No Surprises - Ed Sheeran Dominates Aus End-of-year Charts

ARIA has unveiled their 2017 end-of-year charts, confirming that Aussie punters are completely obsessed with UK singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.

It’s not surprising that tickets to his upcoming tour are a rare commodity, given the pop star spent a massive 43 weeks in the Albums Chart top 10 last year following the release of his acclaimed ÷ (Divide) in March.

22 of those weeks, ÷ (Divide) held onto #1, which has seen it claim that exact place on ARIA’s end-of-year list and go seven times platinum, while Sheeran’s 2014 album x (Multiply) and 2011 album + (Plus) took out #7 and #12 respectively.

Over on the end-of-year Singles Chart, Sheeran’s megahit Shape Of Year sits at #1 after spending 15 weeks at the top, while three other fan favourites - Castle On The Hill (#3), Perfect (#4) and Galway Girl (#7) – also made the top 10 and Happier just snuck onto the list at #99.

“It is a remarkable effort that has not been achieved by any artist since Eminem in 2002,” ARIA Chief Executive Dan Rosen said.

“With so much great new music being produced both here and overseas I can’t wait to see what lies ahead on the ARIA Charts in 2018.”

The next closest contender is P!nk, with Beautiful Trauma coming in at #2, and given it only came out in October, its placing is accompanied with some impressive stats.

The seventh studio album from the US singer hasn’t left the top 10 since release and has already gone three times platinum.

Read more:

• Ed Sheeran’s Long-awaited ‘Simpsons’ Cameo Is Almost Here
• More Tickets Released For Ed Sheeran's 2018 Tour

Outside of pop stars (Taylor Swift and Adele also made the cut), it was a big year for soundtracks, as Moana (#5), Trolls, (#6) and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (#9) left their mark.

While we didn’t see any Aussie talent in the top 10, there was still plenty of locals scattered throughout the top 100 albums of the year, including Paul Kelly, who was the highest placing Australian artists with Life Is Fine at #14, while Jessica Mauboy’s The Secret Daughter Season Two (Songs From The TV Series) (#20), John Farnham & Olivia Newton-John’s deluxe Friends For Christmas (#22), INXS’s The Very Best Of (#24), among others also popped up.

They're joined by Bliss N Eso (Off The Grid, #29), Tina Arena's Greatest Hits/Interpretations (#33), Tash Sultana (Notion, #41), Gang Of Youths (Go Farther In Lightness, #44), Cold Chisel's All For You best of (#47) alongside Midnight Oil, Vance Joy, Sia, The Smith Street Band and others.

Over on the Singles Chart, Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s Justin Bieber collab, Despacito, surprisingly didn’t claim #1, beat by the aforementioned Sheeran hit Shape Of You.

Others to enjoy multiple entries were Chainsmokers and Post Malone, who both claimed three in the top 100.

No Aussies made the top 30 singles of year.