This Week In Pop – 17 December, 2018

Welcome to This Week In Pop (for the last time in 2018).

It's week eight at #1 on the Albums Chart for Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Ariana stays up at #1 with 'Thank U, Next' and there's a posthumous release from XXXTentacion.

This week's album chartifacts

#1: Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper ‘A Star Is Born’ – It’s week eight at #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart for the soundtrack to 'A Star Is Born'. It joins the soundtrack to 'The Greatest Showman' (#1 January ’18) as the album with the longest run at #1 in 2018. This week, the film received five Golden Globe nominations, including Best Actress for Lady Gaga, Best Actor for Bradley Cooper and Best Original Song for ‘Shallow’ (#1 October ’18).
#3: Michael Bublé ‘Christmas’ – As it hits its 50th week in the Top Ten, 'Christmas' by Michael Bublé moves up two spots to #3.
#8: XXXTentacion ‘Skins’ (Debut) – XXXTentacion takes out a second Albums Chart entry for 2018 with 'Skins'. The posthumous release comes six months on from the rapper’s death in June 2018. In March, he released his second album '?' (#2 July ’18). 'Skins' includes the single ‘Bad’ (#31 November ’18) as well as contributions from Kanye West and Blink-182’s Travis Barker.

This week's single chartifacts

#1: Ariana Grande ‘Thank U, Next’ – For the fifth consecutive week American singer-songwriter Ariana Grande holds #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart with ‘Thank U, Next’.
#5: Ava Max ‘Sweet But Psycho’ – American artist Ava Max continues her ascent of the Singles Chart with ‘Sweet But Psycho’. This week, the chart has climbed three spots to a new peak of #5.
#8: Mark Ronson Feat. Miley Cyrus ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’ – After debuting at #17 last week, Mark Ronson’s first single from his forthcoming fifth album, 'Late Night Feelings', jumps up nine spots to hit the Top Ten. ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’ is Ronson’s first appearance on the chart under his own name since ‘Uptown Funk’ (#1 January ’15).

Top 10 Albums

 1.    'A Star Is Born' – Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper
 2.    'Bohemian Rhapsody' – Queen
 3.    'Christmas' – Michael Buble
 4.    'Greatest Hits' – Queen
 5.    'Love' – Michael Buble
 6.    'The Greatest Showman' Soundtrack
 7.    'The Platinum Collection' – Queen
 8.    'Skins' – XXXTentacion
 9.    'The Greatest Showman: Reimagined' Soundtrack
 10.  'Friends For Christmas' – John Farnham & Olivia Newton-John

Top 10 Singles

 1.    'Thank U, Next' – Ariana Grande
 2.    'Without Me' – Halsey
 3.    'Shotgun' – George Ezra
 4.    'Shallow' – Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper
 5.    'Sweet But Psycho' – Ava Max
 6.    'Sunflower' – Post Malone & Swae Lee
 7.    'Happier' – Marshmello & Bastille
 8.    'Nothing Breaks Like A Heart' – Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus
 9.    'Sicko Mode' – Travis Scott & Drake
 10. 'Eastside' – Benny Blanco featuring Halsey & Khalid