Taylor Swift Dominates Australia’s Charts With ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’
Written by djfrosty on November 3, 2023
It’s Taylor Swift week on Australia’s charts, as the U.S. pop star completes a double and floods the top deck of the national singles tally.
As expected, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal) flies to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, published Friday, Nov. 3, for Swift’s 12th career leader in the land Down Under, while “Is It Over Now?” debuts at the pinnacle of the singles survey.
Remarkably, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is her third No. 1 for 2023, following Midnights, which reigned for seven non-consecutive weeks earlier this year (after clocking seven weeks at the top in 2022) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which checked-in at the penthouse for two weeks in July.
Although ARIA doesn’t publish the combined sales, the trade body reports 1989 (Taylor’s Version) accumulates the biggest sales week ever for Swift on the ARIA Albums Chart, the top opening week for any new album since 2017, and a record-setting first week for a vinyl album.
All four of Swift’s rerecorded LPs have led the national chart. Two more are to come.
With her latest feat, Taylor levels-up with Madonna in third place on the all-time list of acts with the most No. 1 albums in Australia. Jimmy Barnes leads that list with 15 as a solo act (he had another five with Cold Chisel), with the Beatles in second place with 14.
TayTay’s 12 leaders include the original version of 1989, which reigned for four weeks in 2014 and another five weeks in 2015.
With its fast debut, “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” becomes Swift’s 10th No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, a list that’s dominated by tracks from the new album. Eight of the top 10 are from Swift, including a top four sweep.
Swift will repay her fans in February 2024 when she plays seven stadium shows in Australia, on her The Eras Tour, produced by Frontier Touring (three at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, four at Sydney’s Accor Stadium).
Across her career, the pop star has spent 23 weeks at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, the trade body reports, drawing level with “You’re The Voice” singer John Farnham.
The Beatles lead that list, with 130 weeks, ahead of Elvis Presley (61 weeks) and Justin Bieber (48 weeks). With “Now And Then,” which arrived Thursday, Nov. 2, the Beatles could extend that lead when the next chart is published.
Meanwhile, prolific Australian alternative rock act King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard earn their second top 10 of the year with The Silver Cord (KGLW/Universal), new at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart. King Gizzard are nominated for four categories in the 2023 ARIA Awards, set for Nov. 15 in Sydney.
Close behind is Australian singer and songwriter Angie McMahon’s Light, Dark, Light Again (AWAL). It’s new at No. 6. Light, Dark, Light Again is McMahon’s second album, and the followup to Salt, which peaked at No. 5 in 2019. McMahon was Billboard’s Indie Artist of the Month for October.