News 4 January 2023

Australia’s 2022 soundtrack revealed

Taylor, Harry, LAROI, PNAU and more top the ARIA End of Year Charts

The artists who clocked the most plays across Australia in 2022 have been revealed by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) today, with Taylor Swift and Harry Styles duking it out for the biggest album of the year, while hometown heroes Spacey Jane gave them a run for their money on the Vinyl Albums Chart.

Making a phenomenal entrance into the charts in October last year, Taylor Swift’s Midnights played an enormous part in Australian soundtracks, receiving the biggest single sales week of any album in 2022 and taking a record nine of the top 10 singles in its first week. The album spent seven weeks at the top of the Albums Chart and comes in at #1 on the End of Year Albums Chart.

Harry’s House, the third studio album from British icon Harry Styles, was released in May and spent eight weeks at the top of the Albums Chart to take the #2 position in 2022. Styles also claims the #1 single of the year with As It Was. In total, Harry has three tracks in the top 50 for the year.

In a huge win for Australian music, Spacey Jane’s Here Comes Everybody landed at the #3 spot on the End of Year Vinyl Albums Chart, pulling in just behind Styles and Swift. The Perth band’s sophomore album debuted at #1 on the Albums Chart in July and has continued to receive love across the country, reaching #47 on the End of Year Albums Chart. The band’s first album, Sunlight, also reached #15 on the End of Year Vinyl Albums Chart.

In other Australian success, The Kid LAROI’s 2021 smash hit album F*ck Love (Over You) remains in the top 25 for a second year, at #21, after taking #3 last year. LAROI has three tracks in the Singles Chart for 2022, with Stay featuring Justin Bieber topping the list at #3 off the back of a #2 slot last year. PNAU’s massive remix of Cold Heart featuring Elton John and Dua Lipa comes in just behind at #4; it was #13 in the 2021 year-end chart.

Also making a return is Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, landing at #4 on the Albums Chart after coming in at #1 in 2021, and Glass Animal’s Heat Waves, which secured a #2 position on the 2022 End of Year Singles Chart having topped it the year prior.

In more surprising news, Kate Bush made a return from 1985 with Running Up That Hill (Deal With God), landing just outside the top 10 at #11 for 2022. Fuelled by Netflix’s Stranger Things, which dominated global conversation, the single spent nine weeks at the top of the singles chart in 2022, more than any other song across the year.

Other highlights from the year include Daniel Johns, who went to #1 twice with FutureNever in May and then again in October, spending 11 weeks in the top 10. The Wiggles scored their first #1 album in a career that stretches back to 1991, spanning 59 studio albums, three live albums and nine compilation albums.

Jimmy Barnes scored two #1 albums in the same year, the first time he has achieved this in his career, with Soul Deep 30 and Blue Christmas becoming his 14th and 15th chart-topping albums respectively. Finally, 5 Seconds of Summer scored their fifth #1 album in a row with 5SOS5.

2022 Australian highlights

Four #1 singles