Ed Sheeran had a 2014 to remember in Australia, emulating his success in the UK by claiming the year’s most popular album in the territory with his second LP, X.
Sheeran was also the only artist to land four singles in the year’s Top 100, according to local monitor ARIA.
David Guetta and Calvin Harris both delivered three entries, whilst thirteen artists have appeared twice, including new Australian artists 5 Seconds of Summer, Iggy Azalea and Peking Duk.
Sheeran’s album campaign was given a Q4 boost by the release of the seventh biggest-selling single of the year, Thinking Out Loud. And his previous album, +, also had a stellar year – reaching No. 38 on ARIA’s Top 100 LP list.
X is now almost four-times platinum in Australia and clocked up six weeks at No.1 through the year. Its reign was only bettered by The Very Best Of album from Australian legends INXS, which held the top spot for seven non-consecutive weeks.
Just as it did in the UK, Happy from Pharrell Williams was the top-selling single of the year in Australia, spending 12 weeks at No.1 as it was crowned more than nine times Platinum.
Three artists feature in the top 10 of both the Top 100 Singles and Albums Charts of 2014 – Ed Sheeran (X at No.1 and Thinking Out Loud at No.7), Taylor Swift (1989 at No.2 and Shake It Off at No. 3) and Sam Smith (In The Lonely Hour at No.6 and Stay With Me at No. 8.
Australian artists claimed 18 tracks to the ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart in 2014 – five more (+38%) than the previous year and seven more (+64%) than in 2012. The highest position from an Australian act was Brisbane pop artists Sheppard, whose Geronimo was the fourth biggest-selling track of the year, with with sales in excess of five times platinum.
At No. 5 on the singles list was Sydney group Justice Crew, whose five-times Platinum accredited smash Que Sera spent nine straight weeks at the top – the longest-running number one single by an Australian artist since the ARIA charts began in 1983.
Australian acts also did notably well in albums, with 36 local releases charting in the ARIA top 100, nine more than the previous two years (+44%).
As well as the Best Of LP from INXS, other Aussie acts to make the year’s Top 10 included Hilltop Hoods with Walking Under Stars at No. 9 and Human Nature at No. 10 with Jukebox. Teen favourites 5 Seconds Of Summer landed at No. 11 with their self-titled debut album and Chet Faker came in at No. 12 with Built On Glass, whilst chart stalwarts AC/DC with ‘Rock Or Bust’ and Jimmy Barnes with ’30:30 Hindsight’ arrived at No. 13 and No. 19 respectively.
ARIA Chief Executive Officer Dan Rosen said today, “2014 was an exciting year on the ARIA Charts, and proved to be a monumental year for our local artists with 16 Australian Singles and Albums soaring to the top of the charts. It is extremely pleasing to see 36 Aussie albums in top 100 this year. This is a great achievement for our local industry and shows how Australian music fans have embraced our local artists.
“Congratulations to all of the artists that featured on the 2014 ARIA Charts, especially Pharrell Williams who topped the ARIA End of Year Singles Chart with ‘Happy’, Ed Sheeran who topped the ARIA End of Year Album Chart with ‘X’, Aussie artist Sheppard who had the most successful Australian single of the year with ‘Geronimo’ and INXS who had the highest selling Australian album of the year with ‘The Very Best’.
“After such a great year, I can’t help but get excited about what 2015 has in store for us.”
Australia’s Official Top 10 Singles of 2014:
1. Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’
2. Meghan Trainor ‘All About That Bass’
3. Taylor Swift ‘Shake It Off’
4. Sheppard ‘Geronimo’ (Aust)
5. Justice Crew ‘Que Sera’ (Aust)
6. Sia ‘Chandelier’ (Aust)
7. Ed Sheeran ‘Thinking Out Loud’
8. Sam Smith ‘Stay With Me’
9. Timmy Trumpet featuring Savage ‘Freaks’ (Aust)
10. G.R.L. ‘Ugly Heart’
Source: Aria
Australia’s Official Top 10 Albums of 2014:
1. Ed Sheeran ‘X’
2. Taylor Swift ‘1989’
3. Soundtrack ‘Frozen’
4. INXS ‘The Very Best’ (Aust)
5. Coldplay ‘Ghost Stories’
6. Sam Smith ‘In The Lonely Hour’
7. Katy Perry ‘Prism’
8. Michael Buble ‘Christmas’
9. Hilltop Hoods ‘Walking Under Stars’ (Aust)
10. Human Nature ‘Jukebox’ (Aust)
Source: AriaMusic Business Worldwide
