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The Wiggles
claim historic
Hottest 100 win with
‘Elephant’
Like A Version
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The Wiggles have officially made Hottest 100 history as the first artist to ever top the countdown with a cover!
Covering Tame Impala’s psychedelic hit ‘Elephant’ for Like A Version, The Wiggles are the first artist in 28 years to make their debut at the #1 spot. It’s also a rare instance where a cover has outranked the original.
When triple j Breakfast hosts Bryce & Ebony first learned that The Wiggles had said yes to Like A Version, they knew it would be special…
Bryce & Ebony said, “When a listener first suggested we try and get The Wiggles to do Like A Version, we honestly didn’t think it’d happen, but when it did, we spent the whole day with a huge smile on our faces. Watching people who defined your childhood stand in front of you and play a song from an artist that’s helped define your early adulthood is a weird, but joyous feeling. A lot of people around the world felt the same way. Not many covers can win over three generations at once!”
However, we couldn’t have predicted how big a moment it would have!
As triple j Music Director Nick Findlay puts it, “In a year where many of us were wishing we could go back in time, The Wiggles’ heart-warming nostalgia filled cover of ‘Elephant’ was a gift that was sorely needed, even if we didn’t know it at the time.”
Conscious or not, ‘Elephant’ reminded us of simpler times. Memories of vibing out to Tame with a vast sea of humans or even further back, to our childhoods and our first ever musical heroes, The Wiggles.
Across the rest of the countdown, we saw plenty of other Hottest 100 milestones!
Coming in at #2 was Kamilaroi artist The Kid LAROI with his massive Justin Bieber collaboration ‘STAY’, plus we saw 25 Hottest 100 debutantes make the list, and 54 Australian artists.
Eight of the top 100 entries were originally uploaded to triple j Unearthed, and on the flip side, some heavy hitters added to their Hottest 100 tallies: Kanye West (19 songs), Tame Impala (17 songs), The Wombats (15 songs) and Billie Eilish (14 songs).
A look at the pointy end of this year’s Hottest 100 shows an interesting 2021 trend. We weren’t looking to songs that made serious commentary about our COVID-stricken times. We were looking for hook-laden expressions of timeless themes and emotions; frustrating relationships (‘Stay’, ‘Lots Of Nothing’) fiery break-ups (‘good 4 u’, ‘Happier Than Ever’), and feel-good revelry (‘the angel of 8th ave’, ‘kiss me more’).
But nothing this year came closer to not being about our pandemic lives than the nostalgic double shot of a Wiggles x Tame Impala crossover.
Head here for more info and stats about the countdown, and deep dive into the story behind this year’s winner!
Keep the good times going tomorrow with Double J’s Hottest 100 of 2001. Tune in from 10am local time on the triple j app, digital radio, on Channel 200 on your digital TV and online at doublej.net.au
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Key dates and info:
Sun 23 Jan (10am local time): Hottest 100 of 2001 on Double J
Fri 28 – Sat 29 Jan (approx. midnight local time): rage presents triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2021
On demand: Hottest 100 playlists on Apple Music, YouTube and Spotify
Lifeline: last chance to donate or buy a Hottest 100 tee
#Hottest100
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