Following the identification of the deceased body found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to David Anthony Burke (aka D4vd), the popular singer has seen his streaming numbers rise. Initially finding fans through TikTok, where his music quickly went viral, D4vd now finds himself embroiled in a criminal investigation in Los Angeles. Reportedly he is cooperating with police and has paused his current tour. The Los Angeles Police Department has not currently named him as a suspect in the criminal case.
On September 13, D4vd saw an increase in Spotify followers, according to data from Chartmetric. He gained 22,033 new followers with 251.1% more growth than usual, sitting on a total of 33.2 million monthly listeners on the streaming platform. On social media, he gained 25,160 new Instagram followers, a 620.3% increase bringing him to 2.1 million followers. He now has 3.8 million on TikTok, and 2.2 million on YouTube.
One of his songs in particular made a huge jump on the Spotify Global Top 50, but it’s the one with possibly the most unfortunate title considering the circumstances. “Romantic Homicide,” which debuted in 2022, climbed 102 spots to sit at No. 42. Meanwhile, on the US Top 50, it jumped 60 spots to No. 13. Since its release, it has been streamed 1.7 billion times.
D4vd sees influx of listeners following break in associated criminal case
Other huge gains for D4vd include rising 63 spots on Spotify’s Global Artist Chart. He was previously at No. 153. Now he sits at No. 90 between $uicideboy$ and Lil Baby.
On the flip side for D4vd, his record label Interscope has allegedly pulled all promotional materials for his deluxe album. The deluxe edition of Withered, which dropped in April, was supposed to come out today, September 19. Universal Music Group—Interscope’s parent company—along with Sony Music Publishing and the talent agency Wasserman Group, made the decision to suspend D4vd’s album in the midst of the investigation.
The recent surge in popularity for D4vd comes just after LAPD released the identity of the deceased body found in the Tesla. 15-year-old Celeste Rivas went missing from Lake Elsinore, California, in April 2024. Her body was found dismembered in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to D4vd. Police stated that she had a tattoo on her right index finger of the word “Shhh…,” which matched a tattoo on D4vd’s finger.
This sudden gain in followers and listeners could be explained away by plain old morbid interest. There’s a decidedly sick, entirely human fascination with true crime that has had society in its grip for many years. Just think, someday, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark might sit down and make a My Favorite Murder podcast episode about this. And we’ll have to suffer through yet another infantilization and commercialization of a real, actual crime with real, actual victims.
Photo by Josh Brasted/FilmMagic
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