KNEECAP's catalogue receives sales and streaming boost as they dominate news cycle

Streams of the controversial trio's catalogue are up 61.5% week-on-week

Irish hip-hop trio KNEECAP have seen a sales and streaming boost in the UK this week as they continue to make headlines.

Though they don't appear on the Top 100 of this week's UK Official Singles Chart or Official Albums Chart, according to the latest Official Charts Company data, weekly volumes – sales and streams combined – of KNEECAP's latest album Fine Art have more than doubled. The album's volumes have soared by 103% over the last seven days.

Overall, the band have generated 1.6 million streams across their catalogue over the past seven days, which represents a 62% rise week-on-week.

The two biggest songs of their career to date, H.O.O.D and Better Way to Live, saw respective week-on-week increases of 58% and 53%.

KNEECAP's second album Fine Art was released in June 2024, when it debuted at Number 43 on the Official Albums Chart – its peak position to date, and has sold a combined 23,000 units in the UK so far.

Later that year, the group's profile rose when they starred in an acclaimed biographical film, also called Kneecap, in which the band members played themselves alongside actors including Michael Fassbender and Josie Walker.

KNEECAP came to even wider attention after their set at Coachella music festival on April 18, during which their on-stage screens displayed messages reading "Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and "it is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes".

Music manager and TV personality Sharon Osbourne accused the band of incorporating "aggressive political statements" and "hate speech" into their set. Writing on X, she urged followers to join her in "advocating for the revocation of Kneecap’s [US] work visa".

Asked for a response by BBC News, KNEECAP replied: "Statements aren't aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though."

Since then, it has emerged that footage of a band member seemingly calling for MPs to be killed – recorded at a gig in November 2023 – is being assessed by counter-terrorism police.

In a statement posted on X, the band said that "an extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action".

They also offered "heartfelt apologies" to the families of murdered MPs Jo Cox and David Amess, adding: "We never intended to cause you hurt."

In the wake of the controversy, KNEECAP have had numerous gigs in the UK and Germany cancelled. Meanwhile, Conservative MP Mark Francois has claimed it would be "unconscionable" for the band to keep their high-profile booking at next month's Glastonbury festival.

However, the trio have also attracted support from more than 100 artists and music industry figures including Pulp, Massive Attack, CMAT, Brian Eno and Paul Weller, who signed an open letter claiming that there has been a "clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately de-platform" the group.

The letter continues: "As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom.

"In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people."