30 Years Of ARIA Charts – In Pictures

Today, ARIA is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their very first Chart, and they’ve crunched a bunch of numbers to come up with some interesting stats.

On the first ARIA Chart, issued 10th July, 1983, Bonnie Tyler‘s Total Eclipse Of The Heart was sitting on the top of the ARIA Singles Chart and Michael Jackson‘s Thriller held the same position amongst albums, with the company recording 440 #1 singles and 527 #1 albums since.

ARIA Chairman Denis Handlin AM, who was one of the board members who started the chart, thanked retailers and digital service providers for collating their information, saying, “The history of the singles and albums captured by the ARIA Charts not only represents brilliant recorded music but also the soundtrack to our lives.”

Have a look at some of the top 10s ARIA have put together…

All Releases: Most Weeks At #1 – Singles Chart

The longest running #1 single of the last 30 years was Coolio‘s Gangsta’s Paradise, which spent 13 weeks in the prime possie in 1995 and 1996.

All Releases: Most Weeks At #1 – Albums Chart

Dire Straits‘ Brothers In Arms holds the record for the album with the longest run at number #1 with a whopping 34 weeks in 1985 and 1986.

Australian Releases: Most Weeks At #1 – Albums Chart

As for homegrown talent, Delta Goodrem’s Innocent Eyes is the longest running Aussie #1 album at a whopping 29 weeks…

Australian Releases: Most Weeks At #1 – Singles Chart

..while Austen Tayshus’ Australiana, Savage Garden’s Truly Madly Deeply and Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know share the singles record, having all spent 8 weeks at the top of the ARIA Charts.

There’s also a few dubious records to be held for being…not quite good enough. Radiohead have had the most #2 albums without ever hitting #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, with five of their records sitting second best. We’re sure Thom Yorke sheds many tears about that one. Nelly Furtado has a similar honour on the Singles Chart, having had three number #2 singles but never the number #1.

You can check out the rest of the stats below.

Youngest Chart-toppers

Singles: Gabrielle Cilmi – Sweet About Me (2008. 16 years, 6 months, 4 days)

Albums: Miley Cyrus – Breakout (2008. 15 years, 9 months, 23 days)

Oldest Chart-toppers

Singles: Cher – Believe (1999. 52 years, 8 months)

Albums: Bob Dylan – Modern Times (2006. 65 years, 3 months)

527 #1 Albums

214: USA

149: Australia

83: UK

24: Canada

20: Ireland

1: New Zealand, Colombia, Denmark, Spain, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Sweden

27: Other

440 #1 Singles

219: USA

92: Australia

57: UK

13: Canada

8: Ireland, Sweden

6: Germany, Barbados

4: Jamaica

3: France, Colombia, Denmark, Spain

2: Italy, New Zealand

1: British Virgin Islands, South Korea, Austria, Finland, India, Netherlands, Norway, Puerto Rico, Russia

2: Other

All Artists

Most weeks at #1 – Singles Chart

Madonna – 38 weeks

Kylie Minogue – 30 weeks

Black Eyed Peas – 30 weeks

Rihanna – 29 weeks

Eminem – 27 weeks

Most #1 Singles

Madonna – 10

Kylie Minogue – 10

Black Eyed Peas – 8

Delta Goodrem – 8

Eminem – 7

P!nk – 7

Most weeks at #1 – Albums Chart

John Farnham – 47 weeks

Dire Straits – 35 weeks

Adele – 32 weeks

Jimmy Barnes – 31 weeks

Delta Goodrem – 31 weeks

Most #1 Albums

U2 – 11

Madonna – 10

Jimmy Barnes – 9

Bon Jovi – 9

John Farnham – 8

Australian Artists

Most weeks at #1 – Singles Chart

Kylie Minogue – 30 weeks

Guy Sebastian – 15 weeks

Delta Goodrem – 12 weeks

Silverchair – 12 weeks

John Farnham – 11 weeks

Most #1 Singles

Kylie Minogue – 10

Delta Goodrem – 8

Guy Sebastian – 6

Silverchair – 3

Shannon Noll – 3

Most weeks at #1 – Albums Chart

John Farnham – 47 weeks

Jimmy Barnes – 31 weeks

Delta Goodrem – 31 weeks

Savage garden – 25 weeks

The 12th Man – 19 weeks

Most #1 Albums

Jimmy Barnes – 9

John Farnham – 8

The 12th Man – 7

Crowded House – 5

Silverchair – 5

Powderfinger – 5