Jan. 6 Prison Choir Hits No. 1

A song by a prison choir composed of inmates convicted in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol hit No. 1 on the iTunes charts Saturday, even beating Miley Cyrus' new single. "Justice for All," by the J6 Prison Choir, can be heard on YouTube here. It features former President Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as the men sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," and, at the end, chant "USA! USA!" The song, which is raising money for the families of January 6 defendants, had not, however, made it onto Spotify's list of the top 50 most-streamed songs as of Saturday afternoon, the Hill reports. Sources tell CNN Trump recorded his portion of the song at Mar-a-Lago, at the request of a group supporting January 6 families, and that his presidential campaign was not involved.

Variety explains that "the song’s dominance on the iTunes sales chart does not necessarily augur for it becoming a hit on the Hot 100 or any streaming chart, since paid downloads now represent a minuscule fraction of the music market. Politically based songs often register high No. 1 on iTunes, where it usually takes only a few thousand sales a day to command the chart." Other songs from both sides of the aisle have recently hit No. 1: the anti-Biden "We the People" by Kid Rock last year, and the anti-Trump "FDT" (which stands for a NSFW phrase) by YG in 2020. (More Donald Trump stories.)