Australian singer Renée Geyer dead at 69
One of the most commanding voices of the Australian songbook, Renée Geyer has died at 69, which has left the music industry in shock.
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One of the most commanding voices of the Australian songbook, Renée Geyer has died at 69 after suffering complications following hip surgery.
The pioneering vocalist was also suffering inoperable lung cancer when she died, only discovered when she underwent surgery.
Her death has sent shockwaves through the Australian music industry as Geyer was only at her best last month, playing to a full house.
“She was in no pain and died peacefully among family and friends. Naturally, we are all utterly devastated,” he family said in a statement issued by her longtime record label Mushroom.
Mushroom Group CEO Matt Gudinski hailed Geyer as a trailblazer who had been instrumental in the early success of his father Michael’s Mushroom label.
“Renée Geyer was part of the Mushroom family since the ’70s. She was there during the early days of Mushroom Records and the start of Premier Artists. The legendary Frank Stivala remained Renée’s agent and dear friend until the end,” he said.
“We don’t need to say that Renée was a great singer – everyone knows that - however it is important to acknowledge Renée’s contribution to the Australian music industry. In particular, she was a trailblazer for women. She was fierce, independent, strong and passionate.
“When my father inducted Renée into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005, he called her ‘the greatest female singer of my lifetime in Australia … yes, you’re a difficult woman, but you’re bloody fantastic.’
“Renée always did things her own way and we loved her for that.”
Geyer was revered - and feared - in the music scene over her illustrious 50-year career, her once-in-a-lifetime voice easily genre-hopping across jazz and blues, r&b and rock’n’roll.
She made no apologies for her uncompromising nature, celebrating her fearsome reputation by titling her ninth studio album Difficult Woman.
“Renée was irrepressible, cheeky and loyal and her musical legacy speaks for itself, with her performing and recording career spanning five decades,” her family’s statement said.
Renée lived her life as she performed – on her own terms and to the fullest. Beloved and respected, she was a force of nature and a national treasure, and her passing leaves a giant void in the Australian music industry.”
Geyer was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005, was the first woman to be inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame in 2013 and received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Women in Music Awards in 2018.
Tributes began to pour in after the news of her death broke, with many remembering her music and charm.
Marcia Hines declared Geyer “A game changer. A soul diva. My sister in song.”
“Heart felt condolences to her family and friends, and to the Australian music industry as a whole who have just lost a person who possessed one of the greatest voices I have ever heard,” she posted.
Renée Geyer. A game changer. A soul diva. My sister in song.
— Marcia Hines (@TheMarciaHines) January 17, 2023
Heart felt condolences to her family and friends, and to the Australian music industry as a whole who have just lost a person who possessed one of the greatest voices I have ever heard. pic.twitter.com/MdWwHaozO2
The Hoodoo Gurus said Geyer had changed the lives of a legion of Australian artists by sharing her talent with them.
“We were shocked to hear the news about Renée’s death today after a brief illness. Renée was a fiercely original talent who carved out a huge legacy in Australian music,” the band posted.
“We were honoured when she agreed to sing backing vocals on our “comeback” album, Mach Schau in 2004 (on Nothing’s Changing My Life). Renée changed all our lives - for the better.”
Band leader and jazz legend Paul Grabowsky also joined the outpouring of tributes for the adored singer.
“Australia’s own Queen of Soul. A truly incredible singer has left us. My love to her friends, colleagues and many fans. Rest in peace Renée Geyer,” he wrote.
Australia’s own Queen of Soul. A truly incredible singer has left us. My love to her friends, colleagues and many fans. Rest in peace Renee Geyer. pic.twitter.com/OcZXXWsMjW
— paul grabowsky (@paulgrab) January 17, 2023
Black Sorrows frontman Joe Camilleri said Geyer’s influence on Australian music was profound and would be long-lasting.
“Truly one of the great soul singers this country ever produced…a singer’s singer…let’s not forget the many who were influenced by Renée…her contribution should never be forgotten. Soul free in sweet harmony,” he posted on Facebook.
Kate Ceberano captured the full gamut of the singer’s temperament and celebrated her legacy for all female artists in her wake.
“Oh……. Nooooooo!!!!!! The queen is dead. Awful! Renée the powerful, the diva, the brutal, the original, the temperamental, the stellar, the shapeshifter, the original, the unforgettable, the irreplaceable Renée!” Ceberano shared on social media.
“I shall forever be indebted to you for carving the word “WOMAN” into the psyche of the Australian music mentality! You strutted into our hearts and lives with your soul in your sleeve. And we were friends. Good friends even when you hated me you still loved me. I will miss you.”
Oh no Renee Geyer has died!
— Ben Abraham (@benabrahammusic) January 17, 2023
One of Australia’s most iconic, effortless voices, and one of our most under-appreciated artists.
Watch this performance and be in awe â¤ï¸â¤ï¸https://t.co/wHTfukUvlG
RIP #ReneeGeyer .
— Steve Bastoni (@stevebastoni) January 17, 2023
She lived in my block at Elizabeth bay for a while and we’d often chat in the lift.
She was a towering woman in both stature and talent, funny and charming, and that sweet, husky, soulful voice Will live forever. Fly well madame. ðŸ™ðŸ¼ðŸ¦…
Australia has lost another music icon.
— Stephen Quartermain (@Quartermain10) January 17, 2023
Vale Renee Geyer ðŸ™ðŸ»
Jeez, no. Renee Geyer is dead.Far too soon. What a talent. Vale.
— Derryn Hinch (@HumanHeadline) January 17, 2023
Vale Renee Geyer, loved her music and an absolute star ðŸ™
— Jim Wilson (@JimWilsonMedia) January 17, 2023
Born in Melbourne on September 11, 1953, Geyer began her singing career when she was just 16 with the jazz-blues band Dry Red and played in a succession of local bands including Mother Earth before launching her solo career.
She released her self-titled debut album in 1973 but it would be the second album, It’s A Man’s Man’s World, in 1974, featuring her signature cover of the James Brown track It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World (correct), which launched her onto the charts.
Disenchanted with her label RCA who only wanted her to record covers, Geyer soon found a home with Michael Gudinski’s fledgling Mushroom Records who partnered with her on the cheekily-titled third record Ready To Deal.
That album generated her first original hit, the enduring Heading In The Right Direction which became her first top 40 hit.
To make money to launch her recording career in the US, she sang on Turn On The Lights, the theme song for the Liberal Party campaign for the 1975 Federal election but later distanced herself from any political affiliations.
Geyer found herself at loggerheads with American label executives who had tried to keep her image from her single and album covers because some radio stations had mistakenly thought she was black because of her deep soulful voice.
The defiant singer refused to cooperate in the deception and insisted all the marketing for her album feature “my big pink huge face.”
While label interest in her waned, Geyer’s vocal talent was widely respected in America and she was sought after as a session singer, dividing her time between the two continents. She was credited on records by many stars including Sting, Joe Cocker and Chaka Khan.
She maintained her presence on the charts throughout the 80s with timeless favourites including Say I Love You , Do You Know What I Mean and All My Love.
Geyer enjoyed another career renaissance in the early 1990s when she lent her voice alongside Paul Kelly, Vika and Linda Bull and Deborah Conway for the successful soundtrack to the ABC TV series Seven Deadly Sins.
That endeavour inspired Kelly to produce the acclaimed Difficult Woman album which featured her unique takes on his compositions Sweet Guy and Careless, the Rodgers and Hart standard He Was Too Good To Me and deeply personal originals Trouble and Real.
Geyer survived an aggressive form of breast cancer barely missing a gig as she underwent treatment throughout 2009.
In her shockingly candid autobiography, Confessions Of A Difficult Woman, released in 2000 ahead of her performance at the Sydney Olympics, she revealed she suffered three heroin overdoses before deciding never to use the drug again.
“I wouldn’t advise anyone to take drugs; it just doesn’t lead to anything good,’’ she said.
“I took drugs to zone out because I was so hyped up after a gig.
“Back then, drugs were harder to get and that was part of the mystique.’’
Celebrated by her peers and her fans, Geyer’s tenacity and enduring spirit at times put her at loggerheads with the Australian music industry.
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