LOS ANGELES — Sales of rock band Aerosmith’s music have skyrocketed since its singer Steven Tyler became a judge on “American Idol,” The Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday.
Tyler joined the singing competition as a judge on its 10th season on Jan. 19. Since then, sales of Aerosmith’s compilation “Big Hits” have gone up by 260 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Two other collections have seen sales boosts of more than 130 percent. The band previously sold about 1,000 units from its catalog each week, but now sells more than 2,000 per release weekly.
Sales of the band’s digital singles “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” — sung on the show in season 7 by winner David Cook — and “Dream On” have also gone up by more than 300 percent each.
Speaking to the Boston Globe last week, Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford predicted that Tyler joining the judges’ panel alongside Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson would be good for the band.
“It’s going to expand our audience, for sure,” he said. “People who would never think about seeing Aerosmith might change their minds after seeing him on TV.”
Before Tyler made his “Idol” debut, musician Kid Rock said at a November 2010 press conference that joining the show was “the stupidest thing [Tyler has] ever done in his life.”
Tyler, according to Kid Rock, had thrown away his rock ‘n’ roll credibility by signing on to the pop-centric competition. Tyler dismissed Kid Rock’s comments, saying, “He’s just jealous. And he’s working his new record, so God bless him.”
News Corp. is the parent company of FOX Broadcasting, which airs “American Idol,” and NewsCore, the publisher of this report.