Benson Boone, Taylor Swift Reign Over Australia’s Charts
It’s a beautiful week for Benson Boone, as the U.S. singer and songwriter scores his first No. 1 in Australia, while Taylor Swift continues to dominate the national albums survey.
Boone, the Monroe, Washington native, tops the latest ARIA Singles Chart, published Friday, March 8, with “Beautiful Things” (via Warner Music), up 3-1 in its seventh week on the tally.
“Beautiful Things” leads a top three ahead of Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” (Columbia/Sony), holding at No. 2 and Swift’s “Cruel Summer” (Universal), down 1-3.
Meanwhile, Stranger Things star Joe Keery has his very first Australian top 10 with “End Of Beginning” (AWAL), released through his music project Djo. Released back in 2022, “End Of Beginning” is enjoying a global resurgence thanks to a TikTok trend, lifting 14-9 on the ARIA Chart.
Fred Again tends to create hysteria in Australia, and he’s doing that (again). The British singer and songwriter performed a pop-up concert at the Sydney Opera House last month, setting a ticketing record en route to an immediate sell out. Then, the surprise announcement of six arena shows and an outdoor pop-up concert, which shifted 100,000 tickets in the blink of an eye. Off the back of that frenzy, several Fred Again tunes surge up the Australian tally, led by “Leavemealone” with Baby Keem, up 56-13 for a new peak position. His seven-date east coast run started Monday (March 4) at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne and wraps next Thursday, March 14 at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney.
Homegrown electronic producer Cyril lands his first top 40 hit with “Stumblin’ In” (Spinnin’ Records /Warner) his reimaged house version of Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman’s ‘70s song, up 45-19. The original peaked at No. 2 back in 1979, and was co-produced and co-written by another Australian, Mike Chapman.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift locks up the top 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart for the third consecutive week, with Lover (Universal) claiming the title for the first time in more than four years, up 2-1.
The Swift Sweep continues with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal), Folklore (Republic/Universal), Midnights (Universal) and Reputation (Big Machine/Universal) respectively completing the top 5.
A handful of homegrown recording enter the ARIA Top 50 on debut, including Mildlife’s Chorus (at No. 36 via PIAS/Inertia), Donny Benét’s Infinite Desires (No. 46 via Donnyland Records/Orchard) and San Cisco’s Under The Light (No. 47 via ICR/MGM).
Lars Brandle
Billboard