{"id":263393,"date":"2026-01-29T08:59:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/263393\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T08:59:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:59:12","slug":"the-cures-boys-dont-cry-becomes-viral-streaming-hit-trending-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/263393\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cure’s ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ Becomes Viral Streaming Hit: Trending Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWelcome to Billboard Pro\u2019s\u00a0Trending Up\u00a0<\/a>newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry\u2019s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n

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See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n

\n\tThis week: An early classic by The Cure slowly grows into a potential 2020s breakout hit, while a potentially big year for the Michael Jackson catalog gets off to an early start and a beloved soul staple scores a Netflix bump. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018Cry\u2019ing All the Way to a Billion Streams: The Cure\u2019s Early Classic Finds New Streaming Life<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s been a good past year for emotional alt-rock songs that never found a pop audience in their first lives finding a second life with 2020s audiences. A pair of fan favorites from Jeff Buckley (\u201cLover, You Should Have Come Over\u201d) and Radiohead (\u201cLet Down\u201d) have even found their way to the Billboard Hot 100, despite not even being released as singles upon their \u201890s debut. Now, a newer (but even older) viral hit may be on its way to joining them: The Cure<\/a>\u2019s \u201cBoys Don\u2019t Cry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Cure has found a decent amount of pop crossover success during its lifetime, with 14 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including three top 40 hits (led by 1989\u2019s No. 2-peaking \u201cLove Song\u201d). None of those hits, however, were 1979\u2019s \u201cBoys Don\u2019t Cry,\u201d which the goth-rock progenitors released very early in their career and which missed the charts on both sides of the Atlantic upon its original release \u2014\u00a0a stunning commercial snub in retrospect, given the song\u2019s preternatural catchiness and Smokey Robinson-like lyricism. (In 2023, Billboard\u2019s staff ranked it as one of the 20 greatest pop songs<\/a> to never hit the Hot 100.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut that \u201cnever\u201d may soon be coming to an end if the song keeps growing on streaming like it has. Over the last three months, the post-punk classic has caught fire on TikTok, with younger listeners gravitating to its chiming hooks and fragile masculinity (to the tune of over 107,000 videos<\/a>, several with over one million likes), and that has translated to major streaming growth. In mid-October, the song was still garnering under a million weekly official on-demand streams, according to Luminate, but two months later (for the tracking week ending Jan. 23), that total had more than tripled, with the song now racking up over 3.1 million weekly streams. \u201cBoys\u201d even recently passed one billion streams on Spotify, becoming The Cure\u2019s first song in the Billions Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s all very good timing for The Cure, who recently announced a 40th-anniversary vinyl reissue<\/a> of the song\u2019s 1986 re-recording \u2014 which did bring the song to the U.K. Official Charts for the first time, with a No. 22 peak \u2014\u00a0along with the second-go-round version finally arriving on DSPs. We\u2019ll see if \u201cBoys,\u201d whose original version just hit the U.K.\u2019s top 40, can match the re-recording\u2019s peak in the band\u2019s home country, or get onto the Hot 100 for the first time. \u2014 ANDREW UNTERBERGER<\/p>\n

\t\tMajorette Dance Challenge Revives Michael Jackson\u2019s \u2018Liberian Girl\u2019\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tJust in time for the King of Pop\u2019s upcoming biopic, which hits theaters on April 24, a Bad deep cut is surging on streaming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThanks to a majorette dance challenge<\/a> shared by TikTok user @jshun0729 \u2014 a coach for the Memphis Prancing Tigerettes majorette team \u2014 \u201cLiberian Girl\u201d has leapt 116% in streaming activity over the past two weeks. User @jshun0729 posted his video on Jan. 7, and the clip has since amassed over 5.6 million views, setting to motion a challenge that has united majorettes across regions and generations. Notably, several core members<\/a> and fan-favorites<\/a> from Lifetime\u2019s Bring It! \u2014 a 2010s reality series following Coach Dianna Williams<\/a>\u2019 Dancing Dolls in Jackson, Miss. \u2014 hopped on the dance trend, helping the official \u201cLiberian Girl\u201d TikTok sound<\/a> reach nearly 50,000 posts, while the unofficial sound<\/a> attached to @jshun0729\u2019s initial clip has surpassed 27,000 creates. On Instagram, MJ\u2019s track plays in over 73,000 reels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Luminate, \u201cLiberian Girl\u201d earned over 240,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of Jan. 2-8. The following week (Jan. 9-15), once the dance trend began circulating, those numbers jumped 36% to over 331,000 official streams. By the weeks of Jan. 16-22, \u201cLiberian Girl\u201d rose a further 58% to over 524,000 official streams.\u00a0And the song\u2019s rise is far from over. During the four-day period of Jan. 23-26, \u201cLiberian\u201d earned 410,000 official streams, a 60% improvement from its streaming totals a week prior (Jan. 16-19).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the few Bad tracks to miss the Hot 100, maybe the 2020s can do for \u201cLiberian Girl\u201d what the \u201880s couldn\u2019t. \u2014 KYLE DENIS\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tNew Netflix Smash \u2018His & Hers\u2019 Spurs Gains for Classic Roberta Flack-Donny Hathaway Duet\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNetflix\u2019s new limited series His & Hers, led by BAFTA nominee Tessa Thompson and Emmy winner Jon Bernthal, has quickly taken over social media while thrusting a gorgeous duet from the late Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway back into the spotlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI (Who Have Nothing),\u201d the opening track from the duo\u2019s eponymous 1972 joint album, plays after a particularly heart-wrenching conversation in episode three \u2014 and the scene clearly struck an emotional chord with the show\u2019s audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring the week of Jan. 2-8, the duet logged just under 3,000 official on-demand U.S. streams (according to Luminate), setting the stage for a 1,204% increase to over 39,000 official streams by the next week (Jan. 9-15), following the Jan. 8 premiere of the six-episode series. \u201cI (Who Have Nothing)\u201d jumped a further 30% the following week (Jan. 16-22), making for a whopping 1,603% increase in streaming activity over the past two weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFlack & Hathaway\u2019s English-language cover of the Italian song \u201cUno dei tanti\u201d never hit the Billboard charts, but that could very well change should it maintain its new streaming momentum. \u2014 KD<\/p>\n

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