Hot 100 First-Timers: Royel Otis Scores First Entry With Cover of The Cranberries’ ‘Linger’
Australian duo Royel Otis earns its first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Aug. 10) thanks to its viral cover of The Cranberries’ classic single “Linger.”
Released May 31 as part of a live session for SiriusXM’s Alt Nation, the update debuts at No. 94 on the on the Hot 100 with 5.2 million official streams (up 56%) and 302,000 radio audience impressions (up 53%) in the United States in the July 26-Aug. 1 tracking week, according to Luminate.
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The track also jumps 18-12 on the Hot Alternative Songs chart and 29-16 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.
TikTok has been a factor in the remake’s growing profile, with its audio having soundtracked more than 160,000 clips on the platform to date.
The Cranberries’ original “Linger” climbed to No. 8 on the Hot 100 in February 1994, marking the group’s first entry and sole top 10. It also hit No. 4 on Alternative Airplay and Pop Airplay. As Royel Otis’ version gains, the original likewise grew in the latest tracking week by 12% to 4.8 million streams.
Royel Otis, from Sydney, is comprised of childhood friends Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic. The pair, whose debut album Pratts & Pain was released in February, arrived on Billboard’s charts in September 2023 with “Sofa King” (which the duo also performed in the SiriusXM session). The track has had two separate runs on the Alternative Airplay chart: It initially climbed to No. 25 in November before it re-entered last week’s Aug. 3-dated list at No. 26; it hits a new peak this week at No. 24.
The pair has charted one additional hit: Its cover of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor” reached No. 2 on Alternative Airplay last month.
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