An Anti-Islamic Song Outsold Adele So Amazon Donated Proceeds To Refugee Charities
The Pegida anthem overtook “Hello” at the top of the download charts in Germany.
Pegida is a far-right, anti-Islam, anti-immigration street protest movement formed in Germany last December.
A Pegida supporter at a rally in Berlin in March.
Carsten Koall / Getty Images
For Christmas they released a single to raise money for the group, a wordless anthem called "Gemeinsam Sind Wir Stark!" ("Together We Are Strong!"), which was originally made to mark the first anniversary of Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) being founded.
The group is trying to reposition itself as the main opposition movement to German chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policies.
The song was released on Dec. 21, and the Local website reports that after being picked up by German media, downloads soared, sending it past Adele's "Hello" to the top of the Amazon charts.
A screengrab of the best-selling singles on Amazon.de.
A note on the song's Amazon page says: "Proceeds from Amazon from the sale of this song will go to a non-profit organisation aiming to help refugees."