ARIA To Celebrate Local Music By Launching 'Australian #1 Awards'

This week, ARIA is launching the Australian #1 Awards (or Aussie #1 Awards), a new weekly award that recognises homegrown talent.

The inaugural Australian #1 Awards will be available to any local artist who tops the Australian Albums or Singles Chart from this Friday, 2 August—the day that Fanning Dempsey National Park drop their debut album, The Deluge, and Tones & I releases her highly anticipated second album, Beautifully Ordinary.

While the regular award will be handed out to the artists who top the two aforementioned charts, another two weekly Australian #1 Awards will celebrate the artists climbing towards the top of the Australian Albums and Australian Singles charts.

In a statement, ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said the new awards aim to “recognise the importance” of the country’s local charts and artists.

“The local music landscape is jam-packed with amazing artists and incredible work: breaking through the noise to achieve a #1 is arguably a bigger accomplishment than ever before,” Herd said.

“The Australian Charts are showcasing outstanding examples of local success week-in, week-out, and we hope the addition of the Aussie Chart #1 Awards will celebrate what is a truly outstanding achievement and recognise the importance of our local charts.”

Last week, Full Flower Moon Band's new album, Megaflower, topped the ARIA Australian Albums Chart. They were in impressive company alongside GUM & Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Sheppard, and Troye Sivan, while older releases from The Wiggles, Tame Impala, and Vance Joy also featured in the chart.

This week’s top Australian album could be a battle for #1 between Empire Of The Sun’s Ask That God and Lime Cordiale’s Enough Of The Sweet Talk, both of which were released last Friday (26 July). Meanwhile, on the Australian Singles Chart, The Kid LAROI has dominated with his song GIRLS at #1 for four weeks, beating the months-long hold from CYRIL’s Stumblin’ In.

Among the albums that have topped the Australian Albums Chart this year are Hiatus Kaiyote (with Love Heart Cheat Code), Sheppard (Zora), Dirty Three (Love Changes Everything), Eves Karydas (Burnt Tapes), and SPEED (Only One Mode), all of which highlight the diversity and brilliance in Australian music.