News 23 November 2019

Paul Kelly Debuts at #1 On Albums Chart

Iconic Australian singer scores third chart-topper in three years.

Paul Kelly Debuts at #1 On Albums Chart

Iconic Australian singer scores third chart-topper in three years.

Paul Kelly achieves his third #1 debut on the Albums Chart this week, a fitting cap to his illustrious career to date, which has included 17 Top 50 albums - eight of which peaked in the Top Ten - and a staggering 58 ARIA Award nominations, 14 wins and an induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame. It wasn’t until 2017 that Kelly scored his first #1 album with Life Is Fine (#1 Aug. ‘17), but he’s been on a roll since, topping the charts in the two following years, with Nature (#1 Oct. ‘18) and this latest release. Last year’s concept album Thirteen Ways To Look At Birds won Kelly his most recent ARIA Award, and he is in contention for three more at this year’s ceremony, including Best Male Artist (more below).

Debuts:

#1: Paul Kelly ‘Songs From The South: Paul Kelly’s Greatest Hits 1985-2019’ – The latest best-of collection from Paul Kelly goes one better than his first, Songs From The South, which peaked at #2 in June 1997. This is the iconic Australian artist’s 16th appearance on the Albums Chart and third time at the summit, following Nature (#1 Oct. ‘18) and Life Is Fine (#1 Aug. ‘17).

#2: Celine Dion ‘Courage’ – Celine Dion returns to the Top Ten for a tenth time with her first English language studio album in six years, after Loved Me Back To Life (#9 Nov. ‘13). Dion last appeared on the Albums Chart with the compilation The Best So Far… 2018 Tour Edition, which peaked at #4 in August 2018. Writers on Courage include Sia, David Guetta, Sam Smith and Skylar Grey, among others.

#7: Lady Antebellum ‘Ocean’ – Lady Antebellum return with their eighth studio album Ocean, their first to be produced by award-winning producer Dan Huff. The US country trio has landed in the Top Ten with each album released since their breakthrough second LP Need You Now rose to #5 in April 2011, with the exception of their 2012 Christmas LP, On This Winter’s Night.

#18. Tory Lanez ‘Chixtape 5’ – Canadian rapper and singer Tory Lanez makes his second appearance on the ARIA Albums Chart, following I Told You, which peaked at #37 in August 2016. A tribute to 2000s hip hop and R&B, ‘Chixtape 5’ features remixes of popular tracks from the era, which feature the original artists including Trey Songz, Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Ashanti, Chris Brown, Mya, T-Pain, Fabolous and Mario.

#24: Various 'Frozen 2 Soundtrack' – The soundtrack to the Disney sequel features end-credits songs by Kacey Musgraves, Weezer and Panic! At The Disco.

#38: Winston Surfshirt ‘Apple Crumble’ – Aussie six-piece Winston Surfshirt return to the Top 50 for a second time with ‘Apple Crumble’, the follow-up to ‘Sponge Cake’, which peaked at #24 in October 2017. The band’s latest album arrives as they embark on a summer tour of Australia and New Zealand.