News August 23, 2021

5SOS frontman Luke Hemmings hits #1 on ARIA Charts with debut solo album

5 Seconds of Summer frontman Luke Hemmings has scored his first solo #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart with his debut album When Facing The Things We Turn Away From.

The album took out the top spot against competition like new releases from The Killers (#6), Polish Club (#8) and Jungle (#10). On top of that, it beat out Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, which spent two weeks at #1.

It marks the fifth #1 album of Hemmings’ career after he claimed four #1s with 5SOS: 5 Seconds Of Summer in July 2014, Sounds Good Feels Good in November 2015, Youngblood in June 2018 and CALM in April 2020.

The achievement cements Hemmings as the 12th Australian artist to achieve #1 on the ARIA Albums Charts this year, following the likes of The Jungle Giants, Amy Shark, Delta Goodrem and Skegss.

In a statement, Hemmings thank fans for their support of the album, which was written and recorded during lockdown last year.

“Thank you so much to the fans for supporting When Facing the Things We Turn Away From, downloading, streaming, and buying it. Thank you to my friends, family, and my entire team for making this possible and being patient while I changed my mind a million times. Much love to you all,” he said.

ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd commended Hemmings on the achievement, describing him as “one of Australia’s most beloved, talented, and iconic performers”.

“All of us at ARIA congratulate Luke on taking his first step as a solo artist and going straight to number 1 with When Facing the Things We Turn Away From,” Herd said.

Meanwhile, fellow Aussie artist The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber remain at #1 on the ARIAs Singles Chart for the sixth week in the row with their collaboration ‘Stay’.