Paul Kelly

Over his nearly five-decade career, roots-rock troubadour Paul Kelly has become one of Australia’s most iconic storytellers, earning nine Gold records and 14 Top 10 albums along the way. ∙ Recorded on a shoestring budget, his 1985 solo debut, Post, won Kelly comparisons to Bruce Springsteen as well as Album of the Year honors from Rolling Stone Australia. ∙ His 1986 release, Gossip—named one of the Top 50 Australian Albums of all time by The Age—featured the breakout tracks “Before Too Long” and “Darling It Hurts,” a US Rock chart hit. ∙ The Australasian Performing Right Association ranked the hit ballad “To Her Door,” from his 1987 album, Under the Sun, one of the Top 30 Australian Songs. ∙ Yothu Yindi’s 1991 new wave protest classic “Treaty,” which Kelly cowrote, was the first single by a largely Aboriginal group to hit the Australian charts and was also a dance club smash in the US. ∙ Kelly has won many awards for his work as a score composer, including three for the acclaimed 2001 musical One Night the Moon, in which he, his wife, and their daughter also star. ∙ Country star Kasey Chambers was among those who performed his songs on the 2002 Paul Kelly tribute album, The Women At The Well, naming him an inspiration for her own career. ∙ Four of his 16 ARIA Awards came from 2017’s Life Is Fine, his first album to hit No. 1 in Australia and a throwback to the eclectic pop-rock sound that marked his earliest hits. ∙ In 1997, he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, and 20 years later, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia, an honor given for extraordinary achievements and service to the country.