Mushroom Group announces megastar concert to celebrate 50th anniversary
The late Michael Gudinski began sketching plans to celebrate his company’s 50th anniversary five years ago – this year his son will finally fulfil those wishes.
Confidential
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Mushroom — the trailblazing Australian music company and home to Kylie Minogue, Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Hunters And Collectors, Skyhooks, and many more — will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an all-star mega-concert in November.
The show will be held in Melbourne, where Mushroom Records founder Michael Gudinski started the company.
Sadly, Gudinski, who started sketching plans for the Mushroom’s 50th milestone five years ago, passed away in 2021.
His son, Matt, who has worked at the company since 2002, is Mushroom Group CEO.
“It’s been a long journey for the company to get here,” Mr Gudinski told the Herald Sun. “We want to celebrate it right. To bring it to life, and share our celebration plans with everybody is a very proud moment.”
The celebrations include:
• A BLOCKBUSTER Mushroom 50 concert in November, with the line-up, venue and ticket details yet to be announced.
• A FEATURE documentary about Michael Gudinski that will screen in cinemas nationally.
A SERIES of reimagined songs from the Mushroom vaults performed by some of the world’s best artists. The first release will be Temper Trap’s version of The Church classic, Under The Milky Way.
• A LIMITED edition range of Mushroom 50 merchandise.
Mr Gudinski said the Mushroom 50 concert will be a “once in a lifetime event,” adding: “It will feature a huge line-up of sensational artists, celebrating some of Australia’s most iconic songs.”
He said the 50th anniversary events will showcase “the past and history of the company as much as the future.”
Mr Gudinski added: “To survive as an independent music company for 50 years through an industry that has had so many ups and downs … and to be standing on our own two feet, and still investing, creating, and developing amazing Australian artists, is a testament to the foundations my dad put in place, and everyone who’s been a part of the Mushroom journey.”
The Mushroom Group employs 250 people, and consists of 25 companies, including Frontier Touring, which recently broke crowd records with Billy Joel and Ed Sheeran’s MCG shows.
Mushroom artists Jimmy Barnes, Hunters And Collectors frontman Mark Seymour, Mia Wray, Dan Sultan, Adalita, Alex Lahey, Budjerah, and The Temper Trap convened at The Espy in St Kilda earlier this week to support the 50th anniversary milestone.
“When I left Cold Chisel, I wanted to be on a label that was personal and hands on,” Barnes said. “I wanted to be on Mushroom. Michael treated every act like they were his babies. Mushroom is family.”
Seymour agreed. “I’ve always been a team player and enjoyed the idea of building things collaboratively,” he said. “Mushroom understood that in me. For the 50th, I want to celebrate the unity, loyalty and sense of belonging I always felt as a member of the Mushroom family.”
Linda and Vika said Mushroom meant family and history. “They really nurtured us when we were young, and more so in our later years,’ Vika said. “As women making a living in this industry they supported us all the way.”
mushroom50.com
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