Southern Sons is an Australian rock band, formed in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

in 1989 by members of

The State A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

along with lead vocalist and guitarist

Irwin Thomas Irwin Thomas (born Irwin Thomas Whittridge; 6 January 1971) is an Australian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He performs professionally using the stage name Jack Jones from when he was the lead vocalist-guitarist in the band Southern S ...

, who was then using the stage name Jack Jones. They are best known for their Australian top ten hits "

Heart in Danger "Heart in Danger" is the debut single by Australian pop-rock band Southern Sons, released in August 1990. It was written by the group's guitarist, Phil Buckle, and produced by Ross Fraser. The song peaked at number five in Australia and was ...

", " Hold Me in Your Arms", and " You Were There".

Career

1989–1991: Beginnings and ''Southern Sons''

Southern Sons were established in 1989 and featured several members of the band

, one such member guitarist Phil Buckle and Sons lead man Jack Jones in 1990 worked alongside

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 ...

as session musicians on his album

Chain Reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that sys ...

, as well a accompanied Farnham on tour. The group signed a record deal with Farnham's manager

Glenn Wheatley Glenn Dawson Wheatley (23 January 1948 – 1 February 2022) was an Australian musician, talent manager, tour promoter and radio entrepreneur. Wheatley was the founder and managing director of Talentworks. Career Wheatley began his career as ...

on his Wheatley Records label. In July 1990, Southern Sons released their debut single "

", which peaked at number 5 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, 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 beca ...

. In November 1990, the single "

Always and Ever ''Always and Ever'' () is a 2013 Hong Kong TVB television romance drama serial starring Bobby Au-yeung and Esther Kwan and produced by Chong Wai-kin. The drama follows a love story which spans three lifetimes, from Song dynasty in the 13th ce ...

" was released as well as the group's debut self-titled album, ''

Southern Sons Southern Sons is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria in 1989 by members of The State (band), The State along with lead vocalist and guitarist Irwin Thomas, who was then using the stage name Jack Jones. T ...

'' peaked at number 5 on the ARIA albums chart. A third single, the ballad " Hold Me in Your Arms" was released in March 1991 and peaked at number 9.

1992–1996: ''Nothing But the Truth'' and ''Zone''

In August 1992, Southern Sons released " Lead Me to Water", the lead single from the group's second studio album. The song peaked at number 36. '' Nothing But the Truth'', was released in November 1992 and came with the departure of guitarist Peter Bowman. The album's third single " You Were There" peaked at number 6 in May 1993. The Sydney Dance Company included three Southern Sons songs in its 1993 production of Beauty and the Beast. Southern Sons' third and final studio album, ''

Zone Zone, Zones or The Zone may refer to: Places Military zones * Zone, any of the divisions of France during the World War II German occupation * Zone, any of the divisions of Germany during the post-World War II Allied occupation * Korean Demilit ...

'', was released in 1996. The album's lead single, "Don't Tell Me What's Right", featured vocals from

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 ...

Colin Hay Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay is a member of the band Ringo Starr & His ...

. The band split up in 1996.

1996–2018: After Southern Sons

Jones was married to New Zealand-born Australian actress

Rebecca Gibney Rebecca Catherine Gibney is a New Zealand actress known for her roles on Australian television in '' The Flying Doctors'', '' Halifax f.p.'', ''Packed to the Rafters'', ''Winter'' and '' Wanted''. She has also featured in a number of Australia ...

from 1992–1995. The marriage ended in divorce. He reverted to his birth name of Irwin Thomas some years ago, and has recorded under that name with a new band. He also was in a band with

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 ...

member

Gary Beers Garry William Beers (born 22 June 1957), known as Garry Gary Beers, is an Australian musician and was the bass guitarist for the rock group INXS. Career Garry William Beers was born to Lola (died 2011) and William Beers. William Beers was a fr ...

called Mudhead, which released one album. In 1999 Jones played with

on his I Can't Believe He's 50 Tour and the Tour of Duty Concert for peacekeeping Australian troops in

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

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. From 2004 until 2011, he was involved with Melbourne band Electric Mary, releasing new music independently. He left Electric Mary in 2011 and relocated to New York City. Jones and Virgil Donati were part of

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

's backing band for her In Deep tour. Donati is currently living and working in Los Angeles, running clinics and recording with a variety of artists including

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

. He was a member of U.S. rock band

Soul Sirkus Soul SirkUS was a band that initially featured singer Jeff Scott Soto, guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Marco Mendoza, and drummer Deen Castronovo, later replaced by Virgil Donati. History After the failed Planet Us project with Sammy Hagar ...

in 2005. He also formed progressive metal/jazz fusion band

Planet X Following the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846, there was considerable speculation that another planet might exist beyond its orbit. The search began in the mid-19th century and continued at the start of the 20th with Percival Lowell's ...

in 2000 as well as touring with

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz and rock music, rock guitarist, violinist and composer. He contributed to numerous bands, including Soft Machine, U.K. (band), U.K., The Tony Williams Lifetime, Pierre Moerl ...

since 2012. He has performed on many other artists albums as a session musician. Geoff Cain spent several years living in Spain, then returned to Australia. He is now living back in Warrnambool with his family, and is involved in his local music scene. Peter Bowman left the band before the release of ''Nothing But the Truth''. Since leaving Southern Sons, Bowman has pursued songwriting and record production in the independent music sector, most notably working with

Debra Byrne Debra Anne Byrne (born 30 March 1957), formerly billed as Debbie Byrne, is an Australian pop singer, variety entertainer, theatre and TV actress and writer, director and choreographer of cabaret. From April 1971 to March 1975 she was a founding ...

on her ''Sleeping Child'' album. A reunion tour is in the works.

2019–present: Band reformation

In November 2019, the band (minus Phil Buckle) reformed to be part of the One Electric Day concert at Cockatoo Island in Sydney, along with acts like John Farnham and James Reyne. Post-COVID-19, they are expected to continue further tours in Australia.

Members

* Jack Jones – lead vocals, guitar * Phil Buckle – guitar, vocals * Peter Bowman – guitar, vocals * Geoff Cain – bass *

Virgil Donati Virgil Donati (born 22 October 1958) is an Australian drummer, composer and producer. He holds the drum sticks in the traditional style and is also proficient at the keyboard. Donati formed Planet X with Derek Sherinian and was the band's pri ...

– drums, keyboards

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

Video albums

Music videos

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

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 ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. 1927 have won three awards. ! , - , rowspan="4",

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, "Heart in Danger" , Breakthrough Artist - Single , , rowspan="4", , - , ''Southern Sons'' , Breakthrough Artist - Album , , - , Ross Fraser for "Heart in Danger" by Southern Sons ,

Producer of the Year The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality non-classical music at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in ...

, , - , Doug Brady for "Always and Forever" and "Heart in Danger" by Southern Sons , Engineer of the Year , , - , rowspan="2",

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, "Hold Me in Your Arms" ,

Song of the Year A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usually ...

, , rowspan="2", , - , Ross Fraser for "Hold Me in Your Arms" by Southern Sons ,

, , -

References

{{Authority control Australian pop rock groups Australian soft rock music groups Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Musical groups from Melbourne