Meat Loaf takes out posthumous ARIA #1 album

American star Meat Loaf hits #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart with his mammoth album Bat Out Of Hell. It becomes the album’s ninth week at #1 in Australia, having initially spent eight straight weeks in the top spot between June and August 1978. Bat Out Of Hell has been accredited 25x Platinum in Australia. The sequel album Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell (#1 Sept. ’93) has also re-entered the chart this week at #37. Meat Loaf – born Michael Lee Aday – died on 20 January, aged 74.

The span of 2,269 weeks between Bat Out Of Hell’s last appearance at #1 and this week is now the longest gap in Australian charts history, surpassing the Grease soundtrack, which had 657 weeks between #1s (Nov ’78-Jun. ’91).

Five weeks into its run in the ARIA Albums Chart, the soundtrack to Disney’s Encanto moves up two spots to hit a new peak at #2. This week, the album’s since ‘We Don't Talk About Bruno’ and ‘Surface Pressure’ are at #11 and #21, respectively.

The Sing 2 soundtrack jumps up four spots to hit the Top Ten for the first time at #9. The soundtrack for the original Sing peaked at #2 in January 2017.

After taking out two spots in the Hottest 100, Billie Eilish jumps from #19 to #14 with her second album, Happier Than Ever. It’s one of a number of albums that have made significant moves up the chart as the result of Hottest 100 success: Lil Nas X’s Montero (#24 to #15), Rüfüs Du Sol’s Surrender (#40 to #22), Kanye West’s Donda (re-entry at #34) and Spacey Jane’s Sunlight (re-entry at #36).