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Australian audiences will get a taste of BlackPink’s record-busting antics when the K-pop superstars drop by mid-year for an east-coast run.
The BlackPink [Born Pink] World Tour will set down at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena for a brace of dates (June 10 and 11), followed by a pair of shows at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena (June 16 and 17).
However, the ”originally announced Auckland show will no longer be feasible” due to “unforeseen logistical challenges,” reads a statement from promoters Frontier Touring.
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The Australian dates should sell like hotcakes – if recent chart performance is a good indicator.
Lisa, Jennie, Rosé, and Jisoo smashed chart records in these parts with Born Pink. Its lead single “Pink Venom” flew to No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart last August, making BlackPink the first K-pop group to do so, beating the No. 2 start for BTS’ 2020 hit “Dynamite.”
Born Pink went on to debut at No. 2 on the national albums survey.
BlackPink has a special connection with this country. Rosè (aka Roseanne Park) was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and raised in Melbourne. At age 15, the world of K-pop came calling when, at her father’s suggestion, she auditioned for South Korean music company YG Entertainment.
The rest is history – and a growing list of shattered records.
Just last week, Lisa nabbed a hattrick of Guinness World Records and, earlier in the month, they were announced as headliners for Coachella 2023 — a booking that would make the quartet the first Asian act to do so.
BlackPink is currently on an extensive tour through Asia.
General public tickets for the four Australia shows go on sale next Thursday (Feb. 9).
BlackPink Australia Tour June 2023:
June 10 — Rod Laver Arena, MelbourneJune 11 — Rod Laver Arena, MelbourneJune 16 — Qudos Bank Arena, SydneyJune 17 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
With three nominations, Vance Joy is the leader of the pack heading into the 2023 Rolling Stone Australia Awards.
The Melbourne singer and songwriter lands nominations for best record (his third studio album, In Our Own Sweet Time, which peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Chart), best single (“Clarity”), and the coveted Rolling Stone Global Award, details for which were announced Tuesday (Feb. 1).
Also snagging multiple nominations is ARIA Award-winning star-on-the-rise Budjerah, veteran kid’s entertainers the Wiggles, indie-rock faves Spacey Jane, rock act Gang of Youths, and country star Keith Urban.
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Urban will have his work cut out in the Global Award category. It’s a starry list, in which he’s named along with Alison Wonderland, Gang of Youths, Iggy Azalea, Kylie Minogue, Rüfüs Du Sol, Tash Sultana, The Wiggles, Tones And I, Troye Sivan and Vance Joy.
Each year, Rolling Stone Australia invites international writers, including editors from the U.S. and U.K. brands, to vote in the Rolling Stone Global Award category.
“We take great pride in the fact that, by hosting our third annual Rolling Stone Australia Awards, we get to play a part in recognizing Australian music’s growth,” comments Poppy Reid, editor-in-chief at Rolling Stone Australia publisher the Brag Media.
The Rolling Stone Australia Awards return to Sydney on April 4. Sponsors this year include headline partner Shure alongside Australis, Canna, Panhead, JMC Academy and Jim Beam.
In the weeks ahead, RS Australia will reveal hosts, performers and the nominees in the Rolling Stone Readers’ Award.
“I am immensely proud to be part of the team pushing local acts worldwide through our awards judging process, and our editorial partnership with Rolling Stone parent company PMC,” adds Reid.
Winners at last year’s ceremony include Genesis Owusu, The Kid LAROI and King Stingray, with live performances from Amy Shark and Ruby Fields.
2023 Shure Rolling Stone Australia Awards Nominees:
Best SingleAmy Shark – “Only Wanna Be With You”Budjerah – “Ready for the Sky”Courtney Barnett – “Rae Street”Keith Urban – “Brown Eyes Baby”Ruel – “Growing up is _”Spacey Jane – “Hardlight”The Kid LAROI – “Thousand Miles”Vance Joy – “Clarity”
Best New ArtistBlake RoseBudjerahEliza & The DelusionalsForest ClaudetteJames JohnstonLara DMerci, MercyTeen Jesus and the Jean Teasers
Best Record5 Seconds of Summer – 5SOS5Gang of Youths – angel in realtimeJulia Jacklin – Pre PleasureParkway Drive – Darker StillSpacey Jane – Here Comes EverybodyThe Wiggles – ReWiggledThelma Plum – MeanjinVance Joy – In Our Own Sweet Time
Rolling Stone Global AwardAlison WonderlandGang Of YouthsIggy AzaleaKeith UrbanKylie MinogueRüfüs Du SolTash SultanaThe WigglesTones And ITroye SivanVance Joy
BRISBANE, Australia – It’s a new year, and one filled with fresh optimism in the Australian music industry after the federal government presented its national cultural policy — a five-year action plan that puts in place sorely-needed infrastructure, investment and ideas.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese and arts minister Tony Burke were on hand Monday (Jan. 30) for the launch of Revive, which, as its title suggests, establishes the groundwork for what government and industry hopes will facilitate a robust music space.
It’s a document years in the making. And it’s stuffed with strategic and policy investment for contemporary music, many of them ideas put forward by a united front of music industry organizations, 18 in total.
Revive will provide a much-needed boost of strength, energy and funding into our Arts community:✔️Establishing Creative Australia✔️ The establishment of Music Australia✔️ $70 million injection into Music Australia✔️ Supporting the artist as a worker and a creator https://t.co/56aXgFrPt9— APRA AMCOS (@APRAAMCOS) January 30, 2023
Among the cornerstones of Revive is the creation of Music Australia, within Creative Australia. Government will find nearly $70 million for Music Australia, which will support and invest in the development of Australian contemporary music, and which Albanese is keen to see launch in 2023.
Speaking at the presentation at Melbourne’s Esplanade Hotel, Albanese gave the music community a well-deserved thank-you. He also mapped out a timeline for legislation which would enforce local content quotas on streaming platforms; a regional push for the Double J network, part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; and a 50% boost for Sounds Australia, which supports homegrown artists taking their music to the world.
“Today is a bright moment for (the music) sector but it’s also an overdue one. You have endured a decade in which opportunity wasn’t so much missed as thrown away. Capped by the years of the pandemic,“ he says.
Revive, he continues, “puts the arts back where they’re meant to be – at the heart of our national life.”
Revive is structured around five interconnected pillars, First Nations First; A Place For Every Story; Centrality of the Artist; Strong Institutions and Reaching the Audience. And with it, a commitment for new, additional investment totaling A$286 million over four years.
“This is about our soul, this is about our identity,” Albanese adds. “It is so important because it’s about who we are and being able to express ourselves. It is literally through the arts that we build our identity as a nation and a people.”
When the center-left Labor government was formed in 2022, ending the nine-year administration of the center-right Liberal Party, Burke made an early commitment to develop a cultural roadmap through consultation with the music industry.
ARIA welcomes the new National Cultural Policy announced today by the Hon. Tony Burke MP and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and Arts. https://t.co/w2hlbCkxju— ARIA (@ARIA_Official) January 30, 2023
This policy, and its instructions, “restores the place of art, of entertainment of culture, for all Australians,” Burke says.
Artists and the industry behind the music are “essential workers” he adds.
“You touch our hearts and you are a A$17 billion contributor to our economy. You create art and you create exports. You make works and you provide work. You are entertaining, you are essential, you are required.”
For video streaming platforms, a timeline is locked in. In the second half of this year, legislation will be introduced to the parliament and in July next year, Australian content obligations will apply to the streaming companies.
Revive pledges that, through binding rules on content, Australian music “remains visible, discoverable and easily accessible across platforms to all Australians, driven by a vibrant, agile, sustainable and globally facing local music industry.”
👏Today we welcome the National Cultural Policy, bold new chapter and a transformational moment for Council as we work to build Creative Australia, a new First Nations body, Music Australia, Writers Australia, and the Centre for Arts Workplaces.https://t.co/fRtBTMEwID— Australia Council (@AusCouncilArts) January 30, 2023
With the publication of Revive, the music industry is celebrating an ideal start to the week, and the year.
“The government has responded to our collective call, which I think is a real positive,” Dean Ormston, CEO of APRA AMCOS tells Billboard. “For the first time ever, there’s a whole of government recognition of us as an industry. They’re actually referring to us as an industry for the first time in my living memory. Which I think is an enormous win.”
Though the industry remains largely unsure of what are the next steps, conversations with government in the days ahead should clear-up matters.
Regardless, the opportunities are laid out. “There’s an enormous opportunity in terms of how music Australia interfaces with industry and specific government portfolios,” says Ormston. “There’ll be an evolving opportunity to have a much stronger relationship with portfolios, like education. We’ve already called out, for instance, that Music Australia should have a policy and a strategy related to songwriting in schools. That would be the beginning of the foodchain and the pipeline to improving our export opportunities.”
Although the industry will need to wait for the presentation of the May budget to see full detail, the federal government “is listening and responding,” says Stephen Wade, chair of ALMBC, whose hundreds of members represent all areas of the live music sector.
ARIA and PPCA CEO Annabelle Herd welcomed the policy. “It is true that Australian music is facing a crisis in streaming and that it is harder than ever for Australian musicians to have a charting hit in Australia,” she comments.
“We thank the government for acknowledging the need for greater support of Australian commercial music as a business that is facing key issues surrounding discoverability and export. It is our hope that the introduction of Music Australia will make important strides toward providing solutions to these issues, including a reassessment of commercial radio quotas and streaming policy.”
Today we launched our National Cultural Policy ‘REVIVE’. One of it’s main policy components is the establishment of Creative Australia. pic.twitter.com/nlc8judwUD— Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) January 30, 2023
Read the document here in full.
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Any plans that Ye aka Kanye West might have on visiting Australia might be on hold as officials from that nation publicly suggest that he would be banned over his past anti-Semitic behavior.
According to reports, the artist has reportedly been eager to visit the country in recent days. The reasoning behind the potential trip is to visit the family of his new wife, Bianca Censori who grew up in Melbourne. This has sparked conversation among members of the government who have suggested that Ye would be denied entry due to his recent anti-Semitic comments.
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“People like that who’ve applied for visas to get into Australia in the past have been rejected,” Minister for Education Jason Clare said in an interview with local network Channel Nine. “I expect that if he does apply he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions that they did.” This was echoed by opposition leader Peter Dutton, who had been minister of immigration under the previous government. “His anti-Semitic comments are disgraceful, his conduct [and] his behavior are appalling,” Dutton told 3AW radio. “He’s not a person of good character and the minister has the ability to stop somebody coming into our country of bad character.”
Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, met with the rest of the council members on Tuesday (Jan. 24th) to issue in writing their argument that they are opposed to Ye visiting. “We had a sympathetic hearing,” Wertheim said to reporters. “We’ve made the case that this particular individual does not meet the character test and that it would be in the national interest not to grant him a visa and we set out our reasons in some detail in that letter.”
There is precedent for Ye to be denied a visa by the Australian government over his comments and behavior, which falls under the purview of “good character”. Far-right figures have been denied visas, such as Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes who was banned in 2018 after a public outcry including a petition signed by 81,000 people. According to the Australian Citizenship Policy and the Migrant Act of 1958, “good character” is defined as behaving in an ethical manner and by the rules of the nation’s society once a visitor arrives and during their stay.
Archie Roach, the legendary Indigenous Australian artist whose song “Took the Children Away” was recognized with a Human Rights Medal, has been posthumously awarded in the Australia Day honors.
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Roach is appointed as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for his service to the performing arts and to Indigenous rights and reconciliation, officials announced on Jan. 26 — Australia’s national day.
The Gunditjmara (Kirrae Whurrong/Djab Wurrung), Bundjalung senior elder, songman, prolific storyteller and First Nations champion contributed some of this country’s finest works, across a 30-year-plus career, spanning eight albums.
Few songs can touch quite like Roach’s 1991 song “Took The Children Away,” a heartbreaking tale of the enforced separation of First Nations children from their families.
The song received an international Human Rights Achievement Award, the first time that the honor had been bestowed on a songwriter.
Roach, or Uncle Arch as he was lovingly known, was celebrated on numerous occasions during his lifetime. He was made a Member of The Order of Australia (AM) (in 2015), and received the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music (in 2017).
The songsmith was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2020, marking the 30th anniversary of the release of Charcoal Lane, his debut full length album which carried “Took The Children Away.” The song is now preserved in the National Film And Sound Archive Of Australia.
Throughout his life, he dedicated himself to supporting others. In 2014, he founded The Archie Roach Foundation which established to “nurture meaningful and potentially life changing opportunities” for young First Nation artists.
When he died July 30, 2022 after a long illness, at the age of 66, prime minister Anthony Albanese led tributes.
Though Roach has left us, his music continues to resonate. At the 2022 ARIA Awards, Roach posthumously won best independent release for “One Song,” the final song he wrote.
“One Song” is one of 20 contenders for the coveted song of the year at the 2023 APRA Music Awards, set for April 27 at Sydney’s ICC.
See the complete Australia Day Honours List here.
Albums by Sampa The Great, Julia Jacklin, King Stingray and Tasman Keith are among the finalists for the 18th annual Australian Music Prize, details for which were announced this week.
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Also in the hunt are longplays by 1300, Body Type, Camp Cope, Laura Jean and Party Dozen.
The ultimate winner will be revealed March 1 in Sydney, when the champ will be presented with a A$30,000 ($21,000) bounty, courtesy of major sponsor Soundmerch.
Sales and chart positions have no bearing on the result. It’s the artistry of the entry that counts.
“Yet again we have a very strong list,” comments AMP founder and prize director Scott B. Murphy. “It’s incredibly diverse and truly captures another year of the world’s best music. I sincerely thank the Soundmerch AMP team of judges – their donation of time and passion is much greater than what most people would think.”
Sampa The Great has form with the AMP.
The Zambian-born, Botswana-raised, Melbourne-based hip-hop artist bagged the prestigious prize in 2017 for the mixtape Birds And The BEE9, and again in 2020 with The Return, to become the first and only artist to win the prestigious award twice. Sampa had another world-first in 2020, when she was named as the first-ever BET Amplified global artist.
The AMP is modeled on Britain’s Mercury Music Prize and Canada’s Polaris Prize, the goal of which is to identify and reward the outstanding creative Australian album of the past year.
The nine shortlisted recordings are drawn from a longlist of 490 eligible Australian albums released in 2022, all of which were individually reviewed by a panel of music experts.
This year, the domestic affiliates of EMI, Virgin and Island are on board to sponsor the shortlist by each contributing A$3,000 ($2,100) for a funding pool, which shortlisted artists can drawn on to ensure they can attend the winner announcement event.
Genesis Owusu’s lauded collection Smiling With No Teeth won the prize last time, beating out recordings by Nick Cave, Hiatus Kaiyote and others.
The shortlist of the 18th Soundmerch AMP:1300 – Foreign LanguageBody Type – Everything Is Dangerous But Nothing’s SurprisingCamp Cope – Running With The HurricaneJulia Jacklin – Pre PleasureKing Stingray – King StingrayLaura Jean – AmateursParty Dozen – The Real WorkSampa The Great – As Above, So BelowTasman Keith – A Colour Undone
BRISBANE, Australia — Mushroom Group, the Australian independent music juggernaut, has struck a partnership with Valve Sounds, the reactivated alternative-R&B, hip-hop and soul label.
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Co-founded by Sasha Chifura and Shelley Liu, Valve Sounds is “committed to the growth” of those genres within Australia, and “dedicates to carving a space for these artists to make an impact at an international stage,” reads a statement.
With its resurrection, a string of artist signings and a release slate. The Melbourne-based label relaunches with a roster featuring Sydney R&B multi-hyphenate Maina Doe; Nigeria-born, Melbourne-based producer, vocalist, and performer IJALE; and Brisbane indie/R&B newcomer King Ivy.
To celebrate the return of Valve Sounds, the trio will release a special collaborative number, “WYA” (Where You At), next Thursday (Feb. 2).
Mushroom Group has “been looking for the right hip-hop/R&B partner for some time now to complement our other labels,” notes Mushroom Labels COO Chris Maund.
Valve and its co-founders “stood out because they are entrenched in that scene and have a clear vision to break fresh hip-hop/R&B artists globally. Valve are signing artists whose sound is both authentic and borderless, giving them real opportunity to cut-through and deliver internationally,” he tells Billboard.
Maund points to the success of the recent Maina Doe single “Primal Design.” Mushroom Group serviced the track, which went on to land “a load of global playlists,” he explains. “That, will be the start of many.”
Following its launch in 2015, Valve Sounds released recordings from UV Boi, Nasty Mars, ESESE, Villette and Maya Hirasedo, and earned a reputation for its events and parties in Melbourne, spotlighting international and local artists.
Among the highlights were events at Melbourne Music Week’s 2016 and 2017 flagship venues State Library of Victoria and St Paul’s Cathedral, and its team curated a stage at Falls Festival, featured in VICE.
“Some of my fondest memories have been at Valve Sounds parties that we threw back in the day,” recounts Liu. “Feeling grateful to be working with Maina Doe, IJALE and King Ivy – three artists who I truly believe represent the future of music coming out of Australia and beyond.”
Through the new arrangement, Valve Sounds will have access to Mushroom Labels’ full suite of services across marketing, promotion, audience building, social strategy, distribution and analytics as well as global promotion, marketing and audience label services via UMG’s Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, an alliance forged in 2022, in tandem with Mushroom’s existing U.S. and U.K. teams.
Previously, Valve Sounds had a label partnership with Sony Music.
Valve Sounds now operates among the 25-strong group of companies within Mushroom Group, established 50 years ago by the late Michael Gudinski.
Mushroom Group CEO Matt Gudinski, the son of Michael, heaped praised on his new partners. “Their clear vision for the label and expertise in the R&B and hip-hop scene excels them as key industry leaders of the future,” he comments. “It’s with great pleasure we welcome them to the family and look forward to a longstanding relationship.”
Mushroom Labels includes Liberation Records, Ivy League, I OH YOU, Soothsayer, Bloodlines, Liberator Music and 100s + 1000s.
Miley Cyrus flourishes on Australia’s singles chart with “Flowers” (Columbia/Sony), which debuts at No. 1.
“Flowers” is, surprisingly, the U.S. pop star’s first leader in the land Down Under. Her previous best on the ARIA Singles Chart was No. 2 for 2013’s “Wrecking Ball,” though she has led the national albums chart with two titles — Bangerz in 2013 and Breakout in 2008.
Cyrus has a deep connection with Australia, which extends beyond music. She and Aussie actor Liam Hemsworth dated on and off for years after meeting on the set of the 2010 film movie The Last Song. The couple married in December 2018, but separated the following year. Later, Cyrus briefly dated another Aussie singer, Cody Simpson.
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Raye is enjoying the best-possible start to 2023. First, she crashed the Official U.K. Singles Chart with “Escapism” (via RCA/Sony), the British singer’s first No. 1 in her homeland. Now, the single climbs to a new high in Australia. “Escapism,” featuring U.S. rapper 070 Shake, lifts 4-3 on the ARIA Singles Chart, published Friday (Jan. 20).
Also bringing a fresh vibe to the ARIA Chart is “Vibe” (Interscope/Universal), the new collaboration from BigBang member Taeyang and BTS member Jimin. It’s new at No. 48. “Vibe” should get a shot in the arm from the release this week of a new live performance of the song, accompanied with a full backing band.
Over on the ARIA Albums Chart, also published Jan. 20, Taylor Swift locks-up another No. 1 with Midnights (Universal). Swift’s tenth and latest studio album has led the Australian survey for 11 non-consecutive weeks, her longest-running leader in these parts.
Meanwhile, SZA’s SOS (RCA/Sony) holds at No. 2 for a third week, while British acts Arctic Monkeys and Elton John enjoy sales spikes following their recent, respective live runs. Arctic Monkeys’ The Car (Domino/EMI) freewheels 46-3, and Elton’s Diamonds (Universal) shines at No. 5.
The only new title to debut this week on the ARIA Albums Chart is Duncan Toomb’s Steel On Steel (Compass Brothers Records/Universal), the Australian country artist’s solo debut. It’s new at No. 30.
BRISBANE, Australia – Look Out Kid, the independent Australian artist management business, is joining forces with Monster Artist Management to form one of the market’s power centers, with a footprint on both sides of the Pacific.
The enlarged business operates as Look Out Kid, Billboard can exclusively reveal, and guides a 13-strong roster, uniting some of the top exports from Australia and New Zealand with a string of hot acts.
Through the new arrangement, Monster’s Jacob Snell and Alexandra “Apple” Bagios will join the company, and they’re bringing their roster of international clients, which includes Methyl Ethel and Hatchie (Australia); The Beths (New Zealand); plus U.S. acts Cloud Nothings, Sweeping Promises, and Palehound.
At Look Out Kid, they’ll join a stable that includes Courtney Barnett, Middle Kids, Sarah Blasko, U.S. artist Faye Webster and Canadian Beverly Glenn-Copeland.
By joining forces, the team has the opportunity to be in multiple markets at once. The move is “designed so that we can better support” the roster in their “artistic and career goals,” Nick O’Byrne, Look Out Kid’s owner/director and artist manager, tells Billboard.
“We’re trying to pull the smart management minds out of the nitty gritty, everyday stuff that takes so much time, that the artist doesn’t see, and give them more time talking to artists about music, strategy and achieving their goals, whether its financial, career, artistry.”
Snell, who serves as director of strategy and artist manager, and Bagios, as artist manager, are based in Los Angeles, and the Look Out Kid team continues to operate out of its Melbourne headquarters. Owner/director Katie Besgrove is shifting from day-to-day artist management to the general manager position.
Meanwhile, a new hire will oversee the roster’s live and touring activities for the first time, lifting the company’s headcount to seven.
Concerts specialist Emma Hawkes joins the team as touring and operations manager, a new role. Hawkes was recently production manager of Courtney Barnett‘s U.S.-based touring festival Here And There, which debuted in 2022 and returns this year.
“We love their roster, we share similar tastes and we care about the same things when it comes to the business of music,” Look Out Kid says of Monster in a statement. “It’s important to take notice when you find a kindred spirit in this crazy business so this feels like a natural step for us.”
The conversation to come together was a natural one. “We talked about it for about six months. Just trying to work out when it would work,” O’Byrne notes. “We finally got there towards the end of last year.”
Monster was established in Perth, Western Australia, in 2010. O’Byrne formed Look Out Kid in 2011 as a vehicle to manage Barnett. Using the know-how he’d accumulated as general manager of trade association Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR), and as executive programmer of the Bigsound conference and showcase event, O’Byrne’s business quietly flourished, and Barnett emerged as one of Australia’s most successful artists of her generation.
The singer-songwriter’s debut Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit peaked at No. 4 in Australia, No. 16 in the U.K. and No. 20 in the U.S., and won the Australian Music Prize, a trio of ARIAs and a nomination for best international female at the BRIT Awards. Her solo followup cracked the top 10 in the U.K, led several Billboard charts, and peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200. A third solo set, Things Take Time, Take Time, dropped in 2021.
Renée Geyer, the ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted singer with an abundance of jazz, blues and soul in her powerful voice, died Tuesday (Jan. 17) from complications following hip surgery. She was 69.
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Born Sept. 11, 1953, in Melbourne, Geyer “lived her life as she performed – on her own terms and to the fullest,” reads a statement from her family and issued by Mushroom Group, whose founder, the late Michael Gudinski, was a decades-long friend and supporter of the artist.
She enjoyed solo success in Australia with covers “It’s a Man’s Man’s World”, “Heading in the Right Direction” and the bouncy ’80s number “Say I Love You,” and sang until the end, performing just last month to a full house, read the statement. The late artist was looking forward to “another busy year ahead doing what she loved most – performing for her loyal fans around the country.”
Geyer got her break in the ‘70s, initially in Sydney, with a string of pop, soul and reggae releases. Later, she would relocate to Los Angeles, where she contributed to recordings for Stevie Wonder, Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond, Bonnie Raitt and Chaka Kahn, before making a comeback in her homeland in the 1990s, with some help from Paul Kelly.
Australia’s music community remembers Geyer as a force of nature, and one of the finest artists produced by this country, whose recording career spanned five decades.
Matt Gudinski, CEO of Mushroom Group and son of Michael Gudinski, recounts Geyer as a “fierce, independent, strong and passionate” trailblazer for women in the music industry, while Philip Mortlock, creative director ORiGiN Music, remembers her as an “astonishing talent” with “a wicked sense of humor and intellect.”
Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett writes, “Sang with Renee at a charity show back in the day, of course she blew the roof off. One of the very best voices we ever had the privilege to hear.”
Oh dear, big loss. Condolences to family, friends, fans. Sang with Renee at a charity show back in the day, of course she blew the roof off. One of the very best voices we ever had the privilege to hear. ‘Renee Geyer dies aged 69 https://t.co/92ml2WEQwy via @ABCaustralia— Peter Garrett (@pgarrett) January 17, 2023
Geyer’s “impact as a female singer with both an uncontainable voice and personality has been immeasurable for Australian music,” comments ARIA and PPCA CEO, Annabelle Herd.
We mourn the passing of iconic Australian artist, producer and ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Renée Geyer. ARIA and PPCA CEO, Annabelle Herd, said: “Renée’s impact as a female singer with both an uncontainable voice and personality has been immeasurable for Australian music.” pic.twitter.com/AVozCmJjP0— ARIA (@ARIA_Official) January 17, 2023
Renée Geyer. A game changer. A soul diva. My sister in song. Heart felt condolences to her family and friends, and to the Australian music industry as a whole who have just lost a person who possessed one of the greatest voices I have ever heard. pic.twitter.com/MdWwHaozO2— Marcia Hines (@TheMarciaHines) January 17, 2023
Australia’s own Queen of Soul. A truly incredible singer has left us. My love to her friends, colleagues and many fans. Rest in peace Renee Geyer. pic.twitter.com/OcZXXWsMjW— paul grabowsky (@paulgrab) January 17, 2023
Composer Paul Grabowsky celebrates Geyer as “Australia’s own Queen of Soul.”
Geyer is also remembered for her rebellious nature, and for the slap she planted on interviewer Molly Meldrum while live on air on the ABC’s Countdown.
In her 2000 autobiography, Confessions of a Difficult Woman, co-written with music journalist Ed Nimmervoll, Geyer discussed her problems with substance abuse. And in its pages, she described herself as a “a white Hungarian Jew from Australia, sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama.”
Geyer’ talents were unique, and celebrated, and her catalog 25 albums deep, a list she most recently added to with 2013’s Swing.
She cemented her icon status in 2005, when she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame alongside Split Enz, Normie Rowe, Smoky Dawson, The Easybeats, Hunters & Collectors and Jimmy Barnes. Then, in 2013 she was the first woman to be inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame; and in 2018 received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Women in Music Awards.
On International Women’s Day 2021, Double J celebrated 50 Game-Changing Women of Australian Music. Naturally, Geyer was on the list.
Despite her Hall of Fame recognition and several nominations, an ARIA Award eluded her.
While attending University Hospital Geelong, specialists discovered that Geyer also had inoperable lung cancer.
“She was in no pain and died peacefully amongst family and friends,” the family statement explains.
Details of her memorial will be forthcoming. In lieu of flowers, the late singer’s family asks that preferred donations be made to Support Act “as a way of giving back to an industry that loved her so much.”
We’re deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Renée Geyer, one of the most highly regarded singers in contemporary music. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time. In lieu of flowers, she would have preferred donations be made here – https://t.co/vz6QjLv8RM pic.twitter.com/o1O1ue3OBG— Support Act (@SupportAct) January 17, 2023
