Ed’s perfect streak continues

Ed Sheeran lands at the top of the ARIA Albums Chart this week with Autumn Variations, his second album in 2023 and sixth #1 debut. 

Autumn Variations continues Ed’s perfect record of #1 studio albums in Australia. It’s his seventh chart topper here, following + in 2012 (which debuted at #57), X in 2014, ÷ in 2017, No.6 Collaborations Project in 2019, = in 2019 and – earlier this year. All up, he has spent 45 weeks at #1 on the albums chart.

Despite his perfect record, Ed has some way to go before claiming the title of the act with the most #1 albums: that title is held by Jimmy Barnes, with 15 chart-toppers as a solo act (he has hit the top another five times as part of Cold Chisel). The Beatles rank second with 14 #1 albums here, followed by Madonna (12) and U2 and Taylor Swift (11 a piece).

Lany break into the top 5 at #4 with A Beautiful Blur. It’s the American pop rock band’s first Top 50 album here; before now, their best result was #53 with debut album LANY in 2017.

Aussie country singer James Johnston’s first album Raised Like That makes a stellar top 10 debut at #7. The title track was released in 2021 and became the fastest ever debut single by an Australian country singer to reach one million streams.

Kimosabè by Dope Lemon arrives at #9. It marks Angus Stone’s fourth album under the pseudonym, following Honey Bones (#11 in 2016), Smooth Big Cat (#2 in 2019) and Rose Pink Cadillac (#2 in 2022). Under his own name, he reached #2 in 2012 with Broken Brights, while with his sister Julia, he has hit the top of the ARIA Albums Chart twice: Down The Way in 2010 and Angus & Julia Stone in 2014. Angus and Julia Stone have won six ARIA Awards as a duo.

On the Singles Chart, Doja Cat’s Paint The Town Red is #1 for the seventh consecutive week, tying with Dave and Central Cee’s Sprinter as the third longest-running #1 track so far this year: Miley Cyrus leads with Flowers (12 weeks on top), followed by Morgan Wallen’s Last Night (eight weeks).

Women account for six of the nine acts that have hit the summit this year: Mariah Carey, SZA, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and Doja Cat.

Jung Kook arrives at #7 with his new single, 3D, featuring Jack Harlow. His hit Seven featuring Latto peaked at #2 earlier this year; this week it is at #38. For Jack Harlow, it’s his fourth top 10 here: What’s Poppin hit #8 in 2020, Industry Baby (with Lil Nas X) peaked at #4 in 2021 and First Class spent two weeks at #1 in 2022. 

After four weeks stuck at #11, I Remember Everything by American country superstars  Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves steps up to #9. It is the first top 10 hit here for both of them, and reached #1 in the US last month.