Suze DeMarchi (born 14 February 1964) is an Australian singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the band Baby Animals (1989–1996, 2007–present).

Early life

DeMarchi was born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to Walter and Shirley DeMarchi and has three older siblings; her sister Denise is also a singer. DeMarchi began her singing career in the early 1980s when she was 17, playing in local band Photoplay.

Career

Early years and Baby Animals

In 1985, she moved to London, England where she was signed to

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and had a fairly successful solo career in pop music, where she released a number of singles: "Young Hearts", "Big Wednesday" and "Dry Your Eyes". Disheartened by the record company's attempt to slide her into a pop career, along with missing working with a band, she returned to Australia in mid-1989, where she and fellow Perth musicians Frank Celenza, Eddie Parise and Dave Leslie formed the band Baby Animals. The band met with success in their native Australia, releasing two albums, touring with

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

, and winning various awards before permanently disbanding in 1996. This was mostly due to legal battles with their record label Imago and Suze having nodules in her throat – she even had to stop singing for a short while because of them – in 1993, which forced the band to cut short the tour for their second album. In 1994 DeMarchi collaborated with her husband

Nuno Bettencourt Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (born September 20, 1966) is a Portuguese-American guitarist. He became known as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme. Bettencourt has recorded a solo album and has founded rock bands including ...

on the song "God Took a Picture", which appeared in the film '' Highlander III: The Sorcerer''.

Solo career: 1996–2007

After the demise of Baby Animals in 1996, DeMarchi pursued a solo career. Although living in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

with her husband and young daughter (apparently temporarily in her mother-in-law's basement at one point), she signed to

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

Australia and released 1999's '' Telelove'', produced by Bettencourt, and the single "Satellite". DeMarchi supported the album with a May tour around Australia as the singles "Karma" and eventually "Open Windows" hit the shelves. DeMarchi was also nominated for an ARIA Award for Best Female Artist. In 2001 it was rumoured that DeMarchi would be joining

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 ...

as their new front person to replace

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lead singer and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 ...

, who died in 1997, following her performance with them at a concert in December 2000 where she sang "Shine Like It Does", " Never Tear Us Apart", and dueted with

Jon Stevens Jon Stevens (born 8 October 1961) is a New Zealand singer, best known as the lead singer of the band Noiseworks in 1986–1992, the portrayal of Judas in a 1992 Australian production of '' Jesus Christ Superstar'', and as the lead singer fo ...

(frequent replacement frontman for INXS, and formerly of the band Noiseworks) for "

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was televis ...

" and " Don't Change". In June 2004 DeMarchi was recognised by the West Australian Music Industry Association and inducted as one of the inaugural inductees into the WAM Hall of Fame. In 2007, DeMarchi collaborated again with Bettencourt on several songs for the soundtrack of the motion picture '' Smart People'', on which Bettencourt was credited for the musical score.

Baby Animals reunion: 2007–present

In 2007 Baby Animals reunited and released a third studio album. In 2015, DeMarchi released her second studio album ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

'', which debuted at number 26.

Personal life

In the late 1980s, DeMarchi dated

Gavin Rossdale Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. He helped form Bush in 1992. Upon the band's separation in 2002, he became the lead singer and guitarist for Institute an ...

, lead singer and guitarist for the band Bush. Bush's songs " Comedown" and "

Glycerine Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in ...

" from 1994's '' Sixteen Stone'' are about their relationship. In 1993, DeMarchi met

, guitarist at that time for hard rock band Extreme. They co-wrote and performed the song "Because I Can" for Baby Animals' second record ''Shaved and Dangerous''. On 27 August 1994, the couple married in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

, where Bettencourt's family is from. In 1996, they had their first child, a daughter Bebe Bettencourt. In 2002, DeMarchi and Bettencourt had their second child in Los Angeles. The couple separated in 2009 and announced their divorce in 2013.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Charity singles

Awards

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the

Australasian Performing Right Association 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 ...

(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". ! , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, "Tonight" by Baby Animals (Suze DeMarchi / Dave Leslie) , Song of the Year , ,

West Australian Music Industry Awards

The West Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985. , - , 1994 , , Suze DeMarchi , , Rock 'n' Roll of Renown , , , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Demarchi, Suze 1964 births Australian expatriates in England Australian expatriates in the United States Australian women singer-songwriters Australian people of Italian descent EMI Records artists Australian rock singers Australian women rock singers Living people Musicians from Perth, Western Australia People educated at Newman College, Perth 21st-century Australian women singers 21st-century Australian singer-songwriters