With its January 19th shutdown looming, TikTok’s more than 170 million users are demonstrating the app’s power one last time. In a show of support for Heidi Montag and her family, who lost their home to the Palisades fire in Southern California, fans have streamed and downloaded her 2010 album Superficial so frequently that it has reached number one on iTunes for the first time since its release.
Montag’s husband, Spencer Pratt, whom she met on the hit MTV show The Hills, is no stranger to TikTok. His loyal followers have tuned in daily to watch his trips to Erewhon, his hummingbirds (whom he affectionately dubbed his “hummers”), and his QVC-style lives to sell Pratt Daddy crystals. In the wake of the devastation brought on by the Palisades fire, Pratt turned to his TikTok community for support.
On the app, Spencer and Heidi candidly shared glimpses into their grief and early steps toward recovery. In response, they received an outpouring of support from the TikTok community, with many asking how they could help. Given the recent re-release of Superficial (Anniversary Edition), spurred by a TikTok-fueled resurgence of the track “I’ll Do It,” Spencer suggested fans show their support by streaming the album. Within hours, Superficial climbed from number 21 to 15 on the U.S. iTunes charts.
Even other celebrities and influencers showed their support. Jenny McCarthy shared a video of her husband, New Kids on the Block singer Donnie Wahlberg, purchasing the album, while model and New York Times bestselling author Emily Ratajkowski shared a TikTok with the caption, “Didn’t expect this Heidi Montag song to be the soundtrack of the 2025 apocalypse but you know what f*** yeah.”
By Saturday night around 9 p.m. PST, Montag had overtaken Bad Bunny to claim the number one spot on iTunes. Spencer marked the milestone with a celebratory TikTok video. Using the green screen effect, he showed off a screenshot of the chart. “Thank you to everyone who made this happen… you don’t know how much this means,” he said, visibly moved.
Heidi also posted to share her gratitude. “Thank you for the overwhelming love and support of my music and really rallying behind us in this devastating time and making it such a blessing,” she said.
As the milestone moment sunk in, Pratt reflected on the album’s fifteen year journey. “Every dollar we made from The Hills, we put into this album Superficial, and for it to freakin’ finally get number one in America fifteen years after – do you know how many times we’ve cried, and how much regret we’ve had spending all our money and investing in it and believing in Heidi’s music, even though we knew it was so good, and for it to finally come out..,” Spencer shared before being overwhelmed by emotions and relief. “It feels so good. Thank you,” he sobbed.
Although the comments were overwhelmingly positive and supportive, Pratt’s posts weren’t spared from critique. TikTok users were quick to call out his perceived privilege due to his celebrity status and his lack of acknowledgement of the lingering devastation in North Carolina. He responded candidly explaining that his focus is on his family. “I’m only worried about my family’s success and what’s going on in my world. I’m not plugged in to the rest of the world. It’s not my job,” he responded in a video.
That desire to support his family and their success is continuing on January 20. Spencer will be releasing a limited run of GUNNER wine, a collaboration with local winemaker, Emercy Wines. The label of the 2023 Roussanne wine will showcase Montag and Pratt’s son Gunner’s sea monster artwork. Pratt shared in a video that he hopes to eventually expand to a retailer like Costco with a portion of the proceeds going to others who lost homes in the fires.
Stream Superficial below: