BTS is back. And they’ve been very much missed in Australia, where ARIRANG opens its account at No. 1.
ARIRANG leads the latest ARIA Albums Chart, published Friday, March 27, and is the week’s best-seller on vinyl, ARIA reports. With its hot start, ARIRANG becomes the K-pop superstars’ third leader. All told, the septet has landed seventh top 10 albums here: Love Yourself: Tear (No. 6 in 2018), Love Yourself: Answer (No. 9 in 2018), Map Of The Soul: 7 (No. 1 in 2020), Map Of The Soul: 7 – The Journey (No. 9 in 2020), Be (No. 2 in 2020) and Proof (No. 1 in 2022).
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, BTS has the top debut with “Swim” diving in at No. 4. It’s their sixth top 10 single, after “Boy With Luv” (No. 10 in 2019), “Dynamite” (No. 2 in 2020), “Butter” “(No. 6 in 2021), “Permission To Dance” (No. 6 in 2021) and “My Universe” with Coldplay (No. 7 in 2021). The Bantang Boys also crack the new ARIA Top 50 with “Body To Body” (new at No. 26), “Hooligan” (No. 46) and “FYA” (No. 48).
BTS’ Australian ARMY will be rewarded next year when the group’s world tour in support of ARIRANG visits Melbourne (Feb. 12 and 13), and Sydney (Feb. 20 and 21). Venues and ticketing information for those shows, presented by Live Nation, are listed as “stay tuned” and fans are encouraged to register for the waitlist.
Meanwhile, U.S. country star Luke Combs debuts at No. 3 on the ARIA Chart with The Way I Am. It’s his sixth studio album, all of which have reached the top 20, with What You See Is What You Get (2019) hitting No. 1 and Growin’ Up (2022) and Gettin’ Old (2023) both reaching No. 2.
Adelaide, South Australia rock band Bad//Dreems bow at No. 5 on the Albums Chart with Ultra Dundee, their fifth studio album. That’s a career chart best for the band, whose previous top performer was No. 10 for 2023’s Hoo Ha!.
Also new to the chart is Morgan Evans’ Steel Town, at No. 17. It’s the ARIA Award winning country artist’s third album after his self-titled debut from 2014 (No. 20) and 2018’s Things That We Drink To (2018). Evans’ Steel Town tour starts in April.
Olivia Dean extends her reign over the ARIA Singles Chart with “Man I Need,” the No. 1 song for 19 consecutive weeks. That’s the second-longest streak at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart by any song, with the exception of Tones And I’s “Dance Monkey,” which completed 24 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2019 and 2020.
Finally, Tame Impala’s “Dracula” spreads its wings. The Deadbeat cut is up 8-7 for a new peak position, doing so in its 22st chart week.
