Taylor Swift, Jack Harlow Reign Over Australia’s Christmas Charts
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.
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.
Lars Brandle
Billboard