Mahalia Violet Barnes (born 12 July 1982) is an Australian singer-songwriter, the daughter of Scottish-Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes and Jane Mahoney. She began performing as part of children's pop group The Tin Lids with siblings, Eliza-Jane "E.J.", Elly-May, and Jackie. She later formed her own band, Mahalia Barnes and the Soul Mates, and has recorded four albums with them. She has collaborated with

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...

, both in studio and in live performance, as well as other musical artists, including work as a

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

Early life and education

Mahalia Violet Barnes was born on 12 July 1982 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. She is the daughter of Jimmy Barnes, an Australian rock singer, and Jane (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Mahoney), the Thai-born stepdaughter of an Australian diplomat. The pair married in Sydney on 22 May 1981. Barnes was named after United States gospel singer,

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel music, gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was ...

.Creswell, Toby ''Jimmy Barnes: Too Much Ain't Enough'' pp. 87–99, 1993 Her father has Scottish-Jewish ancestry. When she was eight, Barnes joined younger siblings Eliza-Jane "E.J." and Jackie for the recording sessions of their father's '' Two Fires'' album. Their voices are among the children's choir that features on the track " When Your Love is Gone". From the age of nine, she formed part of the children's singing group The Tin Lids with siblings"E.J.", Jackie, and Elly-May Barnes. Their Christmas 1991 album, '' Hey Rudolph!'', was a platinum-selling album.

Career

Solo and with her band

she has recorded four albums with her band Mahalia Barnes and the Soul Mates: ''Mahalia Barnes + the Soul Mates Volume 1'' (2008); ''Mahalia Barnes + the Soul Mates Volume 2'' (2012); ''Ooh Yeah! – The Betty Davis Songbook'' (2015); and ''Hard Expectations'' (2018). Barnes auditioned for the first season of the Australian version of '' The Voice'' with the song " Proud Mary", the episode of which was broadcast on 22 April 2012 on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

. All coaches pressed their buttons (the first was

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 ...

), then realised that she was in fact Jimmy Barnes's daughter. Mahalia chose to join Joel Madden's team. Mahalia was eliminated in the battle ring when she was pitted against Prinnie Stevens, who is very close to Mahalia. as the "Pavlova". She finished eighth after being eliminated in the fifth episode.

With Joe Bonamassa

''Ooh Yeah! – The Betty Davis Songbook'', released in February 2015, is a tribute to American

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 ...

/soul singer

Betty Davis Betty Davis (born Betty Gray Mabry; July 26, 1944 – February 9, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and model. She was known for her controversial sexually oriented lyrics and performance style, and was the second wife of trumpeter ...

, and was Barnes' first collaboration with

. The album was produced by Kevin Shirley. The collaboration came about after Barnes had played some Davis tracks to producer Shirley, who suggested recording the album and inviting Bonamassa (whose music he had previously produced) to be part of the process. Barnes continued to collaborate with Bonamassa, including as a back-up singer on his studio album ''Blues of Desperation''. She was invited to tour with him several times, including on his 2017 European tour.

Other work and collaborations

Barnes has often worked with her father Jimmy, and recorded a duet with him, " Gonna Take Some Time", released as the second single from his album '' Double Happiness'') in 2005. She has also sung with her friend R&B singer Jade MacRae, who later worked as a backup singer for her father. With MacRae and Kara Grainger, she sang as a guest vocalist on the debut album of the Sydney band The Hands (whose members include session musicians Clayton and Lachlan Doley), ''Live And Breathe'' (2004). Barnes became Reece Mastin's manager in early 2015, when he was signed to Social Family Records.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

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Mahalia Barnes Part 1
- first of a series of 5 interviews {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Mahalia 1982 births Living people Australian women singer-songwriters Australian soul singers Australian people of Scottish-Jewish descent Australian people of Thai descent The Voice (Australian TV series) contestants Singers from Sydney Australian child singers 21st-century Australian women singers Swan family (show business) 21st-century Australian singers Australian children's musicians Provogue Records artists 21st-century Australian singer-songwriters