Most popular music in australia

Angus Young of AC/DC at a 2016 concert | © Amy Harris / REX by Shutterstock

Australia has produced many iconic bands and songs over the years. Here’s looking at you AC/DC and Khe Sanh by Cold Chisel. But these are the 10 most legendary music artists from Australia, whose music is still played in households, on radios and at weddings across the country every year.

John Farnham

John Farnham is the definition of an Australian music legend. He rocketed to stardom with the release of You’re The Voice in 1986. The accompanying album, Whispering Jack, became the second highest selling album in Australian history. He’s also the only Australian musician to have a number one record in five consecutive decades. Famed Australian music journalist, Ian MacFarlane described Farnham as the most successful solo artist in Australian rock and pop history, as well as one of Australia’s most respected celebrities. His other hits include That’s Freedom, A Touch of Paradise and Burn For You.

Jimmy Barnes is a rock icon in Australia. He’s the Australian artist with the highest number of hit albums, including 14 Cold Chisel albums and 13 solo albums. By 1980, Cold Chisel was the biggest band in Australia and defined the ‘pub rock’ genre. Although Barnes became as well-known for his hard drinking wild antics as he was for his distinct voice, the band’s hit, Khe Sanh is an Australian classic. His most popular solo song is undoubtedly Working Class Man. His children have also followed in his musical footsteps, including David Campbell, who is a renowned theatre performer and television presenter.

Kylie Minogue is the highest-selling Australian artist of all time, and an unsuspecting gay icon. She rose to fame on the Australian soap opera, Neighbours. Her wedding on the show to Jason Donovan’s character was viewed by 20 million people in the UK alone. Born and raised in Melbourne, Minogue’s hit The Locomotion was Australia’s highest selling single in the 1980s. In the early 2000s, Minogue released hits like Spinning Around and Can’t Get You Outta My Head. Although she’s been primarily based in the UK since the 1990s, Minogue will always be Australia’s pop princess.

When you think of Australian music, you think of AC/DC. The rock band was formed in Sydney in 1973, by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, who is known for his schoolboy uniforms on stage. They’ve gone through several lineup changes over the years, including the death of lead singer, Bon Scott in 1980, which happened just months after the release of their Highway to Hell album. AC/DC (colloquially known as Acca Dacca in Australia) has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide. Their hits include It’s a Long Way to the Top, Thunderstruck and You Shook Me All Night Long.

The Bee Gees consisted of brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. Although they were born in the UK, the Bee Gees moved to Australia as children and formed the Bee Gees in 1958 in Australia. Having sold over 220 million albums worldwide, they’re one of the world’s most successful artists of all time. Known for their harmonies and disco hits, some of the Bee Gees’ biggest songs include Stayin’ Alive and How Deep is Your Love. Some of the world’s most well-known musicians have been influenced by the Bee Gees, including Michael Jackson and Beyonce.

Midnight Oil gained a cult following in Australia after the release of their self-titled debut album in 1978. But it was their 1987 album, Diesel and Dust, which drew an international audience. Their hit song, Beds are Burning is a protest song regarding indigenous Australians and land rights. This was followed by Blue Sky Mine, a song about the Wittenoom mine tragedy. Midnight Oil is known for their politically motivated music, so it wasn’t a surprise when frontman Peter Garrett became involved in Australian politics in the 2000s. Garrett is also well-known for his frenetic on-stage dancing.

Slim Dusty was an Australian cultural icon, country music star and National Treasure, whose music career spanned nearly seven decades. He was working on his 106th studio album at the time of his death in 2003, and had more Gold and Platinum albums than any other Australian artist. He was renowned for his songs about Australia and his bush ballads. Dusty was the first Australian to have an international record hit as well, with his version of Gordon Parsons’ Pub With No Beer. Other popular Slim Dusty hits include Duncan, The Biggest Disappointment and Looking Forward, Looking Back.

Active from 1977 to 2012, INXS has gone through many stages over the years. The band’s original frontman, Michael Hutchence’s romance with Kylie Minogue in the early 1990s saw the band reach a new fanbase. Following his death in 1997, INXS toured with renowned Australian artist, Jon Stevens, before finding new lead singer, J.D. Fortune through the reality TV show, Rock Star: INXS. INXS sold 55 million albums worldwide and had hits like Need You Tonight and Never Tear Us Apart.

Although its members include Australian and New Zealand residents, Australia claims Crowded House as its own, as the band was formed in Melbourne in 1985. The band was active from 1985 to 1996 before taking a hiatus and returning in 2006 until the present. Their first smash hit was Don’t Dream It’s Over, which had international success in countries like Canada and the United States. They followed this with hits such as Something So Strong, Fall at Your Feet (which was expertly covered by Australian band, Boy & Bear in later years) and Weather With You.

Savage Garden consisted of Darren Hayes as lead vocalist and Daniel Jones on instruments. Although the Brisbane-based band was only together from 1994 to 2001, they released a string of memorable songs. This includes their smash hits Truly Madly Deeply, I Knew I Loved You, To The Moon and Back and The Animal Song. In 1997, they won a record number of 10 ARIA Music Awards for their debut album. Hayes went on to have a solo career following the band’s break-up.

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“Without music, life would be a mistake.”

This quote proves that Friedrich Nietzsche was right.

Music is present everywhere! It is a huge element in our lives, and it is also part of a country’s culture.

Australia is a country with many important names in the music, and we are pretty sure that some of them you didn’t even know that come from Oz.

1. AC/DC

There’s no doubt that AC/DC is one of the biggest names in rock music. The band is composed of two Scottish brothers (Malcolm and Angus Young) but it was formed in a bar in Sydney, in 1973 and they remain active nowadays.

AC/DC helped to build the hard rock that we know today but they always classified themselves as simply “rock and roll”.

“Back In Black”, “Highway to Hell”, “Thunderstruck”, “T.N.T.”, and “You Shook Me All Night Long” are just some of the most famous songs of the band.

The band Men At Work was formed in Melbourne, in 1978. They made a huge success after the release of the song “Down Under”, which refers to Australians traveling around the world.

The song became a kind of an anthem in Australia with the following lyrics:

“He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich
And he said I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder”

Despite their fame during the 80s, the band is no longer active. “Who Can It Be Now?” is another famous song from the band.

Bee Gees is one of those bands that your parents must have loved during their teenage years and it is an important part of English-Australian music.

Formed in the 60s by a group of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, they are originally from England but they emigrated to Australia with their parents to Redcliffe, in Queensland. By the way, they have a whole street called “Bee Gees Way” dedicated to the band in Redcliffe that it is one of the most touristic places around there.

“Stayin’ Alive” is a classic from the band, and known as a hit on disco clubs during the 70s.

Other famous songs from Bee Gees: “How Deep Is Your Love?”, “Saturday Night Fever”, and “Wish You Were Here”.

Born and raised in Melbourne, the pop star Kylie Minogue is a consolidated singer and actress.

She made her first appearance on television, participating in the Australian soap opera “Neighbours” in 1986. Her long list of achievements made her one of the most relevant artists in Australia.

Considered the “Australian Princess of Pop”, Kylie has sold over 70 million records worldwide.

“Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” is one of her most successful songs, as well as “All The Lovers” and “In My Arms”.

Formed in Brisbane, Savage Garden was an Australian pop-rock duo that made an enormous success during the 90s.

The song “Truly Madly Deeply” reached the #1 in the Hot 100 Billboard in 1998, maintaining the spot for four weeks.

“I Knew I Loved You” and “To The Moon and Back” are also famous songs from the duo.

Sia was born in Adelaide and it is a worldwide recognized singer, songwriter, and director.

One of her main characteristics is to hide her face with a wig. According to Sia, she often hides her face from the media, because her intention is to “just be a voice”, and as a way to maintain her privacy as well.

Some of her most famous songs are “Cheap Thrills”, “Elastic Heart”, “Wild Ones” (feat. Flo Rida), and “Titanium”, this one featuring David Guetta.

Sia also wrote the songs “Diamonds” (Rihanna) and “Pretty Hurts” (Beyoncé).

“Chandelier” was her first solo successful song in 2014, showing her powerful vocal talent to the world.

It is impossible to talk about Australian music and not mention the new artist Tones and I.

The catchy song and her biggest hit “Dance Monkey” was released in 2019 and made the artist famous all over the world, by reaching number one in over 30 countries.

The Aussie girl was discovered singing in the streets of Byron Bay, in New South Wales and it is now one of the most promising artists of the new generation.

Another famous song by the singer is “Johnny Run Away”.

With simple lyrics and “good vibe” songs, Vance Joy is transforming the Australian music.

The artist from Melbourne was discovered by Taylor Swift and it is now a well-known name in the indie-folk scenario.

The song “Riptide” was released in 2013 and made his reputation became international. “Riptide” was written by Vance Joy and the song held a spot in the Hot 100 Billboard.

The pop-rock band 5 Seconds of Summer (also known as 5SOS) was formed in Sydney in 2011.

The four teenage boys became famous through their covers of songs displayed on YouTube. Their first single “She Looks So Perfect” reached number one in four countries (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the UK), leading the band to fame.

Popular songs from the boyband: “Youngblood”, “Amnesia”, “Teeth”, and “Easier”.

Born in Sydney, Iggy Azalea is an Australian rapper, singer, songwriter, and model. Iggy moved to the United States when she was a teenager to pursue a career in music.

Released in 2014, the song “Fancy” featuring Charli XCX is one of her most popular songs and reached #1 in the Hot 100 Billboard for seven consecutive weeks. The video clip is a reference to the romantic comedy movie “Clueless” from 1995.

“Black Widow” featuring Rita Ora, “Work”, and “Problem” featuring Ariana Grande are also famous songs from the Aussie rapper.

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