #163. His third album, Songs of Love and Hate, which features “Famous Blue Raincoat,” is #180. All the albums are on Columbia and Columbia/Legacy.

Cohen died 11/7, though his passing was not announced until he was buried on 11/10.

Cohen’s music has made a healthy impression on Spotify’s Viral 50 charts as well. On the United States Viral 50 early this morning, the title track from Cohen’s last album, You Want it Darker, was #4 and rising, “Hallelujah” was #7, “Everybody Knows” was #14, “Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” was #45, and “The Future” was #48.

Cohen was #2 and #3 on the Global Viral Top 50 with “You Want it Darker” and “Hallelujah.” “Suzanne” was #18, “Dance Me to The End of Love” #19, and “Leaving the Table” #29. “Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” and “The Future” were also in the Top 50.

The Viral 50 from his native Canada has 11 Cohen recordings on the chart plus Jennifer Warnes and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s version of “First We Take Manhattan."

Concurrently, the music of Leon Russell, who died Saturday, is also starting to creep into the iTunes albums chart. His self-titled debut, which includes “A Song For You,” “Delta Lady” and “Roll Away the Stone,” is #75 followed by another five albums in the Top 200.