The Velvet Underground

The culture-affecting Charli XCX has revealed her fondness for the culture-defining Velvet Underground, praising their 1967 debut at Variety’s Hitmakers Awards.
Appearing at the Awards on Saturday (Dec. 7), Charli XCX was on hand to receive the Hitmaker of the Year honor, predominantly thanks to the massive global success of her Brat album throughout 2024. However, in her own acceptance speech, Charli XCX explained that that the very definition of what is a “hit” is up for debate. To underline her point, she deferred to some remarks she had written about The Velvet Underground‘s iconic debut album.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

“In March 1967, The Velvet Underground released their album The Velvet Underground & Nico,” she began. “It debuted on the Billboard 200 at Number 199. And a few weeks later, it rose to its peak position of 195. But don’t worry, it dropped out, but then it re-entered the charts. And later in life, Lou Reed told Brian Eno that it had only sold around 30,000 copies over its first five years.”

Trending on Billboard

“In my humble opinion, this record is the definition of a hit. This record is arguably one of the most influential and groundbreaking records of our time,” she added. “This album is the apex of fine art and DIY culture colliding. It’s high and low, it’s poetry meets drugs, it’s earnest meets arrogance, and even if you’re never heard a single song from this album, you’ll undoubtedly recognize its cover, either from the walls of a modern art gallery or from the shop floor of an Urban Outfitters.”

“And let’s be real, what is a hit if you’re not conquering both of those places?” she asked. “My album cover has not yet appeared at the Guggenheim or the Whitney or the Tate. However, some of my merch is available to purchase right now in Urban Outfitters. So I guess that means that I’m halfway there.”

While Charli XCX is correct that The Velvet Underground & Nico peaked at No. 195 upon its initial release, it re-entered the charts later in 1967, ultimately peaking at No. 171. In 2013, the record would reach its highest peak to date with No. 129.

Likewise, the famous quote about the record only selling 30,000 copies in its first five years has been up for debate as well. Eno’s full quote adds that despite the sales figure, “everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band”. However, later investigations have seen more than 58,000 copies had been sold by February 1969, with as many as 200,000 copies being sold by 1971. For comparison, in June, Charli XCX’s Brat debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with a total of 40,000 album sales.