Taylor Swift Dominates, Doubles-up on Australia’s Charts
Written by djfrosty on March 1, 2024
Taylor Swift came, she played and she continues to dominate Australia’s charts.
Swift wrapped her seven-date, two-city The Eras Tour of Australia earlier in the week, and has left the country, but the afterglow of that trip can be seen on the ARIA Charts.
Swift’s Lover release “Cruel Summer” (Universal) enters a second week atop the singles tally while Midnights holds at No. 1 on the albums list, for a 16th non-consecutive week.
Midnights leads an all-Tay Tay top six on the latest tally (Lover, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Folklore, Reputation and Evermore, respectively), published Friday, March 1. Also, Swift retains No. 8 with Red (Taylor’s Version), marking the second week straight she has had seven albums in the top 10, equaling her own ARIA Chart record.
Swift completed sold-out shows at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (three dates) and Sydney’s Accor Stadium (four), for a trek produced by Frontier Touring. Next up, a six-night stand at Singapore National Stadium.
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The top new release on the national albums survey is Swing Fever (Rhino/Warner), the first collaborative album from Rod Stewart and Jools Holland. It’s new at No. 19.
That’s Stewart’s 32nd top 20 appearance and first since 2019, when You’re In My Heart: Rod Stewart With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra peaked at No. 3, ARIA reports.
All told, Steward has landed seven ARIA No. 1s, dating back to 1971’s Every Picture Tells A Story.
Holland, the British bandleader and TV presenter, cracked the top 20 back in 1979 as a member of Squeeze (also known as U.K. Squeeze) with Cool For Cats, which peaked at No. 18. Swing Fever was the leader on the midweek U.K. albums chart.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” initially released back in 2019, enjoys a second week at No. 1.
Beyonce’s country-leaning “Texas Hold ‘Em” (Columbia/Sony) lifts 3-2, and could lasso the U.S. pop/R&B superstar her first No. 1 in these parts in more than 17 years. Bey’s only other Australian leader is “Irreplaceable,” which logged three weeks at No. 1 in late 2006 and early 2007.
Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” (Warner) completes the podium, dipping 2-3 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart.
The top new release on the singles survey belongs to SZA, as “Saturn” (RCA/Sony) zooms in at No. 8. It’s housed by the R&B star’s Lana, a forthcoming deluxe version of her chart-topping LP SOS. SZA will play arenas across Australia next month for a tour produced by Live Nation, her first of these parts in almost five years.
Finally, Stranger Things star Joe Keery now has a top 40 hit in Australia through Djo, his recording project. Djo’s debut single “End of Beginning” (AWAL) rockets 69-14. Keery plays the chump-come-good character Steve Harrington in the much-loved Netflix sci-fi series.