Sammy Hagar & The Circle

Lockdown 2020

Album Release

Goal: Stay active playing music and engaged with fans during lockdown

With the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and pauses on touring, Sammy & The Circle had time on their hands. Equipped with iPhones and their respective instruments, The Circle members (Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham, and Vic Johnson) began the Circle Lockdown Challenge. It started with a lockdown-rendition of “Funky Feng Shui,” with each member laying down their individual tracks from the den, music room, closet, and even showers of their homes.

After seeing the overwhelming fan response, we decided we could do more with this. We turned the Lockdown Challenges into an ongoing content stream on the band’s social channels: The Lockdown Sessions.

Over the next eight months, the sessions became a hit with critics and fans alike, producing 10 tracks and reaching an online audience approaching 30 million. The sessions gave the band the opportunity to throw down raw and raucous compact covers of classic hits that they’d jammed to backstage but never planned to record, including The Who’s “Won‘t Get Fooled Again,” Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” AC/DC, “Whole Lotta Rosie” and more. From here, we turned the collection of covers into an album: Lockdown 2020.

Through this campaign, we were able to:

  • Virtually create an entire album while under lockdown
  • Provide fans with some much needed musical relief during such an unprecedented time
  • Give followers something to look forward to each week, adding in the element of surprise with “which song will they cover next?”

We also:

Created a video for the group’s cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes.” The video was as a tribute to frontline workers, and proceeds from the song were donated to food banks across the country.

Ran a “Heroes” giveaway. Using Sammy’s socials, we asked fans to submit who the everyday heroes in their communities were. Sammy signed copies of Lockdown 2020 to give away to the fans who commented. This was an impactful way to continue showing gratitude for everyday heroes and continue spreading the song’s message.

Designed the album packaging.

Results:

Successfully turned band and fan engagement during lockdown into a charting album release.

Making the best of the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign

  • Included 16 videos filmed, produced, and edited virtually
  • Album peaked #34 on Billboard’s top album sales during the week of January 30th and spent two weeks on the chart
  • 16,257,309 series views
  • 3,999,582 series engagements

“Sammy Hagar and the Circle remain determined to keep their music alive, even during lockdown.” – Rolling Stone

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