Singer Sia’s emotional tribute to Men at Work frontman Colin Hay
She’s one of our most successful singers and is notoriously private, but a candid Sia Furler has opened up about her love for her ‘uncle’ Colin Hay, the former Men at Work frontman who she has known most of her life.
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She’s famously private and has managed to keep her personal life under wraps despite three decades in the music industry but Sia Furler has finally opened up, delivering an emotional and candid speech at an LA awards ceremony.
In one of her most unguarded appearances to date, Sia took to the stage at the inaugural Global APRA Music Awards this week to present the Distinguished Services Award to Colin Hay, the former Men at Work frontman who she has known most of her life, her dad and Hay having played in a band together.
“Surprise,” Sia said as she took to the stage.
“For those who don’t know I was partially reared by Colin.
“I can’t believe it. I have known you the longest in the room, you met me when I was a baby.
“And you were nice to me and you are always nice to me.”
Sia then spoke about the time she spent four weeks living with Hay and his family in New York, after winning a legal battle over an eye injury which gave her enough money for flights.
“I remember once at a dinner party when I was about 11 you said … you were living in New York and you said ‘you should come and visit us some time’,” she said.
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“I had won … a settlement from having a match struck and it landed in my eye. My mum had one of her friends who was a student lawyer sue the match company and they got $3000 and put it in my account so I was like, ‘I can afford it’.
“He (Hay) was like ‘OK’. I went and lived with you for a month in New York when I was 12 years old.”
It was then Furler witnessed the Grammys for the first time, inspiring her to pursue a career in music.
“Then I remember you had to go to the Grammys but I just wanted to sit in the limousine,” she said.
“I was really excited because I had never been in a limousine and I thought ‘I will stay here with the candy’ and it had a little television in it so I could watch the Grammys in the car.
“I remember seeing it and watching Uncle Collie go up and accept an award and I remember thinking, ‘This seems like a pretty good life. Let’s all do this’.”
She then teared up, saying: “For those who have heard me sing you will notice that Uncle Collie is in everything I do. And you are my a favourite singer, so I love you.”