Taylor Swift Dominates, BTS’ Jung Kook Enjoys ‘Golden’ Debut on Australia’s Chart
Written by djfrosty on November 12, 2023
It’s Taylor Swift‘s week, again, on Australia‘s charts as Jung Kook arrives at No. 2 with Golden (via ING/Universal), the BTS star’s debut solo album.
That result matches the record for the highest solo debut LP from a Korean artist in Australia, equaling the effort from his BTS bandmate Suga (aka Agust D), who started at No. 2 on the ARIA Chart with his D-2 mixtape in 2020.
Golden carries previously-released collaborations with 3D and Seven and the new single “Standing Next To You,” new at No. 33 on the latest ARIA Chart.
As a member of BTS, Jung Kook has led the ARIA Albums Chart on three occasions: with Map Of The Soul: Persona (from 2019), Map Of The Soul: 7 (2020) and Proof (2022).
At the top of the ARIA Albums Chart, published Friday, Nov. 10 is Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal), now entering its second consecutive week at No. 1.
Completing the top 3 on the national albums tally is another Swift hit, Midnights, up lifts 4-3 in its 55th week. There’s no denying her domination of the charts, as Swift logs five of the top 10 albums and nine of the top 40. Over on the singles survey, Swift’s “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” is unmoved from No. 1. According to ARIA, the U.S. pop superstar has accumulated 24 total weeks at No. 1, across 10 songs, starting with 2008’s “Love Story”.
Swift will perform seven dates across two Australian cities early next year on the Australian leg of her The Eras Tour, produced by Frontier Touring.
Finally, the “last” Beatles song “Now And Then” (Capitol/Universal) debuts at No. 6 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
The track began life as a demo written and sung by John Lennon, was later developed and worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and now completed by Paul and Ringo (and some help from artificial intelligence), more than 40 years after the group began work on it.
A rough mix for “Now And Then” was recorded with producer Jeff Lynne back in 1994, but was ultimately shelved because Lennon’s vocals and piano couldn’t be uncoupled from the recording. Two unearthed demos were completed at the time and released as part of the Beatles’ Anthology project, “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love.” The second of those, “Real Love,” hit No. 6 back in 1996, and was the Beatles’ last top 50 single in Australia until now, ARIA reports.
The Beatles have 26 No. 1s in Australia, from 1962 to 1970 when the Fab Four officially split (that run includes a stretch of 14 consecutive leaders from 1966-1970). Elvis Presley is second on the all-time list of leaders with 14.
The Beatles also own the record for most weeks at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, at 130 weeks.