The Wiggles take out triple j’s Hottest 100
• The Wiggles are the first artist to ever top the countdown with a cover
Legendary Australian band The Wiggles have topped triple j’s Hottest 100 for 2021 with their cover of Tame Impala’s Elephant.
Anthony, Murray, Jeff, Emma, Simon and Lachy staved off challenges from Gang Of Youths, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Spacey Jane, and The Kid LAROI/Justin Bieber.
On the win, The Wiggles said: “When we were first approached to do Like A Version, we all fell in love with Elephant and knew we wanted to make a Wiggles version of the song. The whole group came together and it was a totally different experience to singing our usual songs like Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy!
"We’ve had so many people coming up to us telling us how much they love the song, and we’re so happy that it resonated with so many people, and can’t believe we made it into the top 10, let alone the top spot! It’s an incredible start to the year!”
ABC music’s head of music and events, Natalie Waller said: “I am so thrilled for The Wiggles. When we came up with the concept for this forthcoming record, none of us envisaged it kicking off with such a massive impact via the Like A Version cover of Elephant. It’s not often in this business that you get to be part of something so special. My heartfelt congratulations to The Wiggles – and thanks to Kevin Parker for an amazing song!”
The Wiggles’ take on Elephant first came to light following an appearance on triple j’s Like A Version. So popular was their interpretation that views of their version on YouTube more than doubled the rest of the top 10 Like A Version covers of 2021 combined,
The Wiggles are the first artist to ever top the countdown with a cover, and they 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.
