News
Limp Bizkit tops the charts this week with their second
Flip/Interscope release, Significant Other, knocking off the
Backstreet Boys and bringing aggressive music back to the
foreground of popular sounds. The band sold 634,874 records -
making it the 15th highest debut in the history of SoundScan.
"We couldn't have done this without the fans who love real
music for real life," says Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst. "We are
so grateful that we have touched so many people, but y'all
ain't seen nothing yet."
At a time when many critics have pronounced that "rock is
dead," Limp Bizkit's music is being hailed as "the dawn of the
decade," by Entertainment Weekly and credited with having
"redefined late-Nineties hard rock" by Rolling Stone. The
popularity of Limp Bizkit's hybrid of rock/rap may have taken
some stores by surprise, though, finding themselves unable to
handle the influx of requests for Limp Bizkit's Significant Other.
Unlike the teen pop bands, the high debut was largely
unexpected at the retail level until last week, when a buzz
became a groundswell and the expected numbers of 3-400,000
jumped higher and higher. Previously in hard music, Metallica's
1996 release Load sold 680,000 and Pearl Jam's 1994 release
Vitalogy sold 877,000.
In the same week as the outstanding success of their album,
Limp Bizkit leader Fred Durst was appointed Senior Vice
President of Interscope Records. Durst's responsibilities at the
label will include the signing and marketing of the bands,
producing remixing and shooting videos. Durst will also have his
own imprint through the label.
Limp Bizkit's 1997 debut, Three Dollar Bill Yall$, has sold more
than 1.6 million units and has been on The Billboard 200 for 67
weeks (recently it moved up to #60 with a bullet, and
averages 25,000 records sold per week.) Currently, the band's
single, "Nookie," is #1 most requested at Modern Rock radio
stations and the Durst - directed "Nookie" video is in heavy
rotation throughout the day and night on MTV. After playing
several unannounced and crazed guerilla - style shows for
their fans, the band is now headlining the Limptropolis national
tour with Kid Rock and Staind (www.staind.com), and will
headline the Family Values Tour this fall.