World-beating troubadour Ed Sheeran has made a little bit of cheeky history by becoming the first act to occupy the #1 and #2 spots simultaneously on debut in the ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart.
The noteworthy result comes off the back of Sheeran's two new singles, Shape Of You (which took the top spot) and Castle On The Hill, which had already seen strong streaming and download results in the immediate wake of their release late the previous week.
The achievement is only tempered because — as News Corp noted midweek — although Sheeran is the first to see two new singles sit side-by-side in the top two positions on the chart, he actually joins a small but notable group of artists who have had any two singles occupy those placings, including Justin Bieber, who did it about this time last year, Karise Eden (June 2012) and The Beatles in February 1964 (they also took #1 through #6 in April that year).
Sheeran also earns the distinction of being the only artist to debut inside the top 40 this week — his nearest new blood is Sia, a long way from her Chandelier days at #41 with Move Your Body. Snakehips and MØ enter a few places below, at #45, with Don't Leave, and Auli'i Cravalho steps out at #49 with How Far I'll Go — but US rappers Mijo also notably join the ranks on the heels of Donald Glover's shout-out at the Golden Globes, with their acclaimed track Bad & Boujee landing just outside the top 50 at #51.
Away from the debuts, solid upward movements this week come from Andy Grammer (Fresh Eyes, up four to #5), Train (Play That Song, up 15 to #8), Pnau (Chameleon, up seven to #15) and Rag'N'Bone Man (Human, up 13 to #21).
The Top 100 Albums Chart, meanwhile, is clearly feeling the effects of the Christmas and New Year slowdown, with three soundtracks filling the top three positions: Trolls is back for another week at #1, followed by Sing (up a spot to #2) and Moana (up a spot to #3), as Adele breaks the drought and takes the #4 spot with 25.
Both The Rolling Stones (Blue & Lonesome) and Keith Urban (Ripcord) stay steady at #5 and #6 respectively, just avoiding getting eclipsed by a resurgent Ed Sheeran, riding the strength of his new singles to see old album X leap up 36 places to fall back inside the top 10 at #9 this week.
Also riding up the charts is the soundtrack to La La Land, up 28 spots to #13, which places a couple of spots ahead of the week's highest debut, Dropkick Murphys' 11 Short Stories Of Pain & Glory (#15). You Me At Six are the only other new faces in the top 20, hitting the cutoff spot with Night People, while Halestorm round it out for the top 50, ushering Reanimate 3.0: The Covers EP to #30 on debut.
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