The Beaches Score Their First Gold-Certified Single in the U.S. With ‘Blame Brett’: ‘Beyond Humbled’

The Beaches have secured their first-ever gold-certified single in the U.S.

The Toronto rock act’s song “Blame Brett” received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). While the 2023 track officially went gold back in April this year, it wasn’t until over the weekend that the band — comprised of sisters Jordan and Kylie Miller, Leandra Earl and Eliza Enman-McDaniel — shared the news on social media.

“Thank you everyone, we’ll forever be blaming Brett,” read the caption, accompanied by a video of Earl holding up the band’s RIAA plaque.

Released on their sophomore album, 2023’s Blame My Ex, “Blame Brett” has served as a breakthrough moment for the band. The punchy breakup song became a fan favourite and evidently reached listeners beyond their home country.

Much of its success is credited to a viral moment on TikTok, which helped the group land some major radio placements in the U.S.— their first charting song in the country.

On the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, it reached No. 27, remaining on the ranking for 20 weeks, while it peaked at No. 17 on the Alternative Airplay chart, spending 23 weeks there. On Pop Airplay, “Blame Brett” reached No. 33 with 10 weeks on the chart. Over three years later, the track is reaching another major music industry milestone.

Not to mention, its success brought The Beaches to bigger venues and higher placements on festival lineups.

“We're beyond humbled to learn that our song 'Blame Brett' has gone gold in the U.S,” the group’s frontwoman, Jordan Miller, shares with Billboard Canada, thanking “everyone who has listened over these last few years,” and ending with an important sentiment: “To anyone going through a devastating breakup, know that there are better days ahead!”

In many ways, “Blame Brett” is extremely blunt, much credit to Jorda. She used the real name of her Canadian rock singer ex-boyfriend in “Blame Brett,” which gave the song a personal edge — but came with a mixed bag of after-effects.

“It was a therapy session for me to dive into how I was feeling,” she told Billboard Canada in last year’s historic Women of the Year cover story. “But in being so vocal and open about my relationship, I opened myself up to a lot of weird feelings when people who I’ve never met before would ask me out of context about Brett or ask me about my relationship. When you open up your personal life like that, you can put yourself in a really vulnerable place.”

Over the past couple of years, The Beaches have continued to grow their audience outside of Canada. Hot on the heels of their third album, No Hard Feelings, and the group’s Billboard Canada’s Women of the Year achievement — marking them as the first band to receive the award, previously given to a single artist — they made their NPR Tiny Desk debut, performing a lively five-song set last fall.

This past April, they received the Global Force Award at this year’s Billboard Women in Music ceremony, further flexing their U.S. impact. Just a month later, “Edge of the Earth,” another hit from Blame My Ex had a resurgence following its major sync — and the band’s Coachella set shoutout — in Prime Video’s hockey romance drama Off Campus.

It’s an organic rise that can only happen after years of hard work and dedication to the craft.

“Canadian artists are constantly told they need to leave to have success,” The band’s manager, Laurie Lee Boutet, tells Billboard Canada. “The Beaches not only stayed independent but stayed here, and went and got a gold record in the U.S. anyway. I've watched them earn every bit of this, and I couldn't be prouder.”

Watch the “Blame Brett” music video below.