This Week In Pop – 31 January 2022

Welcome to This Week In Pop.

This week, Meat Loaf takes out a posthumous #1 album. Meanwhile, The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber return to #1 on the Singles Chart and The Wiggles score their first top ten single.

This week's album chartifacts

#1: Meat Loaf ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ – 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 September ’93) has also re-entered the chart this week at #37. Meat Loaf – born Michael Lee Aday – died on 20 January, aged 74.
#2: Soundtrack ‘Encanto’ – 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 songs ‘We Don't Talk About Bruno’ and ‘Surface Pressure’ are at #11 and #21, respectively.
#9: Soundtrack ‘Sing 2’ – 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.

This week's single chartifacts

#1: The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber ‘Stay’ – After 14 weeks away from the #1 spot, The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber return to the top of the ARIA Singles Chart with ‘Stay’. It’s the 15th week at #1 for the track which won The Kid Laroi the Best Artist and Best Pop Release trophies at the 2021 ARIA Awards. ‘Stay’ came in at #2 in the triple j Hottest 100, which was announced on 22 January. As it notches up 15 weeks at #1, ‘Stay’ hits equal second on the list of most weeks at #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, joining Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’ (#1 January ’17).
#10: The Wiggles ‘Elephant (triple j Like A Version)’ – The ground-breaking week for The Wiggles continues with the iconic children's music group hitting the ARIA Singles Chart Top Ten for the first time. Recorded for triple j’s Like A Version segment in March 2021, the band’s cover of Tame Impala’s ‘Elephant’ took out #1 in this year’s triple j Hottest 100. As well as being their first Top Ten entry, it becomes their first entry in the Singles Chart Top 50. Their previous peak on the ARIA Singles Chart was with their cover of Daddy Cool’s ‘Eagle Rock’ (#80 March ’03).

Top 10 Albums

1. 'Bat Out Of Hell' – Meat Loaf
2. 'Encanto' – Soundtrack
3. '30' – Adele
4. 'Dawn FM' – The Weeknd
5. 'SOUR' – Olivia Rodrigo
6. 'Planet Her' – Doja Cat
7. '=' – Ed Sheeran
8. 'The Highlights' – The Weeknd
9. 'Sing 2' – Soundtrack
10. 'Future Nostalgia' – Dua Lipa

Top 10 Singles

1. 'Stay' – The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber
2. 'Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)' – Elton John & Dua Lipa
3. 'ABCDEFU' – Gayle
4. 'Heat Waves' – Glass Animals
5. 'Industry Baby' – Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow
6. 'Do It To It' – Acraze featuring Cherish
7. 'Shivers' – Ed Sheeran
8. 'Bad Habits' – Ed Sheeran
9. 'Good 4 U' – Olivia Rodrigo
10. 'Elephant (Triple J Like A Version)' – The Wiggles