The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies.
Indigenous Australian music
Indigenous music of Australia comprises the music of the Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, intersecting with their culture, cultural and ceremonial observances, through the millennia of their ind ...
forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic
didgeridoo
The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...
. Contemporary fusions of indigenous and Western styles are exemplified in the works of
Yothu Yindi
Yothu Yindi (Yolŋu Matha, Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced , natively ) are an Australian musical group with Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a wh ...
,
No Fixed Address,
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu and
Christine Anu, and mark distinctly Australian contributions to
world music
"World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...
.
Australian music's early
western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
history, was a collection of British colonies,
Australian folk music and
bush ballads, with songs such as "
Waltzing Matilda
"Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem".
The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing ...
" and ''
The Wild Colonial Boy'' heavily influenced by
Anglo-Celtic traditions, Indeed many bush ballads are based on the works of national poets
Henry Lawson
Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period ...
and
Banjo Patterson.
Contemporary
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n music ranges across a broad spectrum with
trends often concurrent with
those of the US, the
UK, and similar nations—notably in the
Australian rock
Rock music in Australia, also known as Oz rock, Australian rock, and Aussie rock, has a rich history, rooted in an appreciation of various rock genres originating in the United States and Britain, and to a lesser extent, in continental Europe an ...
and
Australian country music genres. Tastes have diversified along with post–
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
multicultural
immigration to Australia
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
European colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of a B ...
, whilst classical music derives from European influences.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the most recent and possibly only original genre of music to emerge from Australia outside of indigenous music came from Newcastle and Sydney as a genre known as Breakcor
Indigenous music

Indigenous Australian music refers to the music of
Indigenous Australians, Aboriginals and
Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...
. Music forms an integral part of the
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives fro ...
,
cultural
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
and ceremonial observances of these peoples, and has been so for over 60,000 years. Traditional indigenous music is best characterised by the
didgeridoo
The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...
, the best-known instrument, which is considered by some to be the world's oldest. Archaeological studies of
rock art
In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...
in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
suggest people of the
Kakadu region were playing the instrument 15,000 years ago.
Contemporary indigenous Australian music has covered numerous styles, including
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
,
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
,
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
, and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
.
Artists
Jimmy Little is regarded as the first Aboriginal performer to achieve mainstream success, with his debut 1964 song "The Royal Telephone" highly popular and successful.
In 2005, Little was presented with an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
in music by the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
. Despite the popularity of some of his work, Little failed to launch indigenous music in the country—from the 1970s onwards, groups such as
Coloured Stone,
Warumpi Band, and
No Fixed Address helped improve the image of the genre.
It was
Yothu Yindi
Yothu Yindi (Yolŋu Matha, Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced , natively ) are an Australian musical group with Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a wh ...
that brought indigenous music to the mainstream, with their 1991 song "Treaty", from the album ''
Tribal Voice'', becoming a hit. It reached No. 11 on the
ARIA Singles Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
. The band's performances were based on the traditional
Yolngu
The Yolngu or Yolŋu ( or ) are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnuma ...
dance, and embodied a sharing of culture.
The success of Yothu Yindi—winners of eight
ARIA Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
—was followed in by
Kev Carmody,
Tiddas,
Archie Roach
Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian (Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalung) singer-songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach wa ...
and Christine Anu, and numerous other indigenous Australian musicians.

Indigenous Australian music is unique, as it dates back more than 60,000 years to the
prehistory of Australia
The prehistory of Australia is the period between the first human habitation of the Australian continent and the colonisation of Australia in 1788, which marks the start of consistent written documentation of Australia. This period has been v ...
and continues the ancient songlines through contemporary artists as diverse as:
David Dahwurr Hudson,
Warumpi Band, Wild Water,
Saltwater Band,
Nabarlek,
Nokturnl,
the Pigram Brothers,
Blekbala Mujik, and
Ruby Hunter
Ruby Charlotte Margaret Hunter (31 October 195517 February 2010), also known as Aunty Ruby, was an Aboriginal Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist, and the life and musical partner of Archie Roach.
Early life
Ruby Hunter was born on 31 ...
.
In 2024, Indigenous Australian artists have achieved incredible success at home and abroad, with chart-toppers like
The Kid Laroi
Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard (born 17 August 2003), known professionally as the Kid Laroi (stylized as The Kid LAROI), is an Australian rapper, singer and songwriter. He was first discovered by Triple J Unearthed in 2016 at the age of 13. As ...
,
Thelma Plum
Thelma Amelina Plumbe (born 21 December 1994), known professionally as Thelma Plum, is an Aboriginal Australian ( Gamilaraay) singer, songwriter, guitarist and musician from Delungra, New South Wales. Her debut album, '' Better in Blak'', was ...
and
Baker Boy
Danzal James Baker (born 10 October 1996), known professionally as Baker Boy, is a Yolngu rapper, dancer, and artist. Baker Boy is known for performing original hip-hop songs incorporating both English language, English and Yolŋu languages, ...
(who raps and sings in both English and Yolngu) dominating. In 2022, 10 tracks in the Triple J listener-voted Hottest 100 countdown featured Indigenous representation, which was a new record. Arnhem Land's
King Stingray was responsible for four of those entries alone.
Folk music

For much of its history, Australia's bush music belonged to an oral and folkloric tradition, and was only later published in print in volumes such as
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author, widely considered one of the greatest writers of Australia's colonial period.
Born in rural New South Wales, Paterson worke ...
's ''Old Bush Songs'', in the 1890s. The distinctive themes and origins of Australia's "bush music" or "
bush band music" can be traced to the songs sung by the convicts who were sent to Australia during the early period of the British colonisation, beginning in 1788. Early Australian ballads sing of the harsh ways of life of the epoch and of such people and events as
bushranger
Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...
s,
swagmen,
drovers,
stockmen and
shearers. Convict and bushranger verses often railed against government tyranny. Classic bush songs on such themes include: "
The Wild Colonial Boy", "
Click Go the Shears", "The Drover's Dream", "The Queensland Drover", "The Dying Stockman" and "
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...
".
[Bush songs and music – Australia's Culture Portal](_blank)
. Cultureandrecreation.gov.au. Retrieved on 2011-04-14.
Later themes which endure to the present include the experiences of war, of droughts and flooding rains, of
Aboriginality
Aboriginal Australian identity, sometimes known as Aboriginality, is the perception of oneself as Aboriginal Australian, or the recognition by others of that identity. Aboriginal Australians are one of two Indigenous Australian groups of peopl ...
and of the railways and trucking routes which link Australia's vast distances. Isolation and loneliness of life in the
Australian bush
"The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where it is largely synonymous with hinterlands or backwoods. The fauna and flora contained within the bush is typically native to the regi ...
have been another theme. "
Waltzing Matilda
"Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem".
The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing ...
", often regarded as Australia's unofficial
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
, is a quintessential Australian folk song, influenced by Celtic folk ballads. Country and folk artists such as
Tex Morton
Tex Morton (born Robert William Lane in Nelson, New Zealand, also credited as Robert Tex Morton; 30 August 1916 – 23 July 1983 Sydney, Australia) was a pioneer of New Zealand and Australian country and western music, vaudevillian, actor, tel ...
,
Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon, referred to universally as Australia's Ki ...
,
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...
,
the Bushwackers,
John Williamson, and
John Schumann of the band
Redgum
Redgum were an Australian bush band, folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriters John Schumann and Michael Atkinson (composer), Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals, and Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were ...
have continued to record and popularise the old bush ballads of Australia through the 20th and into the 21st century – and contemporary artists including
Sara Storer and
Lee Kernaghan draw heavily on this heritage.
Australia has a unique tradition of folk music, with origins in both the indigenous music traditions of the original Australian inhabitants, as well as the introduced folk music (including
sea shanties
A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a sp ...
) of 18th and 19th century Europe.
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
,
English,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and
Scandinavian folk traditions predominated in this first wave of European immigrant music. The Australian tradition is, in this sense, related to the traditions of other countries with similar ethnic, historical and political origins, such as
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The Australian indigenous tradition brought to this mix of novel elements, including new instruments, some of which are now internationally familiar, such as the
didgeridoo
The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...
of Northern Australia. A number of British singers have spent periods in Australia and have included Australian material in their repertoires, e.g.
A. L. Lloyd
Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982),Eder, Bruce. (29 September 1982A. L. Lloyd – Music Biography, Credits and Discography AllMusic. Retrieved on 2013-02-24. usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English ...
, Martin Wyndham-Read and
Eric Bogle
Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944) is an Australian folk music, folk singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25 to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of to ...
.
Folk revival

Notable Australian exponents of the folk revival movement included both European immigrants such as
Eric Bogle
Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944) is an Australian folk music, folk singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25 to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of to ...
, noted for his sad lament to the
battle of Gallipoli "
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", and more contemporary artists such as
Archie Roach
Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian (Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalung) singer-songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach wa ...
and
Paul Kelly. Kelly's lyrics capture the vastness of the culture and landscape of Australia by chronicling life about him for over 30 years. David Fricke from Rolling Stone calls Kelly "one of the finest songwriters I have ever heard, Australian or otherwise." In the 1970s, Australian Folk Rock brought both familiar and less familiar traditional songs, as well as new compositions, to live venues and the airwaves. Notable artists include
the Bushwackers and
Redgum
Redgum were an Australian bush band, folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriters John Schumann and Michael Atkinson (composer), Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals, and Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were ...
. Redgum are known for their 1983 anti-war protest song "
I Was Only Nineteen", which peaked at No. 1 on the National singles charts. The 1990s brought Australian indigenous folk rock to the world, led by bands including
Yothu Yindi
Yothu Yindi (Yolŋu Matha, Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced , natively ) are an Australian musical group with Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a wh ...
. Australia's long and continuous folk tradition continues strongly to this day, with elements of folk music still present in many contemporary artists including those generally thought of as
Rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
,
Heavy Metal and
Alternative Music Alternative music may refer to the following types of music:
*Independent music
*Alternative rock
*Alternative pop
*Alternative R&B
*Neo soul, sometimes known as alternative soul
*Alternative reggaeton
*Alternative hip hop
*Alternative dance
*Alter ...
.
Popular music
Early pop music

Australian composers who published popular musical works (e.g. Ragtime, light ephemera) in the early twentieth century include
Vince Courtney,
Herbert De Pinna,
Jack Lumsdaine,
Joe Slater,
Bert Rache,
Reginald Stoneham,
Clement Scott and
Herbert Cosgrove, among others. Demand for local works declined with recording and broadcast.
Possibly the first Australian song to compete with imported recordings was Good-Night Mister Moon by Allan Ryan and William Flynn
Country music

Australia has a long tradition of country music, which has developed a style quite distinct from its US counterpart. The early roots of Australian country are related to
traditional folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
traditions of Ireland, England, Scotland and many diverse nations. "
Botany Bay
Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...
" from the late 19th century is one example. "
Waltzing Matilda
"Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem".
The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing ...
", often regarded by foreigners as Australia's unofficial
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
, is a quintessential Australian country song, influenced more by Celtic folk ballads than by American Country and Western music. This strain of Australian country music, with lyrics focusing on strictly Australian subjects, is generally known as "bush music" or "
bush band music." The most successful Australian bush band is Melbourne's
the Bushwackers, active since the early 1970s, other well-known country singers include
Reg Lindsay
Reginald John Lindsay OAM (7 July 1929 – 5 August 2008) was an Australian country music singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and radio and television personality. He won three Golden Guitar Awards and wrote more than 500 ...
, bush balladeer singer
Buddy Williams, and entertainers
Johnny Ashcroft and
Chad Morgan.
Another, more Americanized form of Australian country music was pioneered in the 1930s by such recording artists as
Tex Morton
Tex Morton (born Robert William Lane in Nelson, New Zealand, also credited as Robert Tex Morton; 30 August 1916 – 23 July 1983 Sydney, Australia) was a pioneer of New Zealand and Australian country and western music, vaudevillian, actor, tel ...
, and later popularized by
Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon, referred to universally as Australia's Ki ...
, best remembered for his 1957 song "
A Pub With No Beer", and
Smoky Dawson. Dusty married singer-songwriter
Joy McKean in 1951 and became Australia's biggest selling domestic music artist with more than 7 million record sales. British-born country singer and yodeller,
Frank Ifield, was one of the first Australian post-war performers to gain widespread international recognition. After returning to the UK in 1959 Ifield was successful in the early 1960s, becoming the first performer to have three consecutive number-one hits on the UK charts: "
I Remember You", "
Lovesick Blues" (both 1962) and "
The Wayward Wind" (1963).
"I Remember You" was also a Top-5 hit in the US.
Australian country artists including
Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...
,
Sherrie Austin, and
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban ( né Urbahn; 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves Int ...
have achieved considerable success in the USA. In recent years local contemporary country music, featuring much
crossover with
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
, had popularity in Australia; notable musicians of this genre include
David Hudson,
John Williamson,
Gina Jeffreys,
Lee Kernaghan,
Troy Cassar-Daley
Troy Cassar-Daley (born 18 May 1969) is an Australian country music songwriter and entertainer.
Cassar-Daley has released thirteen studio albums, two live albums and five compilation albums over 30 years, including the platinum-selling '' The ...
,
Sara Storer,
Felicity Urquhart, and
Kasey Chambers
Kasey Chambers (born 4 June 1976) is an Australian country music, Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier, South Australia, Mount Gambier to musicians Diane and Bill Chambers (musician), Bill Chambers. Her older ...
. Others influenced by the genre include
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
,
Paul Kelly,
the John Butler Trio
The John Butler Trio were an Australian Folk music, roots-Rock music, rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler (musician), John Butler, an Australasian Performing Right Association, APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in ...
, Jagged Stone and
the Waifs
The Waifs (originally styled as The WAiFS) are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (musician), Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals) as well as Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocal ...
. Popular Australian country songs include "
Click Go the Shears" (Traditional), "
Lights on the Hill" (1973), "
I Honestly Love You" (1974), "
True Blue" (1981), and "
Not Pretty Enough" (2002).
Children's music

Children's music in Australia developed gradually over the latter half of the 20th century. Some of the most recognised performers in that period were those associated with the long-running
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
series ''
Play School'', including veteran actor-musician
Don Spencer
Donald Richard Spencer (born 22 March 1937) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, and former children's television presenter. He had a long tenure as a host on ''Play School'' on both the Play School (Australian TV series), Australian ...
and actor and singer
Noni Hazlehurst. Children's music remained a relatively small segment of the Australian music industry until the emergence of groundbreaking children's group
the Wiggles
The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce (entertainer), John Pearce, Caterina Mete ...
in the late 1990s. The multi-award-winning four-piece group rapidly gained international popularity in the early 2000s and by the end of the decade they had become one of the most popular children's groups in the world. The Wiggles now boasts a huge fanbase in many regions including Australasia, Britain, Asia, and the Americas.
In 2008, the Wiggles were named
Business Review Weekly's top-earning Australian entertainers for the fourth year in a row, having earned
A$45 million in 2007. They have been called "the world's biggest preschool band" and "your child's first rock band".
The group has achieved worldwide success with their children's albums, videos,
television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
, and concert appearances. They have earned 18
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
, 13
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
, three double-platinum, and ten multi-platinum awards; additionally 15 ARIA Awards for Best Children's Album (making ARIA history as the most awarded ARIA winner in the one category), received the ARIA for Best Australian Live Act, and been inducted into the
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has inducted artists into its annual ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone ceremo ...
.
By 2002, the Wiggles had become the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
's (ABC) most successful pre-school television program. They have performed for over 1.5 million children in the US between 2005 and 2008.
They have won
APRA song writing awards for Best Children's Song three times and earned ADSDA's award for Highest Selling Children's Album four times.
They have been nominated for
ARIA's Best Children's Album award nineteen times, and won the award twelve times. In 2003, they received ARIA's Outstanding Achievement Award for their success in the U.S.
and were also inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2011.
Peter Combe
Peter Charles Combe Order of Australia, OAM (; born 20 October 1948) is an Australian Children's music, children's entertainer and musician. At the ARIA Music Awards he has won three ARIA Award for Best Children's Album, ARIA Awards for Best Chi ...
,
Patsy Biscoe and
Hi-5 are other notable names within the industry.
R&B and soul music

R&B soul music had a significant impact on Australian's music, although it is notable that many seminal recordings in this genre by American acts of the late 20th century were not played on Australian radio. Anecdotal evidence suggest that racism was a key factor—in his book on the history of Australian radio, author and broadcaster Wayne Mac recounts that when a local Melbourne DJ of the 1960s played the new
Ike and Tina Turner
Ike or IKE may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Ike (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname
* Ike (surname), a list of people
* Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Supreme Commander of ...
single "
River Deep Mountain High" it was immediately pulled from the playlist by the station's program manager for being "too noisy and too black".
Renée Geyer is an Australian
singer
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
who came to prominence in the mid-1970s, has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
,
soul
The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
and
R&B idioms
An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a figurative or non-literal meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiomatic expression's meaning is different from the lit ...
.
She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "
It's a Man's Man's World "Rock historian,
Ian McFarlane
Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017.
As a journalist ...
described her as having a "rich, soulful, passionate and husky vocal delivery".
Geyer's iconic status in the Australian music industry was recognised when she was inducted into the
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has inducted artists into its annual ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone ceremo ...
on 14 July 2005.
Parallel with Geyer's success, American born vocalist
Marcia Hines emerged as one of Australia's most successful solo singers. She first came to prominence in the early 1970s with critically acclaimed roles in the local stage productions of ''
Hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...
'' and ''
Jesus Christ Superstar
''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...
'' (in which she was the first African-American to play the role of Mary Magdalene) before launching a solo career. By the late 1970s she was one of Australia's top singing stars, winning several ''
Queen of Pop'' awards and hosting her own national TV variety series.
Following their initial dissolution in 1982
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker (musician), Don Walker on pia ...
lead vocalist
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...
embarked on a successful solo career that has continued from the 1980s to the present. Many of Barnes' albums have featured versions of songs from these genres and his chart-topping album ''
Soul Deep (1991)'' consisted entirely of covers of classic 1960s soul/R&B covers. Australian soul singer/songwriters like
Daniel Merriweather
Daniel Paul Merriweather (born 17 February 1982) is an Australian R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. Merriweather's debut solo album, '' Love & War'', was released in June 2009. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number two. It was ...
, has after several successful collaborations with artists such as
Mark Ronson
Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...
, released his official debut album, ''Love & War'', in June 2009. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number two. After launching his career as the winner of an early series of ''
Australian Idol
''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Id ...
'', soul singer/songwriter
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer who rose to fame after winning the Australian Idol (season 1), first season of ''Australian Idol'', in 2003. Born in Malaysia and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Sebastian h ...
has also made an impact on this genre in Australia winning awards at the
Urban Music Awards Australia and New Zealand for Best Male Artist and Best R&B Album. Sebastian's recent release "
Like it Like That", was the highest selling Australian artist single in 2009 and charted at No. 1 for two consecutive weeks
[Top 50 Australian Artist Singles 2009](_blank)
Retrieved 7 January 2010
In 2004, ''Australian Idol'' finalist
Paulini's debut single "
Angel Eyes" and album ''
One Determined Heart'' both reached number one on the ARIA charts and were certified platinum. Paulini earned ARIA No. 1 Chart Awards for both the single and album. Her second album ''
Superwoman
Superwoman is the name of several fictional characters in DC Comics. Most of them are, like Supergirl, women with powers similar to those of Superman, such as flight, invulnerability, and enhanced strength.
In 1942, DC Comics trademarked the n ...
'' included the singles "
Rough Day" and "
So Over You", and earned Paulini two nominations at the
2007 Urban Music Awards for 'Best R&B Album' and 'Best Female Artist'.
2006 ''Australian Idol'' runner-up
Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...
made her musical solo debut in 2008 with the single "
Running Back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...
", which featured American rapper
Flo Rida
Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), known professionally as Flo Rida ( ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 debut and breakout single "Low (Flo Rida song), Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the ...
, and peaked at number three on the ARIA Singles Chart, eventually being certified double platinum. Her debut album ''
Been Waiting'' earned her seven nominations at the 2009
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
, winning the award of 'Highest Selling Single' for "Running Back".
Reggae
Reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
had success on the radio charts in Australia in the early 1980s when
Toots and the Maytals
The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music.
...
, the first artist to use the term "
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
" in song, went to number one with their song "Beautiful Woman". Early reggae groups from Australia include
No Fixed Address.
Rock and pop

Australia has produced a wide variety of
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
and popular music, from the internationally successful groups
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
,
INXS
INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...
,
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
,
Savage Garden
Savage Garden was an Australian pop duo consisting of Darren Hayes on vocals and Daniel Jones on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; they formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1993. They were signed to John Woodruff's talent agency and achieved int ...
,
the Seekers
The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop group originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Unit ...
, or pop divas
Delta Goodrem
Delta Lea Goodrem Order of Australia, AM (born 9 November 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, television personality and actress based in Sydney. Goodrem signed a recording contract with Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut studio album ...
,
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
to the popular local content of
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham (born 1 July 1949) is a British-born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until the mid-1970s, billed as Johnny Farnham. He has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.McFarlane (1999). Enc ...
,
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...
or
Paul Kelly.
Indigenous Australian music
Indigenous music of Australia comprises the music of the Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, intersecting with their culture, cultural and ceremonial observances, through the millennia of their ind ...
and
Australian jazz
Jazz music has a long history in Australia. Over the years jazz has held a high-profile at local clubs, festivals and other music venues and a vast number of recordings have been produced by Australian jazz musicians, many of whom have gone on ...
have also had crossover influence on this genre. Early Australian
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
stars included
Col Joye and
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe (19 January 1935 – 6 October 1978) was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the early 1950s. A pioneer of Rock music in Australia, his hits include " Wild One" (1958), " Shout!" and "She's My Baby". O ...
. O'Keefe formed a band in 1956; his hit ''Wild One'' made him the first Australian rock'n'roller to reach the national charts. While US and British content dominated airwaves and record sales into the 1960s, local successes began to emerge – notably
the Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian Rock music, rock band which formed in Sydney in late 1964. They are best known for their 1966 hit single "Friday on My Mind", which is regarded as the first Australian rock song to achieve international success ...
and the folk-pop group
the Seekers
The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop group originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Unit ...
had significant local success and some international recognition, while AC/DC had their first hits in Australia before going on to international success.

A pivotal event was the
1970 radio ban, which lasted from May to October that year. The Ban was the climax of a simmering "pay for play" dispute between major record companies and commercial radio stations, who refused to pay a proposed new copyright fee for playing pop records on air. The dispute erupted into open conflict in May 1970—many commercial stations boycotted records by the labels involved and refused to list their releases on their Top 40 charts, while the record companies in turn refused to supply radio with free promotional copies of new releases.
An unexpected side-effect of the ban was that several emerging Australian acts signed to independent labels (who were not part of the dispute) scored hits with covers of overseas hits; these included
the Mixtures
The Mixtures were an Australian rock band that formed in Melbourne in 1965.
Biography 1965–1976: The Mixtures
Australian musicians Terry Dean and Rod De Clerk met in Tasmania in 1965. They then met Laurie Arthur, a member of the Strangers, ...
' cover of
Mungo Jerry
Mungo Jerry (formerly known as Mungo Jerry Blues Band) are a British rock band formed by Ray Dorset in Ashford, Middlesex, in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing line-up always fronted by Dorset, the ...
's "
In the Summertime
"In the Summertime" is the debut single by British rock band Mungo Jerry, released in 1970. It reached number one in charts around the world, including seven weeks on the UK Singles Chart, two weeks at number one on the Canadian charts, and ...
"
[ Note: This PDF is 282 pages. Retrieved 20 November 2010] and
Liv Maessen's cover of Mary Hopkin's
Eurovision song "
Knock, Knock Who's There?".
Despite commercial radio resistance to the more progressive music being produced by bands like
Spectrum
A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...
and
Tully, acts as diverse as
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
,
Sherbet and
John Paul Young
John Inglis Young, Order of Australia, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is an Australian pop singer who is best known for having a worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air (song), Love Is in the Air" in 1978. His ...
were able to achieve major success and develop a unique sound for Australian rock. From 1975, key agents for the increased exposure of local music were the nationally broadcast ABC-TV
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
pop show ''
Countdown'', which premiered in late 1974, and Australia's first non-commercial all-rock
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
Double Jay, which opened in January 1975.
Hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
bands AC/DC and
Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, which formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' R ...
and harmony rock group
Little River Band
Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums reached the top ...
also found major overseas success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, touring all over the world. Meanwhile, a score of Australian expatriate solo performers like
Helen Reddy
Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a show business family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on ra ...
,
Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...
and
Peter Allen became major stars in the US and internationally.
Icehouse also formed in the late 1970s.
Pop magazines such as ''
Go-Set
''Go-Set'' was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. Widely described as ...
'' (which began in 1966), the ''
Daily Planet
The ''Daily Planet'' is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in ''Action Comics'' #9 (November 13, 1939) – Underworld Politics ...
'', and television programs such as ''
Countdown'' promoted Australian popular music to the youth market.
1980s

The 1980s saw a breakthrough in the independence of Australian rock—
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
said that before the 1980s, "Australia still needed America or England to tell them what was good".
An example of Australians breaking free from convention came in
TISM
TISM ( ; an acronym of This Is Serious Mum) are a seven-piece anonymous alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia on 30 December 1982 by vocalist/drummer Humphrey B. Flaubert, bassist/vocalist Jock Cheese and keyboardist/vocalist ...
. Formed in 1982, the band is known for its anonymous members, outrageous stage antics, and humorous lyrics. In the words of the band, "There's only one factor left that makes us work. And that factor, I think, we've burned away, with the crucible of time, into something that's actually genuine."
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band that was formed in Melbourne, 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as " Down Under", " Who Can It Be Now?", " Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and ...
,
Divinyls
Divinyls () were an Australian rock band that were formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school un ...
, and
Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1981 by Dave Faulkner (songwriter, lead singer and guitarist) and later joined by Richard Grossman (bass), Mark Kingsmill (drums), and Brad Shepherd (guitar, vocals, harmonica). Th ...
, all formed between 1979 and 1981, became hugely successful worldwide. Men at Work's "
Down Under" hit number one in Australia, Europe, the UK, Canada, and the United States, and was considered the
theme song
Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...
of Australia's successful showing at the
1983 America's Cup. Hoodoo Gurus, meanwhile, hit it big on the US college circuit—all of their
1980s albums topped the chart. At the same time, a number of Australian bands relocated to the U.K. and particularly London to further their artistic and commercial endeavours, among whom were
the Moodists,
the Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster (musician), Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only co ...
,
the Birthday Party with guitarist
Rowland S. Howard
Rowland Stuart Howard (24 October 1959 – 30 December 2009) was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk group The Birthday Party (band), The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career ...
,
Laughing Clowns,
Foetus
A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Prenatal development is a ...
,
SPK,
the Triffids, and
Peter Loveday.
=Grunge
=

Grunge is a subgenre of
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
and a
subculture
A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...
that emerged during the in Australia and in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
U.S. state of
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
. The early grunge movement in the US revolved around Seattle's independent record label
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...
and that region's
underground music
Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, Popular music, mainstream popular music culture. Underground styles lack the commercial success of popular music movements, and may involve the use of avant-g ...
scene. By the early 1990s, its popularity had spread, with grunge bands appearing in California, then emerging in other parts of the United States and in Australia, building strong followings and signing major record deals.
Mark Arm, the vocalist for the Seattle band
Green River—and later
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River (band), Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner (guitari ...
—stated that the term had been used in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in the mid-1980s to describe bands such as
King Snake Roost
King Snake Roost (also known as KSR) were an Australian noise rock band. King Snake Roost formed in 1985 in Adelaide and in 1987 the band moved to Sydney. The band broke up in 1990 after a two-month tour of the US. In Australia and the USA the ...
,
The Scientists
The Scientists are a post-punk band from Perth, Western Australia, led by Kim Salmon, initially known as the Exterminators and then the Invaders. The band had two primary incarnations: the Perth-based punk rock, punk band of the late 1970s and ...
, Salamander Jim, and
Beasts of Bourbon. Arm used grunge as a descriptive term rather than a genre term, but it eventually came to describe the punk/metal hybrid sound of the Seattle music scene.
Several Australian bands, including
Cosmic Psychos
Cosmic Psychos is an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1982 as Spring Plains. The band's first stabilized lineup included Ross Knight on bass guitar and vocals, Peter Jones on guitar, and Bill Walsh on drums. Australian rock music histo ...
and
Feedtime are cited as precursors to grunge, their music influencing the Seattle scene through the college radio broadcasts of Sub Pop founder
Jonathan Poneman and members of Mudhoney.
[ Rowe, Zan (26 September 2008)]
"Jonathan Poneman from Sub-Pop takes five with the albums he wishes he'd released..."
, ''Mornings with Zan''. Retrieved 8 October 2015. Chris Dubrow from ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' states that, in the late 1980s, Australia's "sticky-floored...alternative pub scene" in seedy inner-city areas produced grunge bands with "raw and awkward energy" such as
X,
Feedtime and
Lubricated Goat.
Dubrow said "
Cobain...admitted the Australian wave was a big influence" on his music.
Everett True states that "
ere's more of an argument to be had for grunge beginning in Australia with the Scientists and their scrawny punk ilk."
From being discovered in mid-1994 with their debut single "
Tomorrow" to their 1995 debut album ''
Frogstomp
''Frogstomp'' is the debut studio album by Australian Rock music, rock band Silverchair. It was released on 27 March 1995, when the band members were only 15 years of age, by record label Murmur (record label), Murmur. The album features the ban ...
'' (which sold more than 4 million copies worldwide
[Erlewine, "Silverchair > Biography".]),
Silverchair
Silverchair was an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...
were considered by some to be grunge's "last stand". The band's trio of teenagers—
Ben Gillies
Benjamin David Gillies (born 24 October 1979) is an Australian musician, best known as the drummer of Australian rock band Silverchair from 1992 until the band went on hiatus in 2011. In 2003, Gillies formed Tambalane with Wes Carr, initially ...
on drums,
Daniel Johns
Daniel Paul Johns (born 22 April 1979) is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the Lead vocalist, frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the Rock music, rock band Silverchair. Johns is also one half of The Dissociat ...
on vocals and guitars, and
Chris Joannou on bass guitar—were still in high school when the album went to number one in Australia and New Zealand.
1990s: Indie rock

The 1990s saw continued overseas success from groups such as
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
,
INXS
INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...
,
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band that was formed in Melbourne, 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as " Down Under", " Who Can It Be Now?", " Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and ...
,
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...
,
the Bad Seeds,
and a new
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
scene started to develop
locally In mathematics, a mathematical object is said to satisfy a property locally, if the property is satisfied on some limited, immediate portions of the object (e.g., on some ''sufficiently small'' or ''arbitrarily small'' neighborhoods of points).
P ...
. Sydney-based
Ratcat
Ratcat are an Australian indie rock band from Sydney who formed in 1985. The band is fronted by mainstay vocalist and guitarist, Simon Day. Their combination of indie pop song writing and energetic Punk rock, punk-style guitar rock won them fan ...
were the first new band to achieve a mainstream following, while bands such as the
Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1981 by Dave Faulkner (songwriter, lead singer and guitarist) and later joined by Richard Grossman (bass), Mark Kingsmill (drums), and Brad Shepherd (guitar, vocals, harmonica). Th ...
got off to a slower start; their debut album ''
Stoneage Romeos'' earned a small following but failed to captivate a mainstream that at the time "didn't get it". Later reviews described the band as "integral to the story of Aussie indie music", influencing bands including
Frenzal Rhomb
Frenzal Rhomb are an Australian punk rock band that formed in 1992 in Sydney. Though the band's mainstream success has been minimal, four of the group's albums have entered the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart: '' A Man's Not a Camel'' (1 ...
and
Jet. The band became an
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has inducted artists into its annual ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone ceremo ...
inductee.
The Church, meanwhile, was highly successful in the 1980s, only to see their careers diminish in the next decade; 1994's ''
Sometime Anywhere'' saw the band recede from a mainstream audience.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
began to gain popularity midway through the 1990s, with
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
and
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...
styles especially popular, resulting in a new wave of Australian bands. Some—such as
Savage Garden
Savage Garden was an Australian pop duo consisting of Darren Hayes on vocals and Daniel Jones on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; they formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1993. They were signed to John Woodruff's talent agency and achieved int ...
,
the Living End
The Living End is an Australian punk rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 1997 after ...
and
Silverchair
Silverchair was an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...
—also gained quick success in the United States,
while
You Am I
You Am I are an Australian power pop band, fronted by its lead singer-songwriter and guitarist, Tim Rogers. They formed in December 1989 and are the first Australian band to have released three successive albums that have each debuted at the ...
,
Jebediah
Jebediah are an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. They were formed by Chris Daymond on lead guitar, Bob Evans (musician), Kevin Mitchell (aka Bob Evans) on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, and Vanessa T ...
,
Magic Dirt,
Something for Kate,
Icecream Hands and
Powderfinger
Powderfinger were an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins ...
gained more success locally. Bands such as
Regurgitator
Regurgitator are an Australian alternative rock band from Brisbane, Queensland, formed in late 1993 by Quan Yeomans on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards; Ben Ely on bass guitar, keyboards and vocals; and Martin Lee on drums. Their debut stud ...
and
Spiderbait
Spiderbait is an Australian alternative rock band from Finley, New South Wales, formed in 1989 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004, the group's cover version of the 1930s Lea ...
were hit heavily by the
post-grunge
Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s alternative rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox, Colle ...
backlash, losing in sales and critical acclaim.
Much of the success of rock in Australia is attributed to the non-commercial
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
's radio station
Triple J
Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...
, which focuses heavily on Australian alternative music, and has done so since its formation as 2JJ in 1975. Throughout the station's history, they have helped jump start the careers of numerous bands such as
Missy Higgins
Melissa Morrison "Missy" Higgins (born 19 August 1983) is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her most popular singles include "Scar", " Steer", and " Where I Stood". Her Australian number-one albums are '' The Sound of White'' (2004 ...
and
Killing Heidi
Killing Heidi are an Australian rock band, formed in Violet Town, Victoria in 1996, initially as a folk-pop duo by siblings Ella and Jesse Hooper. The band has released three studio albums: '' Reflector'' (March 2000), which reached No.&nb ...
through programs such as ''
Unearthed'', the Australian Music program Home & Hosed and the
Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll presented by the publicly-funded Australian youth radio station Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Music of Australia, Australian and alternative music of th ...
.
The
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...
festival has showcased Australian and international acts, with
line-ups spanning multiple genres, with an alternative focus. It has become highly popular amongst musicians;
Foo Fighters
The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...
lead singer
Dave Grohl
David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...
said "We play the Big Day Out because it's the best tour in the world. You ask any band in the world – they all want to play the Big Day Out, every single one of them." Other festivals, such as
Homebake
Homebake was an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup (with the occasional artist from New Zealand). The festival was first held on 3 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New Sou ...
,
Livid, and
Splendour in the Grass, are also rock focused, and together with Big Day Out are "united by the dominant presence of the indie-guitar scene".
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
made its first appearance in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2015
The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...
after being granted a spot in the final by the
EBU
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
.
Electronic and dance music
Electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
in Australia emerged in the 1990s, drawing from styles such as
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
,
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
,
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
, and
trance
Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
. Early innovators included
Whirlywirld and
Severed Heads
Severed Heads were an Australian electronic music group founded in 1979 in music, 1979 as Mr and Mrs No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, who were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright had both ...
, who were among the first electronic acts to play the
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...
and gained recognition for their experimental sound.
In the 2000s, Australian electronic acts began achieving mainstream and international success.
The Presets
The Presets are an Australian electronic music duo of Julian Hamilton (vocals, keyboards) and Kim Moyes (drums, keyboards). Formed in 2003 and signed to Modular Recordings, Modular Records, The Presets released two EPs (''Blow Up (EP), Blow Up ...
rose to prominence with their fusion of electro-house and synth-pop, winning multiple
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
and helping define the "Modular Records" sound of the mid-2000s. Their 2008 album ''Apocalypso'' was a commercial and critical success, cementing their role in the evolution of Australian dance music.
Pendulum
A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate i ...
, formed in Perth in 2002, brought drum and bass into the Australian mainstream by blending electronic production with live instrumentation and rock influences. Their debut album, ''Hold Your Colour'', became one of the best-selling drum and bass albums of all time and expanded their reach to Europe and North America.
Following their success with Pendulum, members Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen formed
Knife Party
Knife Party are an Australian electronic music duo consisting of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, two members of the drum and bass band Pendulum.
The duo has worked with artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, MistaJam, Foreign ...
, an electro house and dubstep duo that gained international popularity with aggressive, high-energy tracks such as "Internet Friends" and "Centipede". Knife Party became a prominent act at global festivals, further raising the profile of Australian electronic producers on the world stage.
Educational institutions have also embraced the genre; the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...
’s Electronic Music Unit and Melbourne’s
School of Synthesis—founded by producer
Davide Carbone—provide training in music technology and production.
Other notable acts such as
Pnau
Pnau, stylised as PNAU, is an Australian Electronic dance music, dance music trio originating from Sydney, Australia, Sydney. The trio, a duo before 2016, consists of the musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production), Peter Mayes (guitar, produ ...
,
Rogue Traders
Rogue Traders is an Australian electronic rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 2002 by mainstay James Ash on keyboards. In 1989, Ash met fellow original member Steve Davis in London while both were working as DJs. Before forming Rogue ...
, and
Regurgitator
Regurgitator are an Australian alternative rock band from Brisbane, Queensland, formed in late 1993 by Quan Yeomans on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards; Ben Ely on bass guitar, keyboards and vocals; and Martin Lee on drums. Their debut stud ...
have contributed to the genre by blending electronic styles with pop, rock, and hip hop. The success of these artists led to a growth in electronic music festivals including Two Tribes,
Future Music Festival
Future Music Festival was an annual music festival featuring Australian and international artists held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in Australia and as of 2012 also Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The festival was usually held in ...
,
Stereosonic
Stereosonic was an annual electronic dance music festival held in Australia in November and early December. Stereosonic was held in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne, attracting attendances of up to 200,000 patrons nationally fea ...
,
Defqon.1, Utopia, and IQON, although mainstream radio support remains limited.
Sydney-based magazine ''
Cyclic Defrost'', founded in 1998, remains one of the few Australian publications dedicated solely to electronic music and culture.
Grime
Grime is a British electronic genre that emerged in the early 2000s, derivative of electronic music such as
UK garage
UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...
and
jungle
jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...
,
[ ] and draws influence from
dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...
,
ragga
Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling.
Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a ...
, and
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
. The style is typified by rapid, syncopated
breakbeat
Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...
s, generally around 140
bpm,
and often features an aggressive or jagged electronic sound.
Rapping
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...
is also a significant element of the style, and lyrics often revolve around gritty depictions of urban life.
Australian grime emerged in 2010 after UK-born artist Fraksha released his
mixtape
In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...
''It's Just Bars''.
[ ] Fraksha is widely regarded as a pioneer of the scene in Australia.
[ ] Fraksha, alongside fellow MC's Scotty Hinds, Diem and Murky, formed the first Australian based grime collective, Smash Brothers, in 2010.
Smash Brothers pioneered what became Australian grime music, and were known for their high energy performances. For the most part, few members initially released a lot of music other than Fraksha, but all were active in the raving scene where they exposed many to grime music.
They also worked with UK based artists such as
Skepta
Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British grime MC, rapper, record producer and DJ. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding members of ...
,
Foreign Beggars and Dexplicit.
Another first for Fraksha was the launch of Melbourne radio show The Sunday Roast on
KissFM with Affiks, dedicated to grime and
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...
music. In 2011 he started the first Australian grime night alongside Affiks and Artic called 50/50. Fraksha in 2011 performed in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
alongside UK grime pioneer
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper and MC. He is often credited as a pioneer of British hip hop and grime music and was ranked by ''Complex'' as one of the greatest British ...
.
The resurgence grime was experiencing in the UK during the mid 2010s also reached Australia. The sound's resurgence also affected the popularity of grime in Australia, with various other Australian MC's picking up the sound with success, such as Diem, Alex Jones, Shadow, Talakai, Nerve, Wombat and Seru.
Art music
Classical music
Jazz
The history of jazz and related genres in Australia extends back into the 19th century. During the gold rush locally formed
blackface
Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...
(white actor-musicians in blackface)
minstrel troupes began to tour Australia, touring not only the capital cities but also many of the booming regional towns like
Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria.
Within mo ...
and
Bendigo
Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital.
As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...
. Minstrel orchestra music featured improvisatory embellishment and polyrhythm in the (pre-classic) banjo playing and clever percussion breaks. Some genuine African-American minstrel and jubilee singing troupes toured from the 1870s. A more jazz-like form of minstrelsy reached Australia in the late 1890s in the form of improvisatory and
syncopated
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...
coon song and
cakewalk
The cakewalk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" (dance contests with a cake awarded as the prize) held in the mid-19th century, generally at get-togethers on black slave plantations before and after emancipation in the Southern Unit ...
music, two early forms of
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...
. The next two decades brought ensemble, piano and vocal ragtime and leading (mostly white) American ragtime artists, including
Ben Harney
Benjamin Robertson Harney (March 6, 1872 – March 2, 1938) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and pioneer of ragtime, ragtime music. His 1895 composition "You've Been a Good Old Wagon but You Done Broke Down" is known as the second ragti ...
, "Emperor of Ragtime"
Gene Greene
Eugene Delbert Greene (June 9, 1877 – April 5, 1930) was an American vaudeville and ragtime singer. He was one of the first to use scat singing techniques.
Career
Greene was born in Indiana. He worked with his wife, Blanche Werner, as Greene ...
and pianist
Charley Straight. Some of these visitors taught Australians how to 'rag' (improvise unsyncopated popular music into ragtime-style music).
By the mid-1920s,
phonograph
A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...
machines, increased contact with
American popular music
American popular music (also referred to as "American Pop") is popular music produced in the United States and is a part of American pop culture. Distinctive styles of American popular music emerged early in the 19th century, and in the 20th ...
and visiting white American dance musicians had firmly established jazz (meaning jazz inflected modern dance and stage music) in Australia. The first recordings of jazz in Australia are Mastertouch piano rolls recorded in Sydney from around 1922 but jazz began to be recorded on disc by 1925, first in Melbourne and soon thereafter in Sydney. Soon after World War II, jazz in Australia diverged into two strands. One was based on the earlier collectively improvised called "dixieland" or traditional jazz. The other so-called modernist stream was based on big band swing, small band progressive swing, boogie woogie, and after WWII, the emerging new style of
bebop
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...
. By the 1950s American bop, itself, was dividing into so-called 'cool' and 'hard' bop schools, the latter being more polyrhythmic and aggressive. This division reached Australia on a small scale by the end of the 1950s. From the mid-1950s
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
began to draw young audiences and social dancers away from jazz. British-style dixieland, called Trad, became popular in the early 1960s. Most modern players stuck with the 'cool' (often called West Coast) style, but some experimented with free jazz, modal jazz, experiment with 'Eastern' influences, art music and visual art concept, electronic and jazz-rock fusions.
The 1970s brought tertiary jazz education courses and continuing innovation and diversification in jazz which, by the late 1980s, included world music fusion and contemporary classical and jazz crossovers. From this time, the trend towards eclectic style fusions has continued with ensembles like The Catholics, Australian Art Orchestra, Tongue and Groove,
austraLYSIS, Wanderlust, The Necks and many others. It is questionable whether the label jazz is elastic enough to continue to embrace the ever-widening range of improvisatory music that is associated with the term jazz in Australia. However, mainstream modern jazz and dixieland still have the strongest following and patron still flock to hear famous mainstream artists who have been around for decades, such as One Night Stand players Dugald Shaw and Blair Jordan, reeds player
Don Burrows
Donald Vernon Burrows (8 August 1928 – 12 March 2020) was an Australian jazz and swing musician who played clarinet, saxophone and flute.
Life and career
Donald Vernon Burrows was born on 8 August 1928, the only child of Vernon and Beryl an ...
and trumpeter
James Morrison and, sometimes, the famous pioneer of traditional jazz in Australia,
Graeme Bell. A non-academic genre of jazz has also evolved with a harder "street edge" style. The Conglomerate, The Bamboos, Damage, Cookin on Three Burners, Black Money
John McAll are examples of this.
See:
*
Andrew Bisset. ''Black Roots White Flowers'', Golden Press, 1978
*Bruce Johnson. ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Jazz'' OUP, 1987
*John Whiteoak. ''Playing Ad Lib: Improvisatory Music in Australia: 1836–1970'', Currency Press, 1999
Sacred music
; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
The most ancient musical traditions in Australia transmit the beliefs of the Aboriginal Dream Time. The Ntaria Choir at
Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle (district), Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide (municipality), Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort t ...
,
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
, has a unique musical language which mixes the traditional vocals of the Ntaria Aboriginal women with Lutheran chorales (tunes that were the basis of much of
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
's music). ''Baba Waiyar'', a popular traditional
Torres Strait Islander
Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...
hymn shows the influence of
gospel music
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...
mixed with traditionally strong Torres Strait Islander vocals and
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
. The
Australian Aboriginal
Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands.
Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...
singer-songwriter
Jimmy Little found success in the genre. His gospel song "
Royal Telephone" (1963) was the first No.1 hit by an Aboriginal artist.
; Church Music
Australian composers of church music include
George Savin De Chanéet,
John Albert Delany,
Edwin Fowles,
Nathan Isaac,
Alfred Wheeler,
Christian Helleman,
Guglielmo Enrico Lardelli, Arthur Massey,
Frederick Augustus Packer,
William Robert Knox,
George William Torrance,
Alberto Zelman, Ernest Edwin Mitchell (-1951) and
Tharawal Aboriginal Tom Foster.
; Christian
Christian music in Australia arrived with the
First Fleet
The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...
of British settlers in 1788 and has grown to include a variety of genres including
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
,
hymns
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
,
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...
,
country gospel
Christian country music (sometimes marketed as country gospel, gospel country, positive country or inspirational country) is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as (in terms ...
, and
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
.
St Mary's Cathedral Choir, Sydney, is the oldest musical institution in Australia, from origins in 1817. Major recording artists from
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe (19 January 1935 – 6 October 1978) was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the early 1950s. A pioneer of Rock music in Australia, his hits include " Wild One" (1958), " Shout!" and "She's My Baby". O ...
(the first Australian Rock and Roll star) to
Paul Kelly (folk rock),
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
(the critically acclaimed brooding rocker) and
Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon, referred to universally as Australia's Ki ...
(the ''King of
Australian country music'') have all recorded Christian themed songs. Other performing artists such as Catholic nun
Sister Janet Mead, Aboriginal crooner
Jimmy Little and
Australian Idol
''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Id ...
contestant
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer who rose to fame after winning the Australian Idol (season 1), first season of ''Australian Idol'', in 2003. Born in Malaysia and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Sebastian h ...
have held Christianity as central to their public persona. The
Newsboys
Newsboys (sometimes stylised as newsboys) are a Christian rock band that has existed in various permutations since its founding in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, Tenness ...
were founded in Mooloolaba Australia by
Peter Furler
Peter Andrew Furler (born 8 September 1966) is an Australian musician, songwriter, producer and record executive, best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the Christian rock band Newsboys from 1986 to 2009.
Biography
Furler was born ...
and they popularised Christian music with hits like "Shine" and "God's not Dead". Today, Christian music in Australia ranges widely across genres, from Melbourne's
St Paul's Cathedral Choir who sing
choral evensong most weeknights; to the Contemporary music that is a feature of the evangelical
Hillsong congregation.
;Christmas music
Annually, Australians gather in large numbers for traditional open-air Christmas concerts in December, such as the
Carols by Candlelight
Carols by Candlelight is an annual Australian Christmas tradition that was popularised in Melbourne in 1938. The tradition has since spread around the world. It involves people gathering, usually outdoors in a park, to sing carols by candlel ...
of Melbourne, and Sydney's
Carols in the Domain
Carols in the Domain is an annual Australian Christmas concert event held in the Domain Gardens in Sydney. It began in 1983, and features many national and international performers and guest appearances. It is a free event, broadcast around Aus ...
. Australian Christmas carols like the ''Three Drovers'' or ''Christmas Day'' by John Wheeler and
William G. James place the Christmas story in an Australian context of warm, dry Christmas winds and red dust. As the festival of Christmas falls during the Australian summer, Australians gather in large numbers for traditional open-air evening carol services and concerts in December, such as
Carols by Candlelight
Carols by Candlelight is an annual Australian Christmas tradition that was popularised in Melbourne in 1938. The tradition has since spread around the world. It involves people gathering, usually outdoors in a park, to sing carols by candlel ...
in Melbourne and
Carols in the Domain
Carols in the Domain is an annual Australian Christmas concert event held in the Domain Gardens in Sydney. It began in 1983, and features many national and international performers and guest appearances. It is a free event, broadcast around Aus ...
in Sydney.
;Gospel music
Australian country music's most successful artist
Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon, referred to universally as Australia's Ki ...
recorded a number of
country gospel
Christian country music (sometimes marketed as country gospel, gospel country, positive country or inspirational country) is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as (in terms ...
songs, with which he liked to finish his live shows. In 1971, he released the Gospel album ''Glory Bound Train'', featuring the eponymous hit ''Glory Bound Train'', and other songs of a Christian theme. ''Glory Bound Train'' was in turn the song selected to conclude the tribute concert held at Tamworth after his death. The "Concert for Slim" was recorded live on January 20, 2004, at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre, and an all star cast of Australian musicians sung out the show with Slim's ''Glory Bound Train''.
Funding
In March 2019, the
Australian government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...
announced an injection of funding worth in the contemporary music sector. The funding covers support of live music venues, investment for
Indigenous music
Indigenous music is a term for the traditional music of the indigenous peoples of the world, that is, the music of an "original" ethnic group that inhabits any geographic region alongside more recent immigrants who may be greater in number. The ter ...
, mentorship programs and music exports.
See also
*
APRA AMCOS
APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...
*
Australian hip hop
Australian hip-hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip-hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of musi ...
*
Culture of Australia
Australian culture is of primarily Western culture, Western origins, and is derived from its Culture of the United Kingdom, British, Indigenous Australians, Indigenous and migrant components.
Indigenous peoples arrived as early as 60,000 years ...
*
Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest
*''
Australian Musician
''Australian Musician'' is an online Australian music magazine, formerly published as a free quarterly print magazine.
History
''Australian Musician'' was launched by the Australian Music Association in December 1995 as a quarterly, colour pub ...
''
*
Australian Music Examinations Board
The Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) is a federated, privately funded corporation which provides a program of examinations for music, speech and drama in Australia.
The organisation had its beginnings at the Universities of Melbourne ...
*
:Australian musicians
*
List of music festivals in Australia
*
List of Australian composers
*
List of Indigenous Australian musicians
This is a list of Indigenous Australian musicians.
Solo artists
*Trevor Adamson – country/gospel singer
*Baker Boy, Danzal Baker (Baker Boy) – rapper
*Barkaa – rapper
*Auriel Andrew – country musician
*Christine Anu – singer-songwri ...
, Indigenous
musicians
A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
and
groups
*''
Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop
''The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' or ''Rock and Pop'' by Australian music journalist Ian McFarlane is a guide to Australian popular music from the 1950s to the late 1990s. The book has a similar title to the 1978 work by Noel McG ...
''
*
Australian music charts
*
Culture of Melbourne#Music
References
Further reading
Books and articles
* Agardy, Susanna and Zion, Lawrence (1997). "The Australian Rock Music Scene", in Alison J. Ewbank and Fouli T. Papageorgiou (eds.), ''Whose master's voice? the development of popular music in thirteen cultures'', Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, Ch. 1.
* Agardy, Susanna. (1985), ''Young Australians and Music'', Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, Melbourne.
* Bebbington, Warren (ed.) (1998). ''The Oxford companion to Australian music.'' Oxford. .
* Homan, Shane and Mitchell, Tony (eds) (2008). ''Sounds of then, sounds of now: Popular music in Australia'', ACYS Publishing. .
Online
*
* "A comprehensive bibliography and discography and 93 articles about Australian folk songs and the Folk Revival... 1103 Songs and Poems", includes recently discovered original material published by
Trove
Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...
.
*"A searchable collection of tunes with associated supporting biographical and documentary material and recorded examples.
*
*
*
*
*
Musée d'ethnographie de Genève
The ' ("Geneva Ethnography Museum") is one of the most important ethnographic museums in Switzerland.
History
The MEG, or Geneva Museum of Ethnography, was founded on 25 September 1901, on the initiative of Professor Eugène Pittard (1867-1962), ...
br>
Audio clips: Traditional Australian music.
* Walker, Clinto
* Museums of History NSW and the Sydney Conservatorium of NSW, University of Sydney
Hearing the Music of Early NSW
Organisations
National Film and Sound Archive homepage*
* "The national service organisation dedicated to the promotion and support of art music in Australia."
{{DEFAULTSORT:Music of Australia
Australian music history
Performing arts in Australia