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Taylor Swift commands Australia’s albums chart, and hits double figures at the summit as 1989 (Taylor’s Version) knocks-up week 10 at No. 1.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal) is by some distance the most successful of Swift’s re-recorded albums in these parts, ARIA notes. Her previous projects, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version), each spent one week in 2021, while Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) led for two weeks in 2023.
Closing out the top three is the Weeknd’s 2021 career retrospective The Highlights (Universal), up 6-2, equaling its peak position, while Swift’s 2022 studio release Midnights holds at No. 3. Close behind is Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing At A Time (Mercury/Universal), gaining 12-4.
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Swift, who brings her The Eras Tour to Sydney and Melbourne next month for seven stadium shows, produced by Frontier Touring, collects five of the top 10 album titles on the latest Australian tally.
As Christmas recordings shuffle out of the main ARIA charts, published Friday, Jan. 5, Jack Harlow is one of the beneficiaries. The Louisville artist’s latest hit “Lovin On Me” (Atlantic/Warner) enjoys new life in the new year, up 7-1 for its seventh non-consecutive week leading the ARIA Singles Chart.
There are similar rebounds for Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (RCA/Sony), up 15-2, equaling its peak position, and Doja Cat’s “Paint The Town Red” (RCA/Sony), which ruled the national tally for 10 weeks last year and roars up the latest list, 21-3.
Also, Swift’s “Cruel Summer” heats up 24-4; “Prada” by Casso, Raye and D-Block Europe bounces 25-5 (Ministry of Sound/Sony); South African artist Tyla’s international breakthrough hit “Water” (Sony) flows 28-7, its equal best spot; and Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” (Universal) improves 26-6, for a new high.
U.S. country star Zach Bryan is double trouble on the ARIA Singles Chart, with two songs in the top 10 — “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves (Universal/Warner), up 30-8, and “Something In The Orange” (Warner), up 36-10. In a sign of the strength of country music in the land Down Under, Wallen’s “Last Night” pounces 35-9.
Finally, just one new release appears in the ARIA Top 40 this time around, English producer Fred Again and U.S. rapper Baby Keem’s “leavemealone” (Atlantic/Warner), new at No. 34.
She wasn’t the queen of Christmas this year, though Mariah Carey does reign over Australia’s final chart of 2023 with “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (via Columbia/Sony).
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Carey’s holiday classic lifts 2-1 to close out the festive season Down Under, leading an all-Christmas top 5 on the ARIA Chart, published Friday, Dec. 29.
Last week, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was pipped for the Christmas No. 1 by Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” (Atlantic/Warner). By completing its chart climb, the hit from 1994 boasts a sixth successive year reaching No. 1.
The top five on the latest tally is rounded out by Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (up 5-2 via Warner/Universal), Wham’s “Last Christmas” (up 4-3 via Sony), Michael Bublé’s “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” (up 10-4 via Reprise/Warner) and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (up 7-5 via Universal), respectively.
Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” dips 1-7, ending a six-week stint at the summit. It’s one of just two non-Christmas titles in the current ARIA Top 20, the other being Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (RCA/Sony), down 3-15.
A handful of new tracks impact the survey, all of them Christmas-themed. Among them is Cher’s “DJ Play a Christmas Song” (at No. 45 via Warner Music), which has already established chart records for the pop icon in the U.S. and U.K. Its parent LP Christmas, Cher’s 27th studio album, is the top new release of the week, opening at No. 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal) holds at No. 1 for the ninth consecutive week, extending its lead as the longest running No. 1 LP of the year in Australia.
Swift owns every title in the top 5 on the ARIA Chart, with the exception of Bublé’s double-diamond certified Christmas (Reprise/Warner), up 4-2. Count them up, Swift has seven of the top 10 albums.
Taylor Swift is the queen of Christmas in Australia as 1989 (Taylor’s Version) retains the chart title for an eighth consecutive week.
With that feat, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal) is the longest running No. 1 album of 2023, outpointing Swift’s own Midnights, which led for seven non-consecutive weeks between January and July, ARIA reports.
Swift completed unprecedented sweeps on the ARIA Albums Chart during the year, and doubled up on both main tallies. The U.S. pop star’s sales and streaming action should reach fever pitch in February 2024 when Swift’s The Eras Tour visits Australia for seven sold-out stadium shows, produced by Frontier Touring.
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Meanwhile, Australian alternative rock favorites Violent Soho return to the ARIA Chart at No. 2 with Hungry Ghost (I Oh You/Universal), their third album. The LP roars up the survey thanks to a 10th anniversary reissue, which eclipses its previous peak of No. 6, during a run when Hungry Ghost logged more than a year in the top 50. Violent Soho, which announced an indefinite hiatus in 2022, has reigned over the ARIA Albums Chart twice: with 2016’s Waco and 2020’s Everything Is A-OK.
Completing Australia’s albums chart podium is Swift’s Midnights, up 4-3; while Michael Bublé’s double-diamond certified Christmas (Reprise/Warner) shines on the national tally, up 8-4. Christmas first hit No. 1 in 2011 and logged 15 weeks at the summit, across six stints, ARIA reports.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” (Atlantic/Warner) completes a sixth-straight week at No. 1, handing the Louisville rapper honors as the first new artist in six years to reign over Australia’s chart during the week of Christmas.
With Harlow’s hit getting all the love, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (Columbia/Sony) is denied a sixth consecutive Christmas No. 1; it’s up 3-2 on the ARIA Chart, published Friday, Dec. 22, ahead of Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (down 2-3 via RCA/Sony), Wham’s “Last Christmas” (up 5-4 via Sony) and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” (up 9-5 via Warner/Universal), respectively.
Vinyl Group announced on Thursday a binding agreement to acquire The Brag Media, publisher of Australian and New Zealand editions of Rolling Stone and Variety, as well as publisher of its own tiles including TheBrag. com, Tone Deaf and industry news outlet The Music Network.
The proposed takeover of Brag Media, pending certain conditions and expected to close by Jan. 31, is being funded by an $11 million AUD ($7.5 million USD) round of investment in Vinyl Group by billionaire Wisetech Global chief executive Richard White, who when completed will own more than a third of the ASX-listed business. With funding in place, Vinyl Group’s purchase of 100% of Brag Media will break down as $8 million in cash and a further $2 million in deferred compensation through cash or stock.
Brag Media originated as Seventh Street Media in 2017, launching local trade outlet The Industry Observer and youth-focused title Don’t Bore Us, before rebranding as The Brag Media in 2019 — the same year it partnered with Billboard parent Penske Media to launch Rolling Stone Australia. Brag also represents the digital audiences in the market for Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, as well as Rotten Tomatoes, Hypebeast and others. In 2022, Brag bought The Music Network and shuttered Industry Observer. Based on unaudited figures disclosed in the announcement, The Brag Media generated $8.39 million in revenue in its current fiscal year, generating a net profit of $334,824.
Once the acquisition is complete, Brag Media’s portfolio will join a Vinyl Group that also includes music credits specialist Jaxsta, social networking platform Vampr and online record store Vinyl.com. As part of the deal, Brag Media’s co-founder and CEO Luke Girgis is set to remain as publisher and managing director of the company’s publishing business.
“Vinyl Group’s suite of products work together to empower participants of the music ecosystem and reach all corners of the creator economy, and we can’t wait to start working with the iconic mastheads that Luke and The Brag Media have successfully developed in Australia,” said Vinyl Group CEO Josh Simons, who took over the top job in late June following the departure of Beth Appleton. “We’ve identified several impactful synergies between the two businesses that will deliver immediate cost efficiencies and revenue, including streamlining Vampr’s in-app ads business and leveraging The Brag Media’s impressive audience reach to bolster Jaxsta, Vinyl.com and Vampr in the market.”
Girgis added that he “couldn’t be happier about” the consolidation. “Right from the earliest discussions we had, it was clear that the Board, Josh and the team shared our vision for the future of the business, and I’m thrilled that they’ve made this commitment with us.”
White said there is “no doubt that iconic brands like Rolling Stone and Variety make sense and add value to VNL. Combined under the leadership of Josh and Vinyl Group, the consolidated business and team will have a lot more growth levers and options.”
Vinyl Group is Australia’s only ASX-listed music business and trades under the ticker code VNL (it was JXT before a recent parent company name change). Its share price jumped 22% to .055 following the acquisition announcement.
Whenever Ed Sheeran has toured Australia and New Zealand, he has partnered with Frontier Touring, the live division of the dominant independent music company, Mushroom Group. And he breaks records with almost monotonous regularity.
He did it with his Divide tour in 2018, which sold more than 1 million tickets in the market, according to Frontier, breaking Dire Straits’ record that had stood since the 1980s. And Sheeran did it again with his most recent trek, The Mathematics Tour, which filled stadiums across the country earlier this year, smashing the all-time ticket sales record on consecutive nights (March 2-3) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, according to Frontier.
But this year’s tour was different. Mushroom Group’s legendary founder, Michael Gudinski, was not waiting at the airport to greet Sheeran. No Michael to see him off, either, or run amok on the adventures for which the good friends were famous.
“The reason I’m here right now,” Sheeran told the 105,000-strong Melbourne audience on March 2, “is because of an idea that he formed about eight years ago, and said, ‘Ed, you need to play in the round, in the MCG, with a band.’ I’d only started playing stadiums at this point, and I was like, ‘That place is really big. I’ve never played with a band.’ ” But Gudinski “convinced” him, he says, after his Divide tour ended. “I really wish he was here tonight,” Sheeran added.
Michael, the larger-than-life chairman and founder of Mushroom Group, which includes Frontier Touring and more than 20 music company brands, died March 2, 2021, at age 68.
The Mushroom Group and its staff was a family under Michael, and it remains so under his son, Matt, who now helms the company as chairman/CEO.
Michael (left) and Matt Gudinski in 2019.
Mushroom Creative House
Matt, 38, steered the business and its 300 staffers through the pandemic that crushed the live industry. Now Mushroom’s touring and agency activities have bounced back, and business is booming. As the company celebrates its 50th anniversary, Matt has taken the opportunity to look ahead and to remember the company’s achievements and challenges.
Matt had little time to grieve the death of his father. With his appointment to the top job confirmed in April 2021, he hit the ground running. He was at the helm when Mushroom announced its new talent management division, Mushroom Management; a multilayered international pipeline deal with Universal Music’s Virgin Music; the realignment of Frontier Touring; the launch of new booking agency MBA and events/touring company MG Live; and a partnership with hip-hop specialist Valve Sounds.
In 2021, he navigated Mushroom’s break with Harbour Agency, following claims from former staff of past management misbehavior at the agency.
On Nov. 26, dozens of Australia’s leading artists performed at Mushroom’s 50th-anniversary concert at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena — a venue where a statue of Michael, holding aloft his finger in the familiar No. 1 gesture, stands outside the entrance. Such Mushroom family acts as Jimmy Barnes, The Teskey Brothers, Amy Shark, The Temper Trap, Vika & Linda, DMA’S, Paul Kelly, Ross Wilson, Kate Ceberano and Missy Higgins joined the event that aired on the Seven Network, performing a mix of originals and classics from across the Mushroom catalog, including “Working Class Man,” “Holy Grail,” “Sweet Disposition,” “Riptide,” “It’s Only the Beginning,” “Before Too Long” and “Living in the 70s.”
The countdown to the concert included the Nov. 24 release of an all-star covers collection, Mushroom: 50 Years of Making Noise, and the theatrical release in August of Ego, The Michael Gudinski Story, a documentary on the executive whose death was mourned by many of the superstars he worked with, from Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen to Dave Grohl and Sheeran.
Veteran Mushroom artist Paul Kelly was among those on the bill of a Nov. 26 televised concert to mark the company’s anniversary.
Tim Lambert/Mushroom Creative House
In 1972, when Michael was just 20, he launched Mushroom Records, which soon became Australia’s indie music juggernaut. The company has shaped the country’s music culture like no other brand. Today, Mushroom Group embraces touring, booking agencies, publishing, merchandising/marketing services, venues, exhibition/events production, neighboring rights, branding, labels, talent management and more. (Warner Music acquired and absorbed the Mushroom Records label in Australia over a decade ago.)
“To survive 50 years as an independent music entertainment company is something we’re extremely proud of,” Matt says. “And throughout this year, we’ve tried to celebrate not only the history of the company, but the future.”
What were the first business challenges you took on when your father died?
We were still deep within the pandemic. And there were a lot of unknowns about how the music industry and the wider entertainment industry would move forward and recover from that. Without live music, it was an extremely challenging time for Mushroom Group and its survival. I’m really proud to be sitting here two-and-a-half years on from that, and I can confidently say that the Mushroom Group as a whole is in its best shape it has ever been.
What is your earliest memory of your father at work at Mushroom?
I’d always come into the office from a very young age, after school or even on holiday. We’d be going on tours together, whether it be Jimmy Barnes or Billy Joel. Before I’d even hit double [digits], I had a real passion for it. I was a budding concert promoter and entrepreneur, similar to my dad at a young age.
What was your first job in the music business?
When I was around 12 years old, I started trying to run some different events at different town halls, mostly for [those] under 18 and promoting bands. The first event I did wasn’t that successful; thenI started to hit my stride and was pretty much hooked. When I was about 16, I started getting involved with managing some upcoming artists and began to have influence in the A&R side of the group.
Your father was such a boisterous individual. What’s your management style?
It’s always an open-door policy and very collaborative. My dad was obviously a larger-than-life figure, and maybe some people out there thought that Mushroom was all about him, a one-man band. It was never that, never will be. Now there’s an opportunity for so many great people who’ve been part of the Mushroom Group for a long period of time to build up their profiles and really make a mark on this company and its future. Bringing their vision to life is something I’m very passionate about.
A U.S. No. 1 hit was high on your father’s wish list. What’s on yours?
At the time he had that dream, Australian artists having success [in] the biggest music market, the U.S. — outside of a very select few — was a foreign concept. Now there are so many artists that are making noise, having success globally. International success is a big priority, a big goal of mine. We have some artists who are doing really well, but we’d like them to go even further.
Michael Gudinski in 1979.
Mushroom Group Archive
You’ve recently had Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, Sam Smith and Paramore tour Australia with Frontier Touring. Foo Fighters are next up. How would you describe the live business right now?
We’ve definitely had the biggest touring period in our history since the return to live. More artists are wanting to come here than ever before, and so many artists are selling more tickets than ever. But there’s still so many challenges to deliver these tours, whether it’s rising costs, economic challenges or just the competitiveness in the market. Everyone’s selling more tickets, but it’s more competitive than ever.
Your father was very proud of you for landing a Drake tour. How did that come about?
Drake was an artist that I was following from quite early and had been trying to get to come to Australia for many years before we finally landed his tour in 2015. It was a coup to get such a global superstar like Drake to tour Australia when we did. And we’ve had a few successful tours with him since then. Bruno Mars was another artist I brought to Australia very early.
Taylor Swift’s last tour in Australia was with Live Nation. Now Frontier Touring is producing her tour, which is scheduled for February.
We’ve worked with Taylor many times before. She loves Australia. And we’re looking forward to hosting her again. To get her back working with Frontier is something that we’re really excited about. I know it would have meant a lot to my dad, who had a great relationship with Taylor. I don’t think we’ve ever seen that demand for a tour like this, not just for Frontier, but for any promoters. For every one person who has bought a ticket to her tour, there are probably another 20 in Australia who want a ticket.
Your father was a relentless traveler and loved it. Is that something you enjoy?
My dad loved getting out there and building relationships, showing up anywhere in the world to see an artist that we worked with or that we wanted to work with. I definitely do the same. Travel in our industry coming out of the pandemic has probably changed a little bit, and the technology has evolved, but that’s how you create, maintain and grow great relationships.
How has Mushroom survived as an independent while so many other indies have gone belly up or been absorbed by multinationals?
The core of Mushroom is to invest in supporting Australian talent and to take it to the world. My dad was big on the saying of being a leader, not a follower. We’ve continued to evolve and adapt; it’s why we sit here with so many different business arms to the Mushroom Group, because we’re not reliant on one. If we were just a record label, we would have struggled to survive to this point. [We’ve been] able to continually evolve and ensure that we’re looking for the next thing, not the current thing. And investing in great people and other great entrepreneurs has really allowed us to stay successful over such a long period of time. Part of what makes us unique is the fact that it is a family affair. So many people at Mushroom have been there a long time. And we’re really an extension of our family. That’s what else has made us survive.
How did your father prepare you to take the reins at Mushroom?
It’s all about reputation in our business. He just instilled into me those key fundamentals: how to ensure that the business moves forward and all the foundations that he’d laid go on for a long time. Mushroom’s success is really down to amazing people, great artists, loyalty and strong overall values. I was lucky enough that for a number of years my dad and I were working closely together, and the Mushroom Group expanded so much over the past 10 years. A lot of the areas we moved into were things that not only were we driving together, but that I was driving and really taking the reins on. I was well prepared to take on the greater responsibility. I’ll always say it: My dad and I love what we did so much because we did it together. It’ll never be the same doing it without him.
Overcoming the Tyranny of Distance
A restructured Frontier touring continues to bring superstars to Australia.
Dion Brant was named CEO of Frontier in 2022.
Ian Laidlaw
Australian promoter Frontier Touring has come roaring back from the 2021 death of founder Michael Gudinski and a pandemic that hobbled the live industry.
“We’ve completed around 160 tours since the restart of touring in mid-2022,” Frontier CEO Dion Brant says. “It has been a strong 18 months,” he adds, noting the company had 44 tours on sale as of early November. According to year-end Billboard Boxscore data, Frontier ranks as the No. 7 promoter worldwide for 2023.
Founded by Gudinski in 1979, Frontier was established on the core value of prioritizing artists and fans. The company has continued to channel this ethos since touring restarted following the health crisis.
In recent months, Ed Sheeran, Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish, Sam Smith and Luke Combs have played stadiums and arenas across Australia as part of Frontier-produced tours. Sheeran’s Mathematics Tour sold over 830,000 tickets across 12 shows in Australia and New Zealand and left excess demand, Brant says.
The heat isn’t dissipating from the market anytime soon.
Throughout the Southern Hemisphere summer, Frontier will promote treks for Robbie Williams, Foo Fighters and Taylor Swift, whose Eras Tour has sold out seven 2024 stadium shows across Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s most populous cities.
The so-called “tyranny of distance” — a phrase coined in 1966 by Australian historian Geoffrey Blainey — makes the country a challenging touring market. “It is more expensive” post-COVID-19, Brant says. The cost to “move people and freight is much higher than pre-COVID. An already marginal business is even more marginal.”
Even the price of replacement turf has soared. “Artists and their agents are working harder than ever to make touring viable, to get their artists in front of audiences in a way that still stacks up financially,” Brant continues. “We all play our part in that.”
Brant was promoted in March 2022, heading up a new leadership team, part of wider restructuring designed to help the “legacy, mission and culture” of Frontier to flourish following Gudinski’s death in March 2021.
Brant reports to the Frontier board, which includes Michael’s son, Mushroom Group chairman/CEO Matt Gudinski; Jay Marciano, chairman/CEO of AEG Presents, which has a joint venture with Frontier; and AEG Presents Asia Pacific president/CEO Adam Wilkes, who was appointed Frontier chairman as part of the restructuring.
Legendary Australian concert promoter Michael Chugg, executive chairman of Chugg Entertainment, reunited with former business partner Michael Gudinski to form a joint venture in 2019. More recently, Chugg joined the Frontier leadership team alongside Matt, Frontier senior promoter Gerard Schlaghecke and others.
As live entertainment returned, Frontier has welcomed a new golden age of stadium shows, promoting gigs by Billy Joel, Foo Fighters and Elton John. In years past, Australia would host “two to three stadium tours a summer for all promoters, if we had a big summer,” Brant says. “That seems to have changed.”
“Twenty years ago, people were lamenting what would happen to the business when The Rolling Stones, Eagles and Neil Diamond-type acts stopped filling stadiums,” he says. Not anymore. Brant points to the evolution in stage production and the quality of new artists now making their mark.
Adds Brant: “To be in stadiums eight times over a couple of summers is big for Frontier.”
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 9, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Taylor Swift makes it a full month at No. 1 in Australia with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal), now the longest reigning of her four re-recorded albums.
Swift’s latest hit LP holds off Stray Kids’ Rock-Star (Ing/Universal), unchanged at No. 2, while homegrown rapper Chillinit bags the highest score of the week with his mixtape 420DNA (Virgin Music Australia/ Universal), new at No. 3. The Sydney artist (real name: Blake Turnell) adds to his collection of top 10 appearances on the ARIA Albums Chart, which includes The Octagon (No. 2 peak in 2020), Full Circle (No. 3 also in 2020) and Family Ties (No. 5 in 2021).
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Drake’s For All The Dogs (Republic/Universal) vaults 21-4 on the latest ARIA Chart, published Friday, Nov. 24, following the release of the Scary Hours edition, which gathers six additional tracks. The original release of For All The Dogs collected a single week at No. 1 in Australia last month, for his fifth leader.
Following two sold-out shows at Perth’s Optus Stadium, Coldplay enjoys a chart spike for Live In Buenos Aires (Parlophone/Warner), soaring 43-7, for a new peak. Released in 2018, the live album had a previous best of No. 18. Coldplay will return to Australia in 2024 for five shows across Australia and New Zealand, with dates confirmed at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium (Oct. 30 and 31), Sydney’s Accord Stadium (Nov. 6 and 7) and Auckland’s Eden Park (Nov.13), for their first tour here since 2016. Live Nation Australia is producing the swing Down Under, with PinkPantheress and Emmanuel Kelly in support.
Dolly Parton played a part in the 2023 ARIA Awards celebrations on Nov. 15, where the country icon virtually presented the best country album award to Fanny Lumsden. Parton has her own party on the ARIA Chart this week, as Rockstar (Big Machine/Universal) debuts at No. 16. The collaboration-stacked set becomes her 15th top 50 album in Australia, ARIA reports, a feat that stretches back to 1979 when Great Balls Of Fire peaked at No. 48. Parton has two top 10s, with a best of No. 7 for 2014’s Blue Smoke.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Jack Harlow retains top spot for a second week with “Lovin On Me” (Atlantic/Warner), equaling the two-week stint at No. 1 for “First Class,” from 2022. “Lovin On Me” leads an unchanged top 3, ahead of Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (RCA/Sony) and Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” (RCA/Sony), respectively.
Tate McRae, the Canadian singer and songwriter, enjoys a third ARIA Chart hit with “Exes.” It’s new at No. 15, for the highest debut on the latest frame.
Further down the tally, Olivia Rodrigo lands another top 40 with “Can’t Catch Me Now” (Geffen/Universal), new at No. 29. “Can’t Catch Me Now” appears in the latest film in The Hunger Games franchise.
And finally, Ocean Alley’s 2018 single “Confidence” (The Orchard) returns to the top 40 after one-time Triple J Hottest 100 winner went viral on TikTok. “Confidence,” which won the national triple j countdown in January 2019, reenters at No. 40. The chilled-out tune has been used more than 51,000 times on TikTok, and got a bump when Ocean Alley jumped in on the trend themselves, posting a video that’s chalked up more than 7.6 million views. It’s one of six Australian-made cuts in the ARIA top 50.
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.
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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.
The Weeknd has postponed the Australia and New Zealand leg of his After Hours Til Dawn Tour two weeks before it was supposed to start. According to the singer’s rep, fans received an email from the ticketing companies with this statement: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, we must reschedule the Australia/New Zealand tour. New dates will […]
The Rolling Stones roll all the way to the top of Australia’s albums chart with Hackney Diamonds (Polydor/Universal), for their eighth leader.
Hackney Diamonds debuts at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart, published Friday, Oct. 27, the legendary British rock band’s 34th top 10 title.
Featuring collaborations with Lady Gaga, Elton John Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, and contributions from former bass player Bill Wyman and the group’s late drummer Charlie Watts, Hackney Diamonds is the Stones’ first album of original material since A Bigger Bang, which blasted to No. 4 in 2005. Since then, the Stones have clocked up two more leaders in Australia, with hits collection GRRR! in 2012, and covers set Blue & Lonesome in 2016.
Mick Jagger and Co. first led the national chart back in 1964 with their debut, self-titled album.
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The reunited Blink-182 bows at No. 2 on the ARIA Chart with One More Time… (Columbia/Sony), for the pop-rock trio’s ninth top 10 in the land Down Under. One More Time… marks the return of the classic line-up, with guitarist and singer Tom DeLonge slotting back in alongside bass player and vocalist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Travis Barker.
Blink-182 has now led the ARIA Chart on four occasions, including Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001), Neighborhoods (2011) and California (2016). One More Time… is the band’s first studio album since 2019’s Nine, which featured Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba in place of DeLonge, and which peaked at No. 4.
Olivia Rodrigo’s former leader Guts (Geffen/Universal) closes out the top 3 on the latest tally, holding at No. 3, ahead of LPs from Drake (For All The Dogs down 2-4 via Republic/Universal) and Taylor Swift (Midnights up 6-5 via Universal), respectively.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Doja Cat’s “Paint The Town Red” (via RCA/Sony) retains top spot for the 10th consecutive week. According to ARIA, it’s the 27th single to log 10 or more weeks at the top, a list that’s led by Tones And I’s “Dance Monkey” with 24 non-consecutive weeks. Also, Doja is the sixth solo female act to clock double-figure weeks at No. 1, joining Tones, Dinah Shore (13 weeks with “Buttons And Bows” in 1949), Miley Cyrus (12 weeks with “Flowers” earlier this year), Whitney Houston (10 weeks in 1992-93 with “I Will Always Love You”) and Sandi Thom (10 weeks in 2006 with “I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker”).
It’s worth noting, the Spice Girls reigned over the national tally for 11 weeks in 1996-97 with their signature song “Wannabe,” and Elton John’s record-breaking “Cold Heart” with Dua Lipa, remixed by Aussie electronic act Pnau, spent 10 weeks at the summit in 2021-22.
The latest singles chart podium is completed by Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” (Universal), up 3-2 for a new peak position in its 21st week on the survey, and Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (RCA/Sony), down 2-3.
The top new release this week belongs to Sydney-raised singer and rapper The Kid LAROI with “Too Much” (Columbia/Sony), featuring BTS‘ Jung Kook and Central Cee. It’s new at No. 10 for LAROI’s seventh top 10 single in Australia, the third top 10 for British rapper Central Cee (including a seven-week stretch at No. 1 with Dave on “Sprinter” earlier this year), and the third top tier title for South Korean singer Jung Kook.
The Los Angeles-based LAROI ruled the chart for a week in 2021 with “Without You” and again with “Stay,” his monster hit with Justin Bieber, which owned top spot for 17 weeks in 2021-22.
Troye Sivan long-overdue return to music with Something To Give Each Other (EMI), his third studio album, is an instant success in his homeland.
Something To Give Each Other starts at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart, published Friday, Oct. 20, for his first leader. That result eclipses the No. 6 peak for Sivan’s debut LP from 2015, Blue Neighbourhood, and the No. 3 best for 2018’s sophomore effort Bloom.
At the same time, several singles from Something To Give Each Other are heading north on the ARIA Singles Chart, with the gold-accredited “Rush” up 43-26, “Got Me Started” lifting 45-27, and “One Of Your Girls” bowing at No. 28.
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Sivan won two ARIA Awards earlier in his career, and has six more chances to add to his collection at the 2023 ARIAs, set to be held Nov. 15 in Sydney.
“Troye Sivan is truly a once-in-a-generation artist, representing Australia on a truly global scale, with 22 billion streams worldwide and a career that’s pushed boundaries across music, screen and fashion,” comments ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd. “On behalf of ARIA, I am absolutely thrilled to congratulate him on his first No. 1 album at home, and can’t wait to celebrate at the ARIA Awards in a few weeks.”
The albums podium is completed by Drake’s For All The Dogs (down 2-1 via Republic/Universal) and Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts (down 2-3 via Geffen/Universal), while The Living End’s eponymously-titled debut full length album returns to the chart at No. 4, thanks to a 25th anniversary edition released through BMG/ADA. The Living End originally logged two weeks at No. 1 following its release in 1998.
Further down the latest list, South Korean boyband Tomorrow x Together’s The Name Chapter: Freefall (ING) arrives at No. 31. It’s the K-pop outfit’s first top 100 album in Australia, ARIA reports.
There’s no change at the top of that national singles tally as Doja Cat’s “Paint The Town Red” (RCA/Sony) enters week nine at No. 1. That breaks the tie with Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” for the second longest-reigning leader of 2023. At the top of that particular list is Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” at 12 weeks.
There’s a double result for U.S. country artist Zach Bryan as “I Remember Everything” (Universal/Warner) with Kacey Musgraves lifts 7-6 and his solo number “Something In The Orange” (Warner) cracks the top 10 for the first time in 66 weeks on the tally, up 11-8.
Finally, South African artist Tyla impacts the ARIA top 10 for the first time with “Water” (Sony) flowing 20-9. The Afrobeats artist’s breakout number recently broke into the U.K. top 10.
