Kylie Minogue’s tenth studio album “X” opened at the top of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) chart this week.
The set, her first in four years, shipped platinum (70,000 units), according to her Australian label Mushroom Records/Warner Music Australia.
“X” marks Minogue’s third Aussie chart-topping album, following “Light Years” in October 2000 and “Fever” from October 2001. This effort ranks the 39-year old pop singer alongside Kasey Chambers, Mariah Carey, Olivia Newton-John and Delta Goodrem among the female acts who have achieved a hat-trick of No. 1 albums Down Under. Madonna has eight chart-toppers, while Celine Dion has five.
Minogue will be honored next month at the Australia Week Gala Event in L.A. Each year, the Australian Consul-General in L.A. hosts the dinner to recognize one or two Australians who have made a major contribution to the global entertainment industry. Guests are a mix of entertainment-focused and expatriate Australians and a range of Americans from the business, political and entertainment fields.
In the U.K., where Minogue is currently based, “X” bowed at No. 4 on the national albums chart this week. She remains a massive live force in Britain, where more than 120,000 tickets for her 2008 tour dates sold out in about two hours yesterday morning, prompting organizers to add seven more dates.
On Dec. 11, Minogue joins Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox, Juanes and Melissa Etheridge at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway. The show — feting this year’s Nobel Prize winners, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the UN’s climate change panel — will be broadcast in more than 100 countries, organizers said.
A U.S. release date for “X” has yet to be announced, although the set is expected to street there early in the New Year.
