2017 ARIA Awards: All the action on music’s big night
JIMMY Barnes has closed the 2017 ARIA Awards with a powerhouse performance dedicated to Malcolm and George Young.
9:45PM AEDT: The night was capped by Jimmy Barnes, finishing an emotional day for
the Australian music industry after the funeral of Malcolm Young at St Mary’s Cathedral. Barnes paid tribute to his fellow Scots — Malcolm Young and his late brother George Young with a passionate performance of AC/DC’s High Voltage.
9:40PM AEDT: PEKING DUK THE FINAL WINNERS
In a controversial departure for this year’s awards, the ceremony ended with the publicly voted Apple Music Song of the Year instead of the coveted Album of the Year award with no explanation.
Presented by Lorde, it was won by wildly popular dance duo Peking Duk for Stranger which features Swedish artist Elliphant. “Holy s---! Firstly I want to thank the Gadigal people, past and present owners of this land,” said Reuben Styles, no relation to Harry, echoing the night’s respectful acknowledgement of the rise of indigenous artists at this year’s awards.
9:30PM AEDT: GANG OF YOUTH TAKE BIG ONE
Gang of Youths have taken out the biggest award of the night, Album of the Year,
Frontman Dave Le’aupepe was clearly emotional and almost cried as he paid tribute to his fellow nominees A.B. Original, Paul Kelly, Amy Shark and Illy.
He paid tribute to the indigenous people and immigrants who built Australia. “We are strong people, we are proud people and useful...not just on the footy field,” he said. “We f---ing love this country.”
9:20PM AEDT: SHARK’S EMOTIONAL SPEECH
Amy Shark was named Breakthrough Artist of the year after a 10-year slog for overnight success.
“Wow, my heart can’t handle this. Sorry, I am so frickin nervous right now. There was a lot of years I was frustrated by the industry. I wanted everyone to hear my music so bad. I want to say I was wrong since signing to Sony — and having the best managers — I realise now
you guys are all amazing people,” she said. “This is an incredible night for me.”
9:15PM AEDT: INXS PRESENT BEST LIVE ACT
INXS’s Jon Farriss and Kirk Pengilly presented hip-hop rap star Illy with the publicly voted Best Australian Live Act.
“This is really cool, we’ve nominated over the past two years 12 times and this is the first one we’ve won, so f--- yeah,” Illy said. He also gave a shout out to Triple J for their last “24 hours” after announcing they were moving the Hottest 100 from its broadcast on January 26 after over helming feedback from their audience and said “it was a good thing.”
9:06PM AEDT: HARRY HIT WITH TECHNICAL ISSUES
Harry Styles’s performance was rudely interrupted after a couple of bars by “technical issues.”
“Sorry that was my fault,” he said to the confused audience, who remembered the same issues which led to The Veronicas having to restart their opening performance last year.
The Best International Artist winner then bounced across the stage to his latest single Kiwi, the audience up on their feet as he rocked out to the searing guitar number.
8:15PM AEDT: DARYL BRAITHWAITE INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME
Jimmy Barnes took the stage again to induct his friend Daryl Braithwaite to the ARIA Hall of Fame, decades after his band Sherbet was afforded the honour.
“They had a handsome young singer, he was a surfer, he wasn’t just pretty, he could sing too. Sherbet were the real deal ... despite their satin jackets. I would see them in pubs where people would be shot and stabbed and they could do it,” Barnes said. “The show I remember most was Victoria Park in Sydney and there literally tens of thousands of people trying to get to Sherbet and I was backstage hanging on every word of Daryl Braithwaite and thought this is what it feels to be a rock star.
“Sherbet were being rushed from the stage, the crowd was trying to climb onto the stage and I thought how are they getting out of here?
“There was an armoured van and Daryl said come with us or you are going to get killed. “This was their moment and he shared that moment with me. That’s the guy Daryl Braithwaite is.”
He paid tribute to Braithwaite’s professionalism and kindness as he went through the highs and lows of his solo career after Sherbet, from ditch digger to chart topper, having shared a stage with his friend hundreds of times since that day in the 70s in the armoured van. Braithwaite then took the stage and joked about his son Oscar, who only made it as far as Canberra on his quest to join his father on his big night.
Daryl Braithwaite, Guy Sebastian and Vera Blue doing The 🎠#arias pic.twitter.com/vIyiEzOlbs
— cameron adams (@cameron_adams) November 28, 2017
“Along with surfing, singing has been my greatest love, I have been singing for 50 years,” he said, before regaling the crowd with his journey to a professional music career. He said he was eternally grateful for being asked to join Sherbet in the 70s and to their original manager, the Australian impresario Roger Davies, who now steers the careers of Pink, Tina Turner and Cher. Braithwaite spoke about having to go on the dole after leaving Sherbet before relaunching his career after Oscar’s birth in the late 1980s with the solo album Edge, and then Rise. “That record changed my life and I am eternally grateful,” he said. “Fifty years later as I am standing here my love for music and playing live is the same as it was when I started out.
“If you are young person thinking about a career in music, listen to the voice inside your head. it’s really worth it.”
And then he performed The Horses with Guy Sebastian and Vera Blue and the room erupted, everyone on their feet, celebrating his triumph and sharing it, singing at the top of their lungs.
7:40PM AEDT: PAUL KELLY TAKES OUT BEST MALE ARTIST
Showered in red petals, with a vibrant rouge cape, Jessica Mauboy bewitched the audience with her nominated single Fallin’ which had a momentarily awkward segue into Peking Duk’s Stranger. Mauboy joined the chart-topping duo to sing their smash dance pop number Stranger, taking over the vocal duties of Swedish star Elliphant, busting out her infectious enthusiasm as fireworks exploded around the stage.
Get them into a studio, stat.
Brilliant! #ARIAs @jessicamauboy @pekingduk #Stranger pic.twitter.com/JRZTqtIHG6
— KIIS 101.1 Melbourne (@kiis1011) November 28, 2017
Kasey Chambers was the lucky woman who presented Paul Kelly with the Best Male Artist award. “You know I was going to read out his name anyway,” she joked. The humble Kelly paid tribute to his fellow nominees and his band mates. “I think to being best male is to pick good people to work with ... they really helped keep me going,” he said.
7:21PM AEDT: SIA WINS SECOND YEAR IN A ROW
Sia won the Best Female Artist for the second year running. “She’s not here, right, cool,” presenter Joel Creasy said after a run of Australian in jokes, which clearly confused his co presenter, American pop star Julia Michaels.
They then announced A.B. Original as the winners of the Best Independent Release.
“We didn’t expect to win the first one, we really didn’t expect to win this one. Being independent for us is something we are really proud of,” Briggs said.
“The main point of this whole record was to spark an idea, a change and an expectation of what an indigenous artist could be.
“We aren’t saying we have to make it through the struggle, we’re persistent, we’ve made it through 80,000 years.” They dedicated the award to his late friend Dr G. Yunupingu.
7:10PM AEDT: KASEY CHAMBERS ‘F***ING LOVES’ MUSIC INDUSTRY
Kasey Chambers added to the wall of ARIA awards amassed over her career, taking out her eighth solo Best Country Album with her Dragonfly record.
Chambers was caught backstage and made a quick dash onto the stage to make her acceptance speech. “Oh my God, sorry, they told me to go back there to present an award and I gather it’s not this one. My life is so weird and now I am nervous because I had to run in these shoes. My life is so weird, I was literally getting nits out of my kid’s hair this morning and now I’m holding this,” the delightfully down-to-earth star said.
“I know there’s a lot of negative said about being a woman in this industry over 40 years old but I f***ing love it.” Her award was followed by an electrifying performance by Gang Of Youths who defiantly brought ear-splitting rock back to the ARIAs stage.
YEAAAAAAH! Congratulations, @kaseychambers on taking out the @ARIA_Official for #BestCountryAlbum! So proud of this beautiful lady, and so proud to have been a small part of #Dragonfly. 🦋🦋🦋
— Imogen Clark (@Imogen_Clark) November 28, 2017
7:05PM AEDT: PNAU COLLECT PRIZE
Following their incredible opening act, PNAU have received the award for Best Dance Release.
6:55PM AEDT: AMY SHARK SINGS A CAPPELLA
ARIA winner Amy Shark proved to be one of the bravest live performers of the night, sitting on a stool with her guitar and singing a cappella before her band kicked in and a waterfall of pyros cascaded behind her to bring Adore home, the song no one predicted would change the international pop landscape. And then one of the biggest shocks of the night happened. Jimmy Barnes beat his mates The Wiggles to take out the Best Children’s Album with his debut record Och Aye The G’nu, his first ARIA award since 1992.
The kilt-wearing rocker took his grandson Dylan, who inspired the record, on stage with him and paid tribute to The Wiggles who made it for him.
In his first ARIA award since 1992 (!) @JimmyBarnes beats the Wiggles for Best Children's Album for Och Aye the G'Nu. Brings grandkid Dylan on stage #arias pic.twitter.com/TiGatKJa3Q
— cameron adams (@cameron_adams) November 28, 2017
6:42PM AEDT: HARRY STYLES WINS BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTIST
First standing ovation of the night went to Paul Kelly with special guests A.B. Original and Dan Sultan performing their politically charged reinvention of his 1989 hit Dumb Things.
The stars of Pitch Perfect 3, including Rebel Wilson and Ruby Rose, presented the publicly voted Best International Artist win to Harry Styles, to deafening screams from the fans who scored tickets to the show.
A previous guest at the ARIAs with his One Direction mates, Styles is also due to perform his latest single Kiwi during the show. “Hello, thank you ... everyone here has always been so wonderful to me.
Thank you for having me here and having me back. I obviously wouldn’t be here [if it wasn’t] for the fans who voted,” he said, sporting a shiny burgundy suit.
He's here and he's won - @Harry_Styles wins Best International Artist at the #ARIAs pic.twitter.com/Hm3u10Clce
— cameron adams (@cameron_adams) November 28, 2017
6:35PM AEDT: BLISS N ESO GETS FAN VOTE
Bliss E Eso wins the fan-voted Best Video for their song Moments.
Fan voted win for Bliss N Eso -
— cameron adams (@cameron_adams) November 28, 2017
best video for Moments #arias
6:18PM AEDT: ‘ROCK’N’ROLL CAN SAVE LIVES’
Gang Of Youths have added to their 2017 tally with Best Rock Album. “We’re probably one of the many bands who believe in the redemptive power of rock’n’roll music. It can help people, free people. Rock’n’roll can save a lot of lives in my opinion..,” frontman Dave Le’aupepe said. The band then thanked their families and gave a shout out to fans who dreamt of a music career. “My dad is at home because he’s too sick to be here, Dad we love you,” the frontman said. “I grew up in western Sydney and didn’t have a lot of money but my
parents spent their last $200 on a guitar and it changed my life.”
Well @Lorde just smashed the #arias - watch it tonight on Channel 9 at 7:30pm pic.twitter.com/24fLfYH3g5
— cameron adams (@cameron_adams) November 28, 2017
6:10PM AEDT: LORDE WOWS AUDIENCE
Lorde brought the theatrical melodrama which has wowed audiences around the world with her ARIAs performance, starting from sitting on the floor to sing the heartstrings-pulling Liability to the explosive dance pop of her No. 1 hit Green Light.
Back from his American tour, singer songwriter Vance Joy presented the Best Adult Contemporary Album to that master songwriter Paul Kelly.
“I would like to thank my fellow nominees and the ARIAs for celebrating rich and diverse music,” he said. He paid tribute to his longtime collaborators Vika and Linda Bull for helping the recording be it a “fun record to make”.
5:55PM AEDT: ‘WE MADE THIS FOR OUR COMMUNITY’
Best Urban Album was presented to the incendiary hip hop duo A.B. Original for their debut album Reclaim Australia. The album has already won a clutch of awards in recent weeks “This is new for the collection. We’re on. We made this album in our community, for our community, from our community. Change doesn’t come from everyone being comfortable. We made ourselves very uncomfortable making this record, trying to upset those rednecks. They were vocal, but we just had the better album,” Adam Briggs said.
5:45PM AEDT: GANG OF YOUTHS TAKE OUT BEST GROUP
Rock legend Mick Fleetwood joked he couldn’t find his cross mark on the floor because of all the confetti on the stage after PNAU’s performance.
He announced the Best Group winner Gang Of Youths after acknowledging that after 50 years with Fleetwood Mac being in a band isn’t always the “easiest thing in the world”.
Frontman Dave Le’aupepe said he had been “dragged kicking and screaming to this” probably referencing the fact he had interrupted his honeymoon having married his bride Cort Bray on the weekend, “Sorry for throwing you in the deep end with this; she didn’t realise I was famous before this,” he said. “And to the haters online go f ... yourselves, get used to it” before telling the audience the only reason they made music was to help people get through their lives.
5:35PM AEDT: ARIAS KICK OFF WITH BURST OF COLOUR
THE 2017 ARIA Awards opened with a burst of colour with PNAU electrifying the room with their dance pop hit Chameleon. Sophie Monk was the first presenter, saying she was happy to be at the awards despite not having won one during her Bardot days. She joked that on the day that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement that Stu was “still married”.
It's not a party until you hear @PNAU's 'Chameleon'... LIVE! #ARIAs pic.twitter.com/mL1t4rjbAJ
— Channel 9 (@Channel9) November 28, 2017
Monk then presented the first award for Best Pop Release to Amy Shark,
who dedicated the award to her husband Shane Billings.
“I’m sorry, I dreamt of this for a very, very long time. Shane Billings, I want to thank you before anyone else. I don’t think anyone would know what we have been through over the years, you were there at the very beginning and you are here at the end and I love you for that,” she said.
. @AmySharkMusic just won the Best Pop Release ARIA Award for #NightThinker! 🔥💖 pic.twitter.com/fx9cm763Kc
— Sony Music Australia (@SonyMusicAU) November 28, 2017
5:10PM AEDT: HARRY FANS’ TWITTER TAKEOVER
Fans of British pop star Harry Styles have hickjacked the ARIA awards official hashtag #ARIAS with posts of the former One Direction star as he arrives for this year’s award ceremony. The Sign of the Times singer is scheduled to perform at the event later this evening.
Just checked out the ARIAs hashtag and it’s 9 million Harry Styles tweets.
— A$AP DAD (@BobLogIV) November 28, 2017
BLACK NAILS AND PURPLE SUIT 💜🖤 #ARIASHARRYSTYLES #ARIAs pic.twitter.com/GmlpXTehHS
— Nadia (@NadiaNutella) November 28, 2017
I LOVE HARRY SO MUCH #arias pic.twitter.com/Sik0EXL6zN
— missing harry | 2 (@hescityangel) November 28, 2017
5:00PM AEDT: 2017 ARIAS UNDERWAY
The 2017 ARIA awards have kicked off with a plethora of big names attending this year’s ceremony. The awards, which were first held in 1987, are now in their 31st year and continue to celebrate Australia’s top music artists — both new and established. This year’s awards ceremony will feature performances from local artists including Amy Shark, Paul Kelly, Daryl Braithwaite, Gang of Youths and Jessica Mauboy, as well as international guest stars Harry Styles and Lorde.
The stars strutted their stuff on the red carpet at Sydney’s The Star earlier this evening, with DJ Havana Brown, Jessica Mauboy, Gang of Youths, The Wiggles, Richard Wilkins, Peking Duk and Sophie Monk all making an appearance.
#ARIAs red carpet with @kaseychambers 👌♫⤠pic.twitter.com/KE7bwoqm2Z
— The Wiggles (@TheWiggles) November 28, 2017
The Voice finalist Judah Kelly paused on the carpet long enough to belt out a rendition of the popular Daryl Braithwaite hit The Horses. Braithwaite will be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame this evening.
Past ARIA winners include INXS, Crowded House and John Farnham.
Check out the live stream above to watch the action as it unfolds.
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