Heidi Montag’s 2010 album Superficial has achieved an unexpected resurgence, surging to No. 1 on iTunes following a social media push by her husband, Spencer Pratt.
The couple, who first found fame on the mid-2000s reality series The Hills, lost their home in the Pacific Palisades wildfire. Amid the tragedy, the pair turned to social media to share their journey and encourage fans to stream Montag’s music as a way to help them rebuild.
“Anyone that hasn’t gone to iTunes, just do it now. Let’s go to No. 1,” Pratt said last week on TikTok. “We’ll get the screenshot, she’ll be a famous pop star for when her kids are grown up. She’ll be in the history books,” Pratt said prior to Montag’s album surging to No. 1 on iTunes.
“They won’t know it’s because our house burned down, and we have no possessions and people are just trying to support us. They’ll just be like, ‘Wow! My mom was a pop superstar that was No. 1 on the charts.’”
The campaign gained traction quickly, with support from fans and fellow celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski and Flavor Flav, who posted a TikTok of himself dancing to Montag’s track with the caption, “Doing my part to get Heidi to No. 1.”
Later, Pratt jubilantly shared on social media amid the news his wife’s album had surpassed Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos on iTunes. “Popstar Heidi Montag No. 1 on iTunes America! Thank you everyone! Who needs a house, who needs clothes, who needs anything but this level of clout, pop, superstardom? Our sons are gonna be like, ‘My mom was No. 1 on iTunes America.’ Thank you to everyone who made this happen.”
Pratt, who recently reached over one million followers on TikTok while sharing candid updates about the destruction of their home, has now set his sights on the Billboard charts.
“So I was just informed that for Heidi to get No. 1 on Billboard, we need all do it or Superficial to be on the radio. So anybody that has a radio station, you know, a radio station on social media you can tag, please ask them for the next week to play ‘I’ll Do It’ or Superficial from Heidi’s album,” Pratt said in one of his updates.
“We need radio play, I guess not just iTunes, to get No. 1 on Billboard charts, which is the ultimate goal, cause then it’s like, that’s a wrap. Heidi is the biggest superstar in the world, you know, obviously not Taylor Swift, but it’s like Taylor Swift, Heidi Montag.”
He joked about enlisting the help of Taylor Swift’s fanbase, saying, “I need all the Swifties back up. I mean, I really do need Taylor, you know, I think I’m gonna have to, you know, get out the bat phone and put the Swiftie light in the sky. Like, we need some Taylor Swift support here.”
In one candid update on TikTok, Pratt also spoke of the gravity of his family’s tragic loss in the Los Angeles wildfires which has seen the death toll rise to 24 as of Jan. 13. “Let’s be clear. If I seem like the most unhinged, crashing out person on this whole app, I am. Let’s just get that frickin’ clear. I have lost my mind,” he said.
“I am keeping it together here, ’cause I have two kids and I wanna frickin’ have them go to college and have a frickin’ life, okay? So this is crashing out at its finest, OK?”
In an earlier video after the family witnessed their home burn down in real-time via a security camera, Pratt said on TikTok, “I have been ‘faking it till you make it’ since 2007. Guess what? Faking it till you make it, doesn’t make it. Especially when everything burns down.”
Despite their situation, Pratt remains laser-focused on turning the iTunes success into Billboard charting glory, using every platform to rally supporters. “But yes, radio play, ‘I’ll Do It’ or ‘Superficial,’ those are the two that are charting. Please, please, please, anybody that knows any radio people, or message your radio station or call your radio station. Let’s make this happen!” he told his TikTok followers.
“We’ve got one week before this Billboard chart drops.”