"Rent" Soundtrack Climbs Billboard Charts

By Andrew Gans
02 Dec 2005

Jesse L. Martin in "Rent".
Jesse L. Martin in "Rent".
Photo by © 2005 Revolution Studios Distribution Company, LLC.

The nationwide release of the long-awaited "Rent" film — on Nov. 23 — has had a positive impact on the sales of the movie's soundtrack.

Before the film opened, the single CD, "Rent: Selections from the Original Motion Picture," ranked No. 127 on the Billboard 200 charts. As of Dec. 1, that same CD now ranks No. 47, an 80-position jump.

The "Rent" selections CD was released on the Warner Bros. label in November. A two-CD version, featuring the complete soundtrack, was released in late September.

The Chris Columbus-directed film of "Rent" stars Adam Pascal (as Roger Davis), Anthony Rapp (as Mark Cohen), Rosario Dawson (as Mimi), Taye Diggs (as Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III), Wilson Jermaine Heredia (as Angel Schunard), Jesse L. Martin (as Thomas B. "Thom" Collins), Idina Menzel (as Maureen Johnson) and Tracie Thoms (as Joanne Jefferson).

Rent updates Puccini's La Bohème to the East Village of the late 1990's, with artists and lovers struggling to connect in a world that is chaotic, shallow and tinged with disease. The late Larson wrote Rent's book, music and lyrics. The 1996 Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning musical continues at the Nederlander Theatre in New York City.

To view the "Rent" site, visit Click Here.