Australian children’s group the Wiggles top Triple J Hottest 100

The Wiggles have taken the top spot in the Triple J Hottest 100 with their cover of Tame Impala's 2012 song Elephant.

The children's performers had a viral hit in March when they transformed the track for Triple J's cover series Like a Version, infusing it with the chorus from their song, Fruit Salad.

The group posted their delight at the victory on Twitter.

While it may seem like an unlikely victory, it's not the first time a Like a Version cover has done well in the Hottest 100. As Shaad D'Souza points out, covers with novelty value often resonate with listers - DMA's cover of Cher's Believe got to No 6 in 2016 and Alex Lahey's cover of a My Chemical Romance track went to No 83 in 2020.

The Wiggles did, however, edge out the song that was widely tipped to win the annual poll. The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber were favourites to win with their collaboration Stay, which has now hit No 1 on song charts in more than 20 countries. Stay instead came in second place.

Had Stay topped the poll, it would have made 18-year-old Kamilaroi rapper Laroi, who grew up in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo, the first ever First Nations artist to reach No 1 in the Hottest 100.

The Perth four-piece Spacey Jane placed at No 3 with their track Lots of Nothing, one of three songs they had featured in the countdown.