Starboy gives The Weeknd second #1

Debuts for A. B. Original, Susan Boyle, Garth Brooks and more!

With his third studio album, Starboy, Canadian artist The Weeknd has scored his second #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart (see below).

It’s been a big week for Crowded House. After being inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame on 23 November, the band hit the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House for four nights of shows, the last of which was televised nationally. On the back of all this, The Very Very Best Of Crowded House jumps nine spots to a new peak at #5.

In its second week on the chart, the soundtrack to Trolls has jumped 14 spots to #21.

As we move into December, Christmas albums are beginning to make their prescence known on the chart. Both Michael Bublé’s Christmas and John Farnham & Olivia Newton-John’s Friends For Christmas have jumped two spots to sit at #3 and #4, respectively. Further down the chart, A Pentatonix Christmas is up ten spots to #24 and Human Nature’s The Christmas Album is up 11 to #38. There’s re-entries for Kylie Minogue’s Kylie Christmas (#30), Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas (#31) and Pentatonix’s That’s Christmas To Me (#37).

Debuts:

#1: The Weeknd ‘Starboy’ – The third album from The Weeknd gives the Canadian artist his second #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The follow-up to Beauty Behind The Madness (#1 Sept. ’15), Starboy‘s singles have included the title track (#2 Oct. ’16), ‘I Feel It Coming’ (#24 Nov. ’16) and ‘Party Monster’ (#33 Dec. ’16). The album features collaborations with Daft Punk, Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar and Future.

#10: A. B. Original ‘Reclaim Australia’ – Aussie hip hop luminaries Briggs and Trials join forces as A. B. Original. Both have previously charted separately: Briggs with Sheplife (#16 Sept. ’14) and Trials as a member of Funkoars with The Quickening (#11 Sept. ’11) and Dawn Of The Head (#18 Mar. ’14). Reclaim Australia features guest appearances by Thelma Plum, Dan Sultan, Gurrumul and more.

#14: Susan Boyle ‘A Wonderful World’ – Album seven from Scottish singer Susan Boyle. The follow-up to Hope (#11 Nov. ’14) includes covers of tracks by Madonna, Wings, Robbie Williams, ABBA and more. It also features a virtual duet with Nat King Cole.

#16: Garth Brooks ‘Gunslinger’ – American country star Garth Brooks picks up his eleventh top 50 appearance on the ARIA Albums Chart with Gunslinger. The follow-up to Man Against Machine (#11 Nov. ’14), Brooks’ tenth studio album is his second since coming out of retirement. It’s also his second album of 2016, having released Christmas Together with his wife Trisha Yearwood earlier in November.

#35: Kate Bush ‘Before The Dawn’ – Kate Bush picks up her first top 50 appearance since 50 Words For Snow (#22 Nov. ’11) with Before The Dawn. The live album was recorded over Bush’s 22-date residency at London’s Hammersmith Apollo in mid-2014 and includes each of the three parts of the show on a separate disc.

#36: Prince ‘4Ever’ – A new compilation of work by the late, great Prince. 4Ever covers material recorded by The Purple One between 1978 and 1993. It marks the first time the track ‘Moonbeam Levels’ - originally recorded for the 1982 album 1999 - has received an official release.