In the latest episode of HBO’s The Last of Us, the song that played towards the end experienced a significant increase in popularity, with streams soaring over 1,000% on Spotify, as reported by the platform.
1) Since the airing of Episode 2 on April 20, the cover of Shawn James’ “Through the Valley” by Ashley Johnson and Chris Rondinella saw a massive increase of over 1,000% in the US. The developers at Naughty Dog showed their excitement with a heart emoji upon hearing Spotify’s announcement. While it’s likely that streams of James’ original version also increased, Spotify did not provide any data about this particular aspect.
Surely, you know that Johnson portrayed the character Ellie in Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us video game series, and it was back in 2016 when she sang a rendition of “Through the Valley” as part of the promotion for The Last of Us: Part II.
Craig Mazin, both showrunner and writer, shared with Entertainment Weekly that the refreshed rendition of “Through the Valley” incorporates elements from the 2016 teaser song, along with a slightly modernized version that Johnson more recently recorded in a studio. Mazin has always admired the song for its impact on his mind and emotions.
In a flashback scene from Season 1, Johnson portrayed Ellie’s mother, and the recent reappearance of “Through the Valley” in the most recent episode held particular significance.
Apart from the fact that Ashley is connected to us through her role as Ellie’s creator in the game, she also portrays Ellie’s mother. In a poignant moment like this, where a child loses their only parent, it’s intriguing to consider that the parent who has been lost might be watching, while another parent – one unknown and unmet – is present. This was Mazin’s observation.
Previously, an episode from The Last of Us series has been known to increase a song’s streaming numbers significantly. For instance, it bumped up the plays for Linda Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time” by approximately 4,900%. Similarly, the trailer for GTA 6 utilized Tom Petty’s “Love Is A Long Road,” resulting in a surge of over 37,000% more streams.
New episodes of The Last of Us air Sundays at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET on HBO and Max.
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2025-04-23 23:09