Dua Lipa is continuing her tributes to iconic Australian artists as she tours throughout the continent this spring.

Just a day after Lipa covered AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” during her Radical Optimism tour stop at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, the pop superstar continued the covers for night two at the venue.

On Tuesday (March 18), Lipa opted to perform “Torn” by Australian and British singer-songwriter Natalie Imbruglia. “Illusion never changed/ Into something real/ I’m wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn,” Lipa sings in the chorus, surrounded by her band and rocking a black lace jumpsuit with red shorts and a faux fur scarf placed over her shoulder.

Watch a snippet of the performance via a fan social media account here.

Earlier this month, it was announced that Lipa sold out the Australian leg of her global Radical Optimism Tour. The singer will remain in the country for just two weeks, with five nights scheduled for the Rod Laver Arena, and a further three at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena. Lipa will then jet over to New Zealand for two sold-out dates at Auckland’s Spark Arena in early April.

The pop superstar also kicked off 2025 with a new collaboration, appearing as a guest on JENNIE’s “Handlebars,” off the BLACKPINK singer’s freshly released debut solo LP, Ruby.

UPDATE (March 19): A week after SZA’s SOS matched Michael Jackson’s Thriller with 79 nonconsecutive weeks each in the top 10 on the Billboard 200, the Grammy-winning Top Dawg/RCA singer-songwriter has broken that tie. Her SOS now boasts 80 weeks in the Billboard 200’s top 10. As noted in the original story below, no other Black artist has as many, or more, weeks in the top 10 for a single album since the Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956. 

SZA’s 80th week in the top 10 occurs on the latest chart, dated March 22 (at No. 4 again). Thriller spent 78 of its 79 weeks in the top 10 during its 1983-1984 peak, including 37 of those weeks at No. 1. The record for most weeks in the top 10 reached by any album is the original cast album to My Fair Lady, with 173 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 from 1956-1960.

SOS was originally released on Dec. 9, 2022, to immediate commercial success. The set debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent 10 of its first 11 weeks at No. 1 and remained a regular fixture inside the top 20. The album received a second wind – including two more weeks at No. 1 – after the release of its SOS: Deluxe LANA edition, which dropped on Dec. 22, 2024 and added 15 new tracks. (All versions of the album are combined for tracking and charting purposes and continue to chart under the title SOS.)

“Luther,” SZA’s duet with Kendrick Lamar, now has four weeks at No. 1, breaking Lamar’s personal best. It’s also SZA’s longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1: her previous two – “Kill Bill” and as a featured act on Drake’s “Slime You Out” — each had one week on top in 2023.

ORIGINAL STORY (MARCH 12): SZA has hit another chart milestone. The singer/songwriter’s SOS has tied with Michael Jackson’s Thriller, notching 79 total, nonconsecutive weeks each in the top 10 on the Billboard 200. No other Black artist has as many, or more, weeks in the top 10 for an album.

“My album tying MJ’s Thriller record … Got me speechless,” a shocked SZA told TMZ Hip-Hop following her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday evening. In his own social media post on X, Top Dawg Entertainment president and SZA manager Terrence “Punch” Henderson succinctly described the momentous occasion with one word: “Insane,” followed by two praying hands emoji.

SOS reached its 79th week in the top 10 on the latest chart, dated March 15, when it held steady at No. 4. MJ’s Thriller claimed its 79th week in the top 10 when it jumped 115-7 on the Dec. 2, 2022-dated chart following its 40th-anniversary reissue.

For those wondering, the record for most weeks in the top 10 reached by any album is the original cast album to My Fair Lady, with 173 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

SZA’s latest chart achievement comes in the wake of other good news this week: “Luther,” her duet with soon-to-be tourmate Kendrick Lamar, is celebrating its third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. That feat also finds Lamar tying his prior longest Hot 100 reigns: three nonconsecutive weeks with “Not Like Us” between last May and this February and three weeks in a row last April with “Like That” alongside Future and Metro Boomin.

Lamar and SZA’s highly anticipated Grand National Tour kicks off April 19 in Minneapolis.

Australian rock icons Silverchair are set to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their seminal debut album, Frogstomp, with a special event in Sydney next week. However, frontman Daniel Johns will not be taking part.

The event is scheduled for March 26 at the Metro Social in Sydney, a venue that holds significance for Silverchair, as it hosted some of the band’s early performances before their rapid rise to fame.

The night will feature drummer Ben Gillies, former Silverchair manager John Watson, and label executive John O’Donnell, all sharing insights into the band’s meteoric success. Additionally, celebrated music photographer Tony Mott will be in attendance, and Sydney-based indie rockers The Buoys are set to perform tracks from Frogstomp in tribute.

Released in March 1995, Frogstomp catapulted Silverchair to international stardom. The album debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart and made history by reaching the top 10 of the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 9 and marking the first time an Australian band had done so since INXS.

The record, which features hits like “Tomorrow” and “Pure Massacre,” earned five ARIA Awards and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

The upcoming anniversary celebration follows the release of Love & Pain, a memoir co-authored by Gillies and bassist Chris Joannou in 2023. The book offers an in-depth look at the band’s origins in Newcastle and their rise to becoming one of Australia’s most successful rock acts. However, the absence of Johns from the event is consistent with his continued reluctance to revisit Silverchair’s past.

Johns has been vocal about distancing himself from his former band. He previously opposed the airing of a two-part Australian Story documentary on ABC iView, which coincided with the release of Love & Pain, citing unauthorized use of Silverchair’s music. In an Instagram post, Johns addressed his stance:

“I was and remain incredibly supportive of them telling their story,” he wrote. “I was asked at the end of filming to be interviewed about their contribution to the band and although I wished them all the best, I respectfully declined for one reason. I haven’t been involved in the book nor am I aware of the contents. I’ve asked on many occasions to read the book but haven’t been sent a copy, consequently, I was uncomfortable being interviewed to help promote it.”

Despite Johns’ absence, the Frogstomp anniversary event is expected to be a significant occasion for longtime Silverchair fans, offering a retrospective look at one of the most defining records in Australian rock history.

In 2024, Billie Eilish explained that her Hit Me Hard and Soft album was set to be her most eco-friendly release to date. 

While a number of vinyl variants were still released out into the world, each were produced by using recycled materials, including a 100% recycled black vinyl edition, and seven colored vinyl versions being made from ECO-MIX or BioVinyl.

Though Eilish would also criticize the “wasteful” practice of “some of the biggest artists in the world making f–king 40 different vinyl packages” for fans to purchase, the other side of the vinyl equation comes about when the topic of disposing of music is raised.

Sales of physical media remain strong in the streaming age, and though consumption as a whole has largely shifted to the digital format, the question of how to ethically get rid of music is one that is as pertinent as ever. 

That’s why U.K. music manufacturer Key Production Group has now launched the full roll-out of its plans to ensure vinyl and CDs are disposed of in an environmentally-responsible way.

The U.K. company initially launched their Key Production Recycling efforts in early 2020, only for progress to be stunted by the then-burgeoning global pandemic. Fast forward to 2025, and it’s been kick-started once again, launched just in time for Global Recycling Day on March 18.

Partially inspired by the ongoing vinyl boom and the question of what to do with unplayable media once it goes beyond its usefulness, retail stores such as Rough Trade have also joined in with the scheme in an effort to find a sustainable option for disposing of unsold or unplayable stock.

According to Key Production, those with unwanted vinyl or CDs – regardless of size, packaging, or condition – are able to send their items directly to the organization who will then recycle them depending on the materials.

While vinyl records and CDs are made of different plastic compounds – polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for the former and optical grade polycarbonate for the latter – their materials are then reused as opposed to spending hundreds of years in landfills. For vinyl materials, this can see albums being repurposed once again as PVC, to be used in the composition of future vinyl records, or to be utilized in building and road construction. For CDs, polycarbonate can be reused for the likes of automotive parts or electronic devices.

“We believe vinyl and CDs should be cherished and if looked after well will last a lifetime,” Key Production notes on their website. “However, should you find that you have damaged items that you would like to recycle then that can be facilitated, distributors will usually have a responsible recycling scheme of their own so if you work with one do check with them. Alternatively we can take records and CDs for recycling where we can guarantee that every element of a product is being recycled responsibly.”

“Sustainability is a vital part of our identity here at Key Production Group and the idea to develop Key Production Recycling was born from our commitment to understanding and managing the lifecycle of physical music products, prompting us to ask: what happens when they can no longer be used,” explained Key Production’s Strategy and Sustainability Director, John Service.

“We are so excited to be working with labels and record stores across the country and allow the public to utilise something that is so beneficial in extending a product’s lifespan.”

“Being able to provide a solution that’s not only sustainable but that will also have a positive impact on the life cycle of a product is really important to us at Rough Trade,” added Rough Trade Managing Director, Lawrence Montgomery. “Key Production Recycling is and will continue to be beneficial for us at Rough Trade and our facilities and we’re lucky to be able to use this great system!”

Full details of Key Production Group’s Recycling scheme are available on their website.

JENNIE’s debut studio album, Ruby, debuts at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated March 22). The set sold 26,500 copies in the U.S. in the week ending March 13, according to Luminate.

JENNIE is the second member of the quartet BLACKPINK to capture a solo top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales, following LISA’s Alter Ego (No. 1, March 15 chart) and ROSÉ’s rosie (No. 2, Dec. 21, 2024). BLACKPINK itself has logged three top 10s, including two No. 1s: The Album (in 2020) and BORN PINK (2022).

Also in the top 10 of the latest Top Album Sales chart, Lady Gaga lands her eighth No. 1 with the chart-topping bow of MAYHEM, while the newest releases from Jason Isbell, Spiritbox, Noah Kahan and tobyMac debut in the region.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.

Ruby was available in its first week as a nine-track widely available digital download album, and then an expanded 15-song physical set and a 15-track download edition. While the standard and physical albums have only one guest star (FKJ, on “JANE”), the 15-track download edition adds further special guests on a few tracks, including Doechii, Dua Lipa, Dominic Fike, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis. Ruby’s first-week sales were aided by its availability across four CD variants (all containing collectible paper ephemera, some randomized), five deluxe CD boxed set editions (each containing a piece of branded clothing, a signed insert and a copy of the album) and two download editions (a widely available standard version with nine tracks and an expanded 15-song edition).

At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM arrives, selling 136,000. The set’sfirst-week sales were bolstered by its availability across a gaggle of editions: 14 vinyl variants (some signed, and some include the bonus track “Can’t Stop the High,” while Target’s exclusive vinyl has the extra track “Kill for Love”), four CD editions (one signed, Target’s exclusive CD adds “Kill” while Gaga’s webstore carried a CD with the bonus track “Can’t Stop the High”), a cassette tape, a deluxe CD box set with a branded T-shirt and poster, and two widely available download albums (the standard 14-song album, and then a deluxe version exclusive to iTunes with the three music videos for “Disease,” “Die With a Smile” and “Abracadabra”).

Of MAYHEM’s opening-week sales, vinyl purchases comprise 74,000 – Gaga’s biggest week on vinyl ever.

Jason Isbell’s first entirely solo acoustic album, Foxes In the Snow, bows at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with nearly 18,000 copies sold. Vinyl sales comprise almost 9,500 copies of that sum – owed to its availability across five variants. It was also issued in a pair of CD editions.

Heavy metal band Spiritbox debuts at No. 4 with Tsunami Sea, selling 16,500 copies in its first week. The set was issued on CD, cassette and at least nine vinyl variants.

Noah Kahan’s Live From Fenway Park, which was previously only available to buy as a download album, made its debut on vinyl in the tracking week (across three variants), helping the set sell a total of 16,000 – and enabling its debut at No. 5 on Top Album Sales.

Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping GNX falls 2-6 on Top Album Sales (15,000; down 7%), Sabrina Carpenter’s former leader Short n’ Sweet slips 5-7 (11,500; down 5%) and Chappell Roan’s No. 1 The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess descends 6-8 (nearly 9,000; up 6%). Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal vaults 24-9 on Top Album Sales after the release of a new vinyl variant, selling a total of about 8,500 across all formats (up 188%).

Closing out Top Album Sales’ top 10 is the latest release from tobyMac, whose Heaven On My Mind enters at No. 10 with 7,000 copies sold. It was issued on two CD variants (including a signed edition) and three vinyl variants.