How Many Dead People Have Topped the ARIA Albums Chart? More Than You'd Think

We've been wondering.

Earlier this week, we reported that Juice WRLD's new posthumous album Legends Never Die debuted in the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

However, the record only reached #3 on the ARIA albums chart in Australia. So, we reached out to ARIA to see how Legends Never Die compares to other posthumous albums that have been released in the past. 

And as it turns out, it's definitely not the biggest posthumous album debut in our history. 

Instead, we discovered that seven posthumous albums have all taken out the top spot on the ARIA albums chart since 1983. 

In 1989, Roy Orbison secured the #1 spot on the chart with his album Mystery Girl, which he completed recording a month before his death at the age of 52. It was released posthumously, and went on to sit at the peak of the ARIA albums chart for four weeks.

Then 13 years later, Elvis Presley's 30 #1 hits record debuted at the top of the ARIA albums chart, and spent four weeks there. 

In 2009, Michael Jackson's posthumous album titled Essential Michael Jackson spent a whopping seven weeks at #1, while Elvis Presley's If I Can Dream also debuted in the top spot in 2015. 

Additionally, David Bowie's Blackstar also topped the ARIA albums chart in 2016. It was released on Bowie's 69th birthday, and he died two days later. The album was recorded in secret in the Magic Shop, and producer Tony Visconti described it as Bowie's "parting gift to his fans". 

Not long after that, Gurrumul's fourth studio album Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow) debuted at #1. It was completed just weeks before his passing, presenting traditional songs and harmonised chants from his traditional Tolngu life. 

Finally, Pop Smoke's posthumous record Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon debuted in the top spot on the ARIA album charts just this month. However, it's now sitting in fourth position, just under Legends Never Die. 

Of course, Juice WRLD's album still has a chance to climb its way up the ARIA albums chart. 

Given his record has enjoyed the largest streaming week of 2020 for any album, and the fourth-biggest streaming week ever for an album, it's certainly possible.

Update (28/07): While Juice WRLD's Legends Never Die didn't debut at #1 on the ARIA albums chart, it reached the top spot on 25 July 2020.

It's the second posthumous album to top the chart in the space of three weeks, following the #1 debut of Pop Smoke's Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon on 11 July 2020. 

Header Image: Dave Bennett / Contributor / Hulton Archive via Getty Images & Arik McArthur / Contributor / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images