Though neither Jay-Z nor Lady Gaga received one of the absolute top awards at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards, both benefited greatly from their live performances on the show.
At press time, Jay-Z’s show-closing “Empire State of Mind (featuring Alicia Keys)” had surged all the way up to third on the iTunes chart. It also began picking up airplay on some major stations in the wake of Sunday’s notable performance.
Lady Gaga’s controversial “Paparazzi” performance propelled the new single to sixth on the charts, positioning the breakout pop/dance Diva for yet another hit on the singles charts.
Elsewhere: Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me,” somewhat old at this point, hopped several spots to eighth. Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams” moved to nineteenth, while “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” returned to number forty six. Muse, the band whose MTV VMA performance was to offer a potential mainstream breakout opportunity, sat at 36 with new single “Uprising.”