Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022: soulful singing sisters Vika and Linda Bull
As one of the greatest vocal duos in our music history, it is fitting that Vika and Linda Bull are both named as recipients of Medals of the Order of Australia.
As one of the greatest vocal duos in the nation’s music history, it is fitting that Vika and Linda Bull are both named as recipients of Medals of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
“It means a lot, especially because we get it together,” Linda told The Australian. “We seem to just have that luck we’ve been able to do most things together in our lives, Vika and I.”
The younger sister calls it luck, but there’s been plenty of hard work, persistence and talent required since the pair began performing together in 1987, and later began long-running associations with The Black Sorrows and Paul Kelly, while also recording and touring as Vika and Linda since 1994.
“You don’t think of these things when you do what you love,” said Linda. “For us, it’s not a job, it’s passion. We wake up in the morning and we live and breathe singing. We love it, and we certainly don’t set out to win awards or recognition like this. It’s a massive shock, but a really lovely one.”
Their OAM citation is for service to the performing arts, but in addition to their long-running careers as recording artists, special mention is made for their memorable series of Covid-19 related performances. In March 2020, the Bulls began a “Sunday Sing Song” streaming series on Facebook, which became life-affirming appointment viewing, while their soulful voices became radiant beacons of warmth in what was the darkest year in Australian music history.
“The thing I’m most proud about in my career is the Sing Song,” said Linda. “All of those things that we did in lockdown – even for you at The Australian, singing Amazing Grace (for the Isolation Room video series) – it just felt right. It felt right like the right time to reach out. We didn’t retreat, as people had the right to do – but Vika and I just didn’t feel like that, and it was quite healing for us.”
Their series of gospel cover songs filmed during the early months of the pandemic led to recording their sixth album, titled Sunday (The Gospel According to Iso), while last year the Bull sisters released The Wait, their first album of original music since 2002. A national tour in support of The Wait will begin in Brisbane on August 4, followed by shows in most capital cities, as well as Wagga Wagga, Thirroul, Gold Coast and Launceston.
It was Vika who encouraged her younger sister to join her on stage 35 years ago, and Linda is so glad she did.
“As soon as I opened my mouth with Vik, I knew that I was in the right place, because singing is not difficult for us,” she said.
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