greatest australian singers...

[CRAZY-HORSE]

number 8: SIA



In the early 1990s, Furler started gigging in the Adelaide acid jazz scene and at the age of 17, joined the jazz-funk band, Crisp.[SUP][1][/SUP][SUP][4][/SUP] Crisp included Furler on vocals, Jesse Flavell on guitar, Jeremy Glover on bass guitar, Sam Langley, Ben Timmis on keyboards, Steve Rooney on drums.[SUP][7][/SUP][SUP][8][/SUP] The group released two albums: Word and the Deal (1996) and Delerium (1997).[SUP][7][/SUP][SUP][8][/SUP] By 1997, Furler had left Crisp and as a trip hop artist, released her debut solo album OnlySee from an Adelaide garage – which sold 1,200 copies, 1,000 in Adelaide alone. It was produced by former Crisp band mate Flavell, who also wrote most of the tracks, for Flavoured Records.[SUP][8][/SUP] During a November 1997 episode of Home and Away in her OnlySee days, Sia guest starred on the show and she sang a song called "How to Breathe" on a beach after Rebecca and Travis are declared husband and wife.[SUP][9][/SUP][SUP][10][/SUP] Furler and her boyfriend, Dan, travelled together on a world trip, she stopped off in Thailand. Dan was killed in a traffic accident in London, a week before she arrived. She lived in a London boarding house with Dan's friends.[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][11][/SUP] In 2007, Furler recalled the impact of Dan's death, "We were all devastated, so we got shit-faced on drugs and Special Brew. Unfortunately, that bender lasted six years for me."[SUP]
In 2000, Furler signed a recording contract with the Sony Music's sub-label Dance Pool.[SUP][11][/SUP] While living in London, she performed backing vocals for British jazz funk band Jamiroquai.[SUP][1][/SUP] On 9 July 2001 she released her second solo album, Healing Is Difficult, an eclectic mix of R&B and jazz, that was favourably received by critics. All the tracks were written or co-written by Furler and it was co-produced by Furler and Blair Mackichan.[SUP][12][/SUP][SUP][13][/SUP] The album included the songs "Drink to Get Drunk" and "Little Man" which became popular in UK nightclubs. The album's single "Taken for Granted", peaked at No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart for one week, 3 June 2000 but was on the chart for five weeks.[SUP][14][/SUP][SUP][15][/SUP] The album's lyrics dealt with her boyfriend's death, "I was pretty fucked up after Dan died. I couldn't really feel anything. I could intellectualise a lot of stuff; that I had a purpose, that I was loved, but I couldn't actually feel anything."[SUP][4][/SUP] Unhappy with the promotion of the album, Furler fired her manager, left Sony Music and signed with Go! Beat Records, a subsidiary of UMG.[SUP][11][/SUP] At the APRA Awards of 2002, Furler won the 'Breakthrough Songwriter' category alongside Brisbane pop duo Aneiki's Jennifer Waite and Grant Wallis.[SUP][16][/SUP][SUP][17][/SUP]
In 2003, Furler released an extended play, Don't Bring Me Down, its lead track was used over the closing titles of the French film, 36 Quai des Orfèvres. Her second album, Colour the Small One, was released in Australia on 19 January 2004 and in Europe later that year.[SUP][18][/SUP] This downtempo album had Furler employ a mixture of acoustic instruments and electronic backing to her material, which led to comparisons to artists such as Dido and Sarah McLachlan.[SUP][18][/SUP][SUP][19][/SUP] It featured "The Bully", which was a collaboration with American musician Beck Hansen.[SUP][18][/SUP] Two further songs were co-written with Beck and recorded, but have yet to be released. Colour the Small One spawned the singles "Breathe Me" and "Where I Belong". The latter was earmarked for the Spider-Man-2 soundtrack, its cover depicts Furler dressed in a Spider-Man costume.[SUP][20][/SUP] However, owing to a record label conflict, it was withdrawn.[SUP][20][/SUP] Six tracks on the album had been co-written with her bass guitarist, Samuel Dixon.[SUP][21][/SUP]
In early 2005, Furler left Go! Beat Records, disappointed at the company's poor promotion of the album, and the failure of the label's US counterpart to pick up the record. She relocated to New York City. Meanwhile, "Breathe Me" appeared on the series finale of the US HBO television series Six Feet Under and the broadcast of the 2006 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. It was also used in an episode of the BBC show Luther (Season 1, Episode 5). The track had been licensed to Astralwerks – which also produces the Six Feet Under soundtracks – and Colour the Small One was given an American release by that label in early 2006. Furler toured the US throughout that year, promoting the album and cross-promoting the Six Feet Under season five DVD release. The US version of the album features four bonus tracks: "Broken Biscuit" (from the Don't Bring Me Down EP), "Sea Shells" (the B-side to "Breathe Me" in the UK) and two remixes of "Breathe Me" by Four Tet and Ulrich Schnauss.


[video=youtube;gSPAargq4LI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSPAargq4LI[/video][/SUP]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

my thoughts on sia:

really?, i mean WTF is she doing in a list of best singers,let alone being in a top 10 position!
when i saw her name come up i could not think of one song i knew of hers!
wikipedia told me she actually won a Grammy in 2013 for "best rap/sung song" for a duet with Flo Rida
as you can gather i know nothing about this gal, but dont really rate her highly at all!

[CRAZY-HORSE]

number 7: RENEE GEYER



Renée Geyer was born in 1953 in Melbourne, Australia, to a Hungarian Jewish father, Edward Geyer, and a Slovakian Holocaust survivor mother, as the youngest of three children.[SUP][1][/SUP][SUP][17][/SUP] Geyer was named Renée for another Holocaust survivor who had helped her mother in Auschwitz after Josef Mengele had assigned the rest of her mother's family to death.[SUP][11][/SUP] At a young age, the Geyers moved to Sydney where her parents were managers of a migrant hostel.[SUP][11][/SUP][SUP][17][/SUP] Geyer describes herself as a problem child,[SUP][11][/SUP] and her parents called her übermutig (German for reckless).[SUP][17][/SUP] She attended various schools and was expelled from a private school, Methodist Ladies College, for petty stealing.[SUP][17][/SUP] Her first job was as a receptionist for the Australian Law Society.[SUP][11][/SUP]
In 1970, at the age of 16,[SUP][11][/SUP] while she was still at Sydney High School,[SUP][18][/SUP] Geyer began her singing career as a vocalist with jazz-blues band Dry Red.[SUP][3][/SUP] This group also contained Eric McCusker of Mondo Rock fame[SUP][18][/SUP] For her audition she sang The Bee Gees' hit "To Love Somebody".[SUP][17][/SUP] She soon left Dry Red for other bands including the more accomplished jazz-rock group Sun.[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][19][/SUP] Sun consisted of Geyer, George Almanza (piano), Henry Correy (bass guitar), Garry Nowell (drums), Keith Shadwick (sax, flute, clarinet, vocals) and Chris Sonnenberg (guitar).[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][19][/SUP] The group released one album, Sun 1972 in August 1972, Geyer had already departed in mid-1972 and later joined Mother Earth whose R&B/soul music style was more in keeping with Geyer's idiom.[SUP][4][/SUP] Mother Earth consisted of Geyer, Jim Kelly (guitar), David Lindsay (bass guitar), John Proud (drums) and Mark Punch (guitar, vocals).[SUP][19][/SUP]
RCA, who had released Sun's album,[SUP][3][/SUP] then signed Geyer to a solo contract; however, when it came time to record her first solo album, Geyer, already showing signs of her self-proclaimed "Difficult Woman" tag, insisted that Mother Earth back her on the album.[SUP][4][/SUP] Her first solo release in September 1973 was the eponymous Renée Geyer,[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][5][/SUP] which mostly consisted of R&B/Soul cover versions of overseas hits and was produced by Gus McNeil.[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][19][/SUP] Geyer left Mother Earth by the end of the year
Geyer's next album, It's a Man's Man's World, produced by Tweed Harris (ex-The Groove),[SUP][19][/SUP] was released in August 1974.[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][6][/SUP][SUP][19][/SUP] It became her first charting album when it peaked at #28 in October on the Australian albums charts.[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][6][/SUP] The studio band were, Harris (keyboards), Geoff Cox (drums; Bootleg Family Band), Tim Gaze (guitar; Kahvas Jute, Tamam Shud), Phil Manning (guitar; Chain), Steve Murphy (guitar; Blackfeather), Tony Naylor (guitar; Bootleg Family Band/Avalanche) and Barry "Big Goose" Sullivan (bass guitar; Chain).[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][19][/SUP] The title track, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", was a cover of James Brown's hit from 1965, and became her first top 50 single
Having enjoyed a career peak at home in Australia, Geyer returned to live in Los Angeles in 1984 to concentrate on breaking into the musical scene there.[SUP][9][/SUP] She continued to record and perform as a solo artist over the next decade though with less chart success in her own country due to lack of profile. Her only album for WEA, Sing to Me was released in June 1985,[SUP][19][/SUP] which peaked in the top 40;[SUP][6][/SUP] its accompanying first single "All My Love" reached #28 in Australia,[SUP][6][/SUP] but was not given a US release. None of the follow-up singles reached the top 50,[SUP][6][/SUP] so Geyer and WEA parted company thereafter.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

my thoughts on Renee...
hated her pop stuff, thought her jazzy material was a bit better, but still, not a fan by any means!
below is a clip of her biggest hit here...

[video=youtube;CeALXXlYbKc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeALXXlYbKc[/video]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

number 6: GUY SEBASTIAN



Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter. He was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003, and was a judge on Australia's The X Factor between 2010 and 2012. Sebastian has released seven top ten albums including two number ones, which have all gained either platinum or multi-platinum certification.[SUP][1][/SUP][SUP][2][/SUP] He has also achieved 12 top ten singles, including six number ones.[SUP][1][/SUP] Sebastian is the only Australian male artist in Australian chart history to achieve six number one singles, and places third overall for all Australian acts.[SUP][3][/SUP] Seven of his singles have been certified multi-platinum, including the 9× platinum "Battle Scars".[SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][5][/SUP][SUP][6][/SUP][SUP][7][/SUP] His debut single "Angels Brought Me Here" was the highest selling song in Australia last decade.[SUP][8][/SUP] With 45 platinum and three gold certifications and combined album and single sales of over 3.2 million in Australia, he has the highest certifications and sales of any Australian Idol contestant.[SUP][2][/SUP]
Sebastian has also reached the top ten in New Zealand with an album and six singles, including two number ones, and gained six platinum and three gold certifications there.[SUP][9][/SUP][SUP][10][/SUP][SUP][11][/SUP] "Battle Scars", a collaboration with American rapper Lupe Fiasco, spent 20 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 71 and achieved platinum certification.[SUP][12][/SUP][SUP][13][/SUP] "Battle Scars" also reached number two in Norway.[SUP][14][/SUP] Sebastian has worked with other notable American musicians including Brian McKnight, Robin Thicke, Steve Cropper, John Mayer, Jordin Sparks and Eve.
During his career Sebastian has received 22 ARIA Awards nominations,winning four including Best Pop Release and Best Live Act.[SUP][15][/SUP][SUP][16][/SUP][SUP][17][/SUP][SUP][18][/SUP] Other awards include the APRA Urban Work of the Year, the [V] Oz Artist of the Year, Urban Music Awards for Best Male Artist and Best R&B Album, and an International Songwriting Competition award for "Battle Scars". Sebastian has sung at many notable events, including performing for Pope Benedict XVI, Oprah Winfrey and Queen Elizabeth II.[SUP][19][/SUP][SUP][20][/SUP][SUP][21][/SUP] He has a strong commitment to charity, and is currently an ambassador for World Vision Australia and the Australian Red Cross.[SUP]

[video=youtube;tVxUlG_lOwE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVxUlG_lOwE[/video][/SUP]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

my thoughts on guy:

started off as a typical "idol" singer,i didnt like any of his early material..
i think now that he has a similar vocal quality to Bruno Mars and could probably do a lot of Bruno's songs quite well
my favourite song is the one below,
the one above is his biggest hit though, that one went 9x platinum here,its ok...

[video=youtube;QYz-CjqaOG0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYz-CjqaOG0[/video]

[SteveO]

We are now approaching the TOP 5, I am wondering if 2 singers I think should be on the list appear!

[CRAZY-HORSE]

number 5: JIMMY BARNES



James Dixon Swan (born 28 April 1956), better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father, Jim Swan, was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at the time. His career as both 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 artists of all time. The combination of 14 Australian Top 40 albums for Cold Chisel and 13 charting solo albums, including nine No. 1s, gives Barnes the highest number of hit albums of any Australian artist...
Barnes took an apprenticeship in an iron smelter with the South Australian railways in 1973 but the love he and his brother had for music led him to join a band. Swanee was now playing drums with Fraternity, who had just parted ways with singer Bon Scott. Barnes took over the role but his tenure with the band was brief and before long he had joined a harder-edged band called Orange, featuring organist and songwriter Don Walker, guitarist Ian Moss, drummer Steve Prestwich and bass player Les Kaczmarek. Within a short time the group had changed its name to Cold Chisel and began to develop a strong presence on the local music scene. Barnes' relationship with the band was often volatile and he left several times, leaving Moss to handle vocal duties until he returned. After a temporary move to Armidale, New South Wales while Walker completed his engineering studies there, Cold Chisel moved to Melbourne in August 1976 and then three months later shifted base to Sydney. Progress was slow and Barnes announced he was leaving once again in May 1977 to join Swanee in a band called Feather. However, his farewell performance with Cold Chisel went so well he changed his mind and a month later the band was signed by WEA.
By 1980 Cold Chisel was the biggest band in Australia and Barnes had developed a notorious reputation as a hard-drinking wild man who reportedly drank more than two bottles of vodka a day, much of it onstage during performances.
While in Canberra in November 1979 however, he met Jane Mahoney (born Jane Dejakasaya, in Bangkok, Thailand, 1958) the stepdaughter of an Australian diplomat. Barnes began a relationship with her and they started living together but in March 1980 she began to feel overwhelmed by the rock lifestyle and followed her family to Tokyo where her father was posted. Barnes wrote the song "Rising Sun" about this, which would appear on the album East. The pair married in Sydney on 22 May 1981 and Jane soon gave birth to their first child Mahalia, named after Mahalia Jackson, on 12 July 1982.[SUP][4][/SUP] The couple now have four children (Mahalia Barnes, Eliza-Jane Barnes, Elly-may Barnes and Jackie Barnes who formed the group Tin Lids). Barnes was already the father of a son, David Campbell, who, due to the young age of his parents at the time of his birth, was being raised by his grandmother. While Barnes maintained contact with him, Campbell did not become aware that Barnes was his father and not merely a family friend until the mid-1980s.
The singer had never been careful with money and the increasing pressure on him to provide for his young family caused even more tension between him and the rest of Cold Chisel. Despite being hugely successful in Australia, the group had still not been able to crack the market internationally and a disastrous tour of the United States in 1981 pulled them even further apart. While the 1982 album Circus Animals provided Cold Chisel with its second consecutive No. 1 album, Barnes returned from the band's German tour in 1983 virtually broke. He asked for a $10,000 advance from the band's management but was refused, as the terms of the group's contract meant that if one member was given such a sum, the rest of them were entitled to the same amount.[SUP][5][/SUP] At a meeting in August, it was decided that Cold Chisel should split up. The group had already begun to fragment, with Ray Arnott having replaced Steve Prestwich earlier in the year. Sessions for the final album were spread across different studios as various members refused to work together but at the end of the year The Last Stand farewell tour (with Prestwich back in the band) became the highest-grossing concert series by an Australian band ever. The group's final performance was in Sydney on 12 December 1983, reportedly precisely ten years after its original formation. The resultant film of that show remains the best-selling live concert film of any Australian band.
Barnes had recorded seven albums with Cold Chisel between 1978 and 1983, including two live albums (the second of which, Barking Spiders Live 1983, was released in 1984), and was arguably now Australia's highest-profile rock singer....

rest of his bio is too big to post so heres the link(yes it is worth reading!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Barnes

[video=youtube;x1IuNp44jjE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1IuNp44jjE[/video]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

my thoughts on Jimmy....

this guy totally deserves his place in the top5 IMO...
he is a great blues rocker, and together with Cold Chisel, these guys consistantly outsold other better known blues rockers AC/DC here throughtout the 1970s and early 1980s,
his songs have that workingclass feel of Mellencamp with his material and also a lot of Springsteen's 'working class' material.
below is my personal favourite of Cold Chisel..a song that details the struggles of returning vietnam vets in the 1970s...and he did it several years beofre The boss did it with "born in the usa"!

[video=youtube;Rb5h6z4NCqA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb5h6z4NCqA[/video]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

number 4: MICHAEL HUTCHENCE



see link for his biography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hutchence

[video=youtube;w-rv2BQa2OU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-rv2BQa2OU&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DcRhgViIXM2a_I93Bj9yLt&playnext=1[/video]