Bernard Fanning
Encyclopedia
Bernard Joseph Fanning (born 15 August 1969 in Brisbane
, Australia
) is a musician
and singer-songwriter
. He is best known as the lead singer and frontman of Australian alternative rock
band
Powderfinger
from its formation in 1989 to its dissolution in 2010.
Born and raised in Toowong
, Brisbane, Fanning was taught the piano by his mother at an early age. At the age of 12, while attending St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace
, Fanning began writing music, and upon graduating from St. Joseph's, moved on to the University of Queensland
, where he studied journalism for a short time. He would go on to drop out to pursue a music career, after meeting Ian Haug
in an economics class. Fanning joined Haug, John Collins
, and Steven Bishop
, who had recently formed Powderfinger, and took the role of lead singer. After Bishop left and guitarist Darren Middleton
joined, the band would release five studio album
s in fifteen years and achieve mainstream success in Australia. During Powderfinger's hiatus in 2005, Fanning began his solo music career with the studio album Tea & Sympathy. Powderfinger then reunited in 2007 and released two more albums before disbanding the group in late 2010.
While Powderfinger's style focuses on alternative rock, Fanning's solo music is generally described as a mixture of blues
and acoustic folk. A multi-instrumentalist, Fanning plays guitar, piano, keyboards and harmonica, both when performing solo and also with Powderfinger. Often speaking out against Australian political figures, Fanning has donated much of his time to philanthropic causes. He is an advocate for Aboriginal affairs in Australia.
on 15 August 1969. He was raised, alongside two brothers and a sister, in the inner Brisbane suburb of Toowong
. The death of one of Fanning's brothers to cancer
would be the inspiration for Vulture Street
s "Since You've Been Gone
". Fanning's mother began teaching him to play piano as a young child, although his siblings were not interested in music.
Fanning attended St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace
and began writing his own music at the age of 15. Fanning has described these early works as "terrible", but notes that he enjoyed writing and arranging them. After graduating from St Joseph's, Fanning entered the University of Queensland
to study journalism
, however he was equally interested in pursuing a music career. He left university at the age of 19 to pursue a music career.
Ian Haug
in a University of Queensland economics class in 1989. At the time of the meeting, Haug had recently formed Powderfinger with high school friends John Collins
and Steven Bishop
, who would become the band's foundational bass guitarist and drummer
, respectively. Haug was the lead guitarist and lead singer. On discovering Fanning's singing abilities, Haug replaced himself with Fanning as lead singer and frontman. Haug stated that "It was a big thing to convince the others that we needed a singer. They were like, 'You're OK,' and I was like, 'No I'm not. We can do better than that.'"
In 1992, current guitarist Darren Middleton
was invited to join Powderfinger by Fanning and Haug, after they were impressed by his work in Brisbane band Pirate. Middleton accepted the offer and became the fifth member, joining Jon Coghill
who had replaced Bishop as drummer. The lineup of Fanning, Middleton, Haug, Collins, and Coghill has since remained unchanged.
Throughout the late 1990s, Powderfinger rose to prominence throughout Australia, receiving several accolades and achieving highly successful record and concert ticket sales. As the most vocal and prominent member of the band, the popularity for the group elevated Fanning as a powerful individual in the public view of the Australian music industry. Fanning was called upon by film-maker Gregor Jordan
in 2003 to perform the folk song "Moreton Bay" (named after the bay of the same name
in the Brisbane area) and his own original composition "Shelter for My Soul" in Jordan's film Ned Kelly
. Fanning then enlisted Jordan to film Powderfinger's first live DVD, These Days: Live in Concert.
albums chart.
Tea & Sympathy comprised songs Fanning had written in his time with Powderfinger, as well as new content written after the band went on hiatus. Most of the writing was done in what Fanning described as a "creative burst" between March and May 2005. Much of the inspiration for the work on the album came from Fanning's reaction to the death of his brother in 2002, and to the ending of a 12-year relationship with his girlfriend. The majority of the album was recorded at Real World Studios
with Tchad Blake
in June 2005, except for "Not Finished Just Yet", "Believe", "Wash Me Clean", and "Hope & Validation", which were recorded at Fanning's Brisbane home. Fanning was supported by Brisbane musicians Jerry Marotta
, Keith Duffy
, and John Bedggood, who also formed part of his live band. The album was developed in a relaxed manner, with Fanning stating, "We had a ball putting the songs together."
Three singles were released from the album. The most successful of these was the lead single, "Wish You Well
", shortly followed by "Songbird
". These releases were only sold as digital download
singles. The third single from the album, "Watch Over Me
", was the only to be released as a CD single and achieved minor success on the Australian singles chart. It entered the chart on 9 July 2006 at #16, and spent eight weeks in the top 50. On 26 January 2006, "Wish You Well" was voted #1 for the Triple J Hottest 100
, 2005
. Following "Watch Over Me", Fanning digitally released a fourth single "Weekend of Mystery
", which was not officially on the album, except for those who purchased the album from the iTunes store
. Fanning also took home the award for Best Music Video at the 2006 ARIA Awards for the iconic 'Wish You Well' clip.
On 2 December 2005, Fanning announced a nationwide Which Way Home Concert Tour, named after the song on the album of the same name. Fanning played seven shows between 25 February and 10 March 2006, in all of Australia's major capital cities. He was supported by Perth
band The Panics
and Brisbane singer Andrew Morris. He followed this with the "Yesterday's Gone" tour, announced on 11 August 2006, and concluding with Powderfinger re-uniting and returning to the recording studio— Fanning later stated that while he enjoyed making Tea & Sympathy, "Powderfinger is my real job".
Throughout 2006, Fanning had hinted towards Powderfinger
ceasing their hiatus to release a sixth studio album. Recorded in Los Angeles
, Dream Days at the Hotel Existence
was released on 2 June 2007. The title of the album came from a chapter of Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster
, a book that Fanning had read during recording. The album debuted at #1 on the Australian ARIA
Albums chart.
Powderfinger toured around Australia and New Zealand with Silverchair
on the Across the Great Divide tour
in 2007. The tour's aim was to promote the efforts of Reconciliation Australia
to reduce the 17-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Fanning said of the tour, "The idea is to show both bands are behind the idea of reconciliation."
In his work on Tea & Sympathy, Fanning noted less of a collaborative song style, referring to his inability to play guitar solo
s as causing different elements to become a focus of the songs. In an interview, he said, "I wasn't relying on solos to be big features because I simply can't play them." Fanning explained that the shorter length of songs was due to him not having "four other people" to back him up when producing independently.
Fanning has stated his favourite band is The Beatles
.
Fanning has stated that although political messages may be common throughout his and Powderfinger's music, it is not the central focus when writing songs: "A balance has to be struck in a lot of ways, in the sense that primarily I'm a musician. I'm not a political commentator. So if I write a song that has political content, then hopefully that song is a good enough song to make it onto my record. And if it's not, then that's just a song that I've written. So I don't think it necessarily needs to be that you're definitively trying to make a political statement." He has stated that he has no interest in "doing a 'Peter Garrett
'", who entered politics after a successful Midnight Oil
career.
On 8 July 2007, Fanning wrote a piece for Adelaide
's Sunday Mail
, telling of his recent trip to Uluru
. In the piece, he criticised those who climbed the rock, stating that he was "appalled that kids were being taught to disrespect the wishes of Aboriginal people on their own land". Upon returning from Uluru, Fanning wrote "Black Tears
", which intended to "document a relationship gone wrong". In his piece, Fanning also criticised the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, and encouraged all to join a conversation on reconciliation.
Fanning takes a left-leaning political stance, although he claims he is not fond of discussing the issue. Rather, he attempts to discuss the issues through his songs; "I approach writing a song about something like [Aboriginal affairs] the same way I would approach writing a song about a relationship, because it's something that I feel strongly about." However, he has occasionally stated his views on social and political issues, giving The Dominion Post
his stance on Aboriginal affairs in light of the Across the Great Divide tour;
concert to raise money for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
, and the Across the Great Divide tour
in 2007 to promote the efforts of Reconciliation Australia
. Fanning has contributed to charities including "A Just Australia" and Youngcare Australia, and donates his time to youth detention centres
in Brisbane by running songwriting workshops. In an uncharacteristic outburst, Fanning once referred to fellow Australian artist Ben Lee
as "a precocious little cunt", after Lee referred to himself as "the saviour of Australian music". Fanning later apologised for the comment.
Fanning married Andrea Moreno in February 2007 in Brisbane, Australia. Moreno is from Spain
, where the two met while Fanning was writing and recording Tea & Sympathy in Europe
. This relaionship followed a twelve-year union Fanning had had with his previous girlfriend, and it was this break-up (along with the then-recent death of his older brother) which influenced much of the lyrical content and sombre atmospheric mood of Tea & Sympathy. Through Moreno, Fanning has learned to speak some of the Spanish language
. Fanning and Moreno have performed together while Powderfinger was on hiatus and Fanning was touring as a solo artist.
are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association
(APRA).
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2004
|| Powderfinger – Fanning, Jon Coghill
, Ian Haug
, Darren Middleton
, John Collins
|| Songwriter of the Year ||
|-
|"On My Mind
" – Fanning, Darren Middleton
, John Collins
, Ian Haug
, Jonathan Coghill
|| Most Performed Australian Work ||
|-
| 2006
|| Bernard Fanning || Songwriter of the Year ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2007
|| "Songbird
" – Fanning || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
| "Watch Over Me
" – Fanning || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
| "Wish You Well
" – Fanning || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2008
||rowspan="2"| "Lost and Running
" – Jonathon Coghill
, John Collins
, Fanning, Ian Haug
, Darren Middleton
|| Song of the Year ||
|-
|Most Played Australian Work ||
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
) is a musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. He is best known as the lead singer and frontman of Australian alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Powderfinger
Powderfinger
Powderfinger was an Australian rock band that formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their breakup the band lineup consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bassist John Collins, and drummer Jon Coghill....
from its formation in 1989 to its dissolution in 2010.
Born and raised in Toowong
Toowong, Queensland
Toowong is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia which is located 5 km west of the Brisbane CBD. At the centre of Toowong is a commercial precinct including Toowong Village and several office buildings...
, Brisbane, Fanning was taught the piano by his mother at an early age. At the age of 12, while attending St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace
St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace
St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace is a Greater Public Schools private, Roman Catholic, day school for boys only, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...
, Fanning began writing music, and upon graduating from St. Joseph's, moved on to the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
, where he studied journalism for a short time. He would go on to drop out to pursue a music career, after meeting Ian Haug
Ian Haug
Ian David Haug is a lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the Australian rock band Powderfinger. Mainstays Haug and bass guitarist John Collins formed the band in Brisbane in 1989. During a hiatus in Powderfinger's career, Haug worked on a side project, The Predators, with Collins and original...
in an economics class. Fanning joined Haug, John Collins
John Collins (Australian musician)
John Andrew Collins is the mainstay bass guitarst for Australian rock band Powderfinger since 1989. He is one of the founding members of the band, along with guitarist Ian Haug, forming at their high school, Brisbane Grammar School as a three piece. Powderfinger has released seven studio albums, a...
, and Steven Bishop
Steven Bishop
Stephen Bishop is an Australian drummer, formerly of Australian band Powderfinger though he left the band before their rise to prominence because of illness. Later, while working in the UK for two years he played in London based bands...
, who had recently formed Powderfinger, and took the role of lead singer. After Bishop left and guitarist Darren Middleton
Darren Middleton
Darren Stuart Middleton is an Australian lead guitarist for alternative rock band Powderfinger. He is also the lead singer for Drag....
joined, the band would release five studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
s in fifteen years and achieve mainstream success in Australia. During Powderfinger's hiatus in 2005, Fanning began his solo music career with the studio album Tea & Sympathy. Powderfinger then reunited in 2007 and released two more albums before disbanding the group in late 2010.
While Powderfinger's style focuses on alternative rock, Fanning's solo music is generally described as a mixture of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and acoustic folk. A multi-instrumentalist, Fanning plays guitar, piano, keyboards and harmonica, both when performing solo and also with Powderfinger. Often speaking out against Australian political figures, Fanning has donated much of his time to philanthropic causes. He is an advocate for Aboriginal affairs in Australia.
Early life
Fanning was born in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
on 15 August 1969. He was raised, alongside two brothers and a sister, in the inner Brisbane suburb of Toowong
Toowong, Queensland
Toowong is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia which is located 5 km west of the Brisbane CBD. At the centre of Toowong is a commercial precinct including Toowong Village and several office buildings...
. The death of one of Fanning's brothers to cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
would be the inspiration for Vulture Street
Vulture Street
Vulture Street is the fifth studio album by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger, released by Universal Music on 29 July 2003. Produced by Nick DiDia, Vulture Street was certified platinum, and spent 47 weeks on the ARIA Charts and peaked at #1...
s "Since You've Been Gone
Since You've Been Gone (Powderfinger song)
"Since You've Been Gone" is a 2004 single from Powderfinger's fifth studio album Vulture Street. It was the fourth single released from Vulture Street and reached #51 on the Australian music chart. It was a limited edition single, hence no video or puzzle piece on the spine of the single...
". Fanning's mother began teaching him to play piano as a young child, although his siblings were not interested in music.
Fanning attended St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace
St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace
St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace is a Greater Public Schools private, Roman Catholic, day school for boys only, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...
and began writing his own music at the age of 15. Fanning has described these early works as "terrible", but notes that he enjoyed writing and arranging them. After graduating from St Joseph's, Fanning entered the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
to study journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, however he was equally interested in pursuing a music career. He left university at the age of 19 to pursue a music career.
Powderfinger era (1989–2004)
Fanning first met Powderfinger guitaristGuitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Ian Haug
Ian Haug
Ian David Haug is a lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the Australian rock band Powderfinger. Mainstays Haug and bass guitarist John Collins formed the band in Brisbane in 1989. During a hiatus in Powderfinger's career, Haug worked on a side project, The Predators, with Collins and original...
in a University of Queensland economics class in 1989. At the time of the meeting, Haug had recently formed Powderfinger with high school friends John Collins
John Collins (Australian musician)
John Andrew Collins is the mainstay bass guitarst for Australian rock band Powderfinger since 1989. He is one of the founding members of the band, along with guitarist Ian Haug, forming at their high school, Brisbane Grammar School as a three piece. Powderfinger has released seven studio albums, a...
and Steven Bishop
Steven Bishop
Stephen Bishop is an Australian drummer, formerly of Australian band Powderfinger though he left the band before their rise to prominence because of illness. Later, while working in the UK for two years he played in London based bands...
, who would become the band's foundational bass guitarist and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, respectively. Haug was the lead guitarist and lead singer. On discovering Fanning's singing abilities, Haug replaced himself with Fanning as lead singer and frontman. Haug stated that "It was a big thing to convince the others that we needed a singer. They were like, 'You're OK,' and I was like, 'No I'm not. We can do better than that.'"
In 1992, current guitarist Darren Middleton
Darren Middleton
Darren Stuart Middleton is an Australian lead guitarist for alternative rock band Powderfinger. He is also the lead singer for Drag....
was invited to join Powderfinger by Fanning and Haug, after they were impressed by his work in Brisbane band Pirate. Middleton accepted the offer and became the fifth member, joining Jon Coghill
Jon Coghill
Jon Coghill is an Australian drummer best known for his work with Australian rock band, Powderfinger, although he has also toured with Regurgitator. Coghill replaced Powderfinger's original drummer Steven Bishop in 1991 when Bishop wanted to pursue further studies...
who had replaced Bishop as drummer. The lineup of Fanning, Middleton, Haug, Collins, and Coghill has since remained unchanged.
Throughout the late 1990s, Powderfinger rose to prominence throughout Australia, receiving several accolades and achieving highly successful record and concert ticket sales. As the most vocal and prominent member of the band, the popularity for the group elevated Fanning as a powerful individual in the public view of the Australian music industry. Fanning was called upon by film-maker Gregor Jordan
Gregor Jordan
Gregor Jordan is an Australian film director.Jordan's films include Two Hands , Buffalo Soldiers , and Ned Kelly . He has also directed the concert video These Days: Live in Concert by Australian rock band Powderfinger.His film Two Hands won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction...
in 2003 to perform the folk song "Moreton Bay" (named after the bay of the same name
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay on the eastern coast of Australia 45 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
in the Brisbane area) and his own original composition "Shelter for My Soul" in Jordan's film Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly (2003 film)
Ned Kelly is an Australian drama film directed by Gregor Jordan. The film portrays the life of Ned Kelly — a legendary bushranger in northeast Victoria. Ned Kelly, his brother Dan, and two other men — Steve Hart and Joe Byrne — formed a gang of Irish Australians in response to Irish and...
. Fanning then enlisted Jordan to film Powderfinger's first live DVD, These Days: Live in Concert.
Solo venture (2004–2006)
On 31 October 2005, Fanning released his debut solo album entitled Tea & Sympathy. The album debuted at #1 on the Australian ARIA Albums chart, and spent 58 weeks in the top 50. It peaked at #11 during its 18-week stay on the New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
albums chart.
Tea & Sympathy comprised songs Fanning had written in his time with Powderfinger, as well as new content written after the band went on hiatus. Most of the writing was done in what Fanning described as a "creative burst" between March and May 2005. Much of the inspiration for the work on the album came from Fanning's reaction to the death of his brother in 2002, and to the ending of a 12-year relationship with his girlfriend. The majority of the album was recorded at Real World Studios
Real World Studios
Real World Studios is a residential recording studio in Box, Wiltshire, England associated with the Real World Records Ltd. record label founded by rock musician Peter Gabriel...
with Tchad Blake
Tchad Blake
Tchad Blake is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician.He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including State Radio, Apartment 26, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Brazilian Girls, Sheryl Crow, November 2nd, Travis, Marike...
in June 2005, except for "Not Finished Just Yet", "Believe", "Wash Me Clean", and "Hope & Validation", which were recorded at Fanning's Brisbane home. Fanning was supported by Brisbane musicians Jerry Marotta
Jerry Marotta
Jerry Marotta is a drummer currently residing in Woodstock, New York. He is the brother of Rick Marotta, who is also a well-known drummer and composer....
, Keith Duffy
Keith Duffy (bassist)
Keith Duffy is an Irish bass guitarist, best known for his long-standing support role in the folk-pop band The Corrs. He was born Keith Arnold Jacques Duffy on 2 June 1966, in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland....
, and John Bedggood, who also formed part of his live band. The album was developed in a relaxed manner, with Fanning stating, "We had a ball putting the songs together."
Three singles were released from the album. The most successful of these was the lead single, "Wish You Well
Wish You Well
"Wish You Well" is the first single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2005 and was voted number 1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005.-Music video:...
", shortly followed by "Songbird
Songbird (Bernard Fanning song)
"Songbird" is the second single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea & Sympathy, released in 2005. It reached #11 on National Airplay Charts in January 2006, and was #14 on Triple J Hottest 100 in 2005...
". These releases were only sold as digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
singles. The third single from the album, "Watch Over Me
Watch Over Me (song)
"Watch Over Me" is the third single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2006. Fanning has said in the past that the song had been inspired by the music played at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.-Track listing:...
", was the only to be released as a CD single and achieved minor success on the Australian singles chart. It entered the chart on 9 July 2006 at #16, and spent eight weeks in the top 50. On 26 January 2006, "Wish You Well" was voted #1 for the Triple J Hottest 100
Triple J Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll, based on the votes of national Australian radio station Triple J listeners, in order to determine their favourite song of the year. Voting is conducted by the internet and begins roughly two weeks prior to the new year for the previous year's songs...
, 2005
Triple J Hottest 100, 2005
The 2005 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on 26 January 2006. It was the thirteenth such countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J....
. Following "Watch Over Me", Fanning digitally released a fourth single "Weekend of Mystery
Weekend of Mystery
"Weekend of Mystery" is the fourth and final single from Bernard Fanning's 2005 debut album Tea and Sympathy. The single was released as an iTunes store exclusive single on 15 August 2006. As a song, it was not available on the regular CD versions of Tea and Sympathy; it was only available on the...
", which was not officially on the album, except for those who purchased the album from the iTunes store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
. Fanning also took home the award for Best Music Video at the 2006 ARIA Awards for the iconic 'Wish You Well' clip.
On 2 December 2005, Fanning announced a nationwide Which Way Home Concert Tour, named after the song on the album of the same name. Fanning played seven shows between 25 February and 10 March 2006, in all of Australia's major capital cities. He was supported by Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
band The Panics
The Panics
The Panics are an ARIA Award–winning indie rock band originally from Perth, Western Australia, and currently based in Melbourne, Victoria.-History:...
and Brisbane singer Andrew Morris. He followed this with the "Yesterday's Gone" tour, announced on 11 August 2006, and concluding with Powderfinger re-uniting and returning to the recording studio— Fanning later stated that while he enjoyed making Tea & Sympathy, "Powderfinger is my real job".
Powderfinger return (2007–2010)
Throughout 2006, Fanning had hinted towards Powderfinger
Powderfinger
Powderfinger was an Australian rock band that formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their breakup the band lineup consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bassist John Collins, and drummer Jon Coghill....
ceasing their hiatus to release a sixth studio album. Recorded in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Dream Days at the Hotel Existence
Dream Days at the Hotel Existence
Dream Days at the Hotel Existence is the sixth studio album by Australian rock band Powderfinger, released by Universal Music on 2 June 2007 in Australia, 19 November 2007 in the United Kingdom, and 11 November 2008 in the United States on the Dew Process label...
was released on 2 June 2007. The title of the album came from a chapter of Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster
Paul Auster
Paul Benjamin Auster is an American author known for works blending absurdism, existentialism, crime fiction and the search for identity and personal meaning in works such as The New York Trilogy , Moon Palace , The Music of Chance , The Book of Illusions and The Brooklyn Follies...
, a book that Fanning had read during recording. The album debuted at #1 on the Australian ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
Albums chart.
Powderfinger toured around Australia and New Zealand with Silverchair
Silverchair
Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Merewether, Newcastle with the line-up of Ben Gillies on drums, Chris Joannou on bass guitar and Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo...
on the Across the Great Divide tour
Across the Great Divide tour
The Across the Great Divide tour was a concert tour by Australian alternative rock bands Powderfinger and Silverchair in 2007. The tour featured concerts in 26 towns across Australia and multiple shows in New Zealand...
in 2007. The tour's aim was to promote the efforts of Reconciliation Australia
Reconciliation Australia
Reconciliation Australia is the non-government, not-for-profit foundation established in January 2001 to provide a continuing national focus for reconciliation. It was established by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation...
to reduce the 17-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Fanning said of the tour, "The idea is to show both bands are behind the idea of reconciliation."
Style, technique, and influences
Fanning has been described as having a strong vocal range when singing, but has stated that he is not highly confident in his voice. In a 1998 interview, Fanning said, "I don't think I have the perfect voice or anything", and stated that delivering the message of the song was more important than "showing off [his] chops". He noted he was not interested in singing for the purpose of singing alone, but rather because he enjoyed getting the purpose of the song across. Fanning has stated: "For me, writing songs comes from anywhere", drawing inspiration from his experiences.In his work on Tea & Sympathy, Fanning noted less of a collaborative song style, referring to his inability to play guitar solo
Guitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
s as causing different elements to become a focus of the songs. In an interview, he said, "I wasn't relying on solos to be big features because I simply can't play them." Fanning explained that the shorter length of songs was due to him not having "four other people" to back him up when producing independently.
Fanning has stated his favourite band is The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
.
Political and moral stances
For me, reconciliation is not about casting blame, financial compensation or bringing shame on anyone. It is about accepting there have been wrongdoings in the past that have left Aborigines here in a position of distinct disadvantage.—Bernard Fanning
Fanning has stated that although political messages may be common throughout his and Powderfinger's music, it is not the central focus when writing songs: "A balance has to be struck in a lot of ways, in the sense that primarily I'm a musician. I'm not a political commentator. So if I write a song that has political content, then hopefully that song is a good enough song to make it onto my record. And if it's not, then that's just a song that I've written. So I don't think it necessarily needs to be that you're definitively trying to make a political statement." He has stated that he has no interest in "doing a 'Peter Garrett
Peter Garrett
Peter Robert Garrett, AM, MP , is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and politician.Garrett was lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil from 1973 until its disbanding in 2002...
'", who entered politics after a successful Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...
career.
On 8 July 2007, Fanning wrote a piece for Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
's Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail (Adelaide)
The Sunday mail was founded in 1912 by Clarence Moody. Moody initially set up three newspapers - the Sporting mail, Saturday mail and the Mail. The first two titles lasted only two years and five years respectively...
, telling of his recent trip to Uluru
Uluru
Uluru , also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park....
. In the piece, he criticised those who climbed the rock, stating that he was "appalled that kids were being taught to disrespect the wishes of Aboriginal people on their own land". Upon returning from Uluru, Fanning wrote "Black Tears
Black Tears
"Black Tears" is a song by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger, from their sixth studio album Dream Days at the Hotel Existence. The song is an acoustic ballad in a folk music style, beginning with one guitar and a lead vocal, later introducing a guitar with a synthesised effect from the...
", which intended to "document a relationship gone wrong". In his piece, Fanning also criticised the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, and encouraged all to join a conversation on reconciliation.
Fanning takes a left-leaning political stance, although he claims he is not fond of discussing the issue. Rather, he attempts to discuss the issues through his songs; "I approach writing a song about something like [Aboriginal affairs] the same way I would approach writing a song about a relationship, because it's something that I feel strongly about." However, he has occasionally stated his views on social and political issues, giving The Dominion Post
The Dominion Post (Wellington)
The Dominion Post is a metropolitan broadsheet newspaper published in Wellington, New Zealand, owned by the Australian Fairfax group, owners of The Age, Melbourne, and The Sydney Morning Herald.- Foundation :...
his stance on Aboriginal affairs in light of the Across the Great Divide tour;
Personal life
Fanning has performed numerous philanthropic tasks independently and with Powderfinger. The band played at the 2005 WaveAidWaveAid
WaveAid was a fund raising concert held on Saturday the 29th of January 2005 as a means for raising funds for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami. It was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and broadcast on television by Channel [V] and MTV, and on radio...
concert to raise money for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
, and the Across the Great Divide tour
Across the Great Divide tour
The Across the Great Divide tour was a concert tour by Australian alternative rock bands Powderfinger and Silverchair in 2007. The tour featured concerts in 26 towns across Australia and multiple shows in New Zealand...
in 2007 to promote the efforts of Reconciliation Australia
Reconciliation Australia
Reconciliation Australia is the non-government, not-for-profit foundation established in January 2001 to provide a continuing national focus for reconciliation. It was established by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation...
. Fanning has contributed to charities including "A Just Australia" and Youngcare Australia, and donates his time to youth detention centres
Youth detention center
A youth detention center, also known as a juvenile detention center , juvenile hall or, more colloquially as juvie, is a secure residential facility for young people, often termed juvenile delinquents, awaiting court hearings and/or placement in long-term care facilities and programs...
in Brisbane by running songwriting workshops. In an uncharacteristic outburst, Fanning once referred to fellow Australian artist Ben Lee
Ben Lee
Benjamin Michael "Ben" Lee is an ARIA Award winning musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appeared as the protagonist in the Australian film The Rage in Placid Lake...
as "a precocious little cunt", after Lee referred to himself as "the saviour of Australian music". Fanning later apologised for the comment.
Fanning married Andrea Moreno in February 2007 in Brisbane, Australia. Moreno is from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where the two met while Fanning was writing and recording Tea & Sympathy in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. This relaionship followed a twelve-year union Fanning had had with his previous girlfriend, and it was this break-up (along with the then-recent death of his older brother) which influenced much of the lyrical content and sombre atmospheric mood of Tea & Sympathy. Through Moreno, Fanning has learned to speak some of the Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. Fanning and Moreno have performed together while Powderfinger was on hiatus and Fanning was touring as a solo artist.
APRA Awards
The APRA AwardsAPRA Awards
The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....
are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association
Australasian Performing Right Association
The Australasian Performing Right Association is a copyright collective representing New Zealand and Australian composers, lyricists and music publishers. The association's head offices located in Sydney Australia, and it has branch offices in Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth...
(APRA).
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2004
APRA Awards of 2004
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2004 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 24 May at Melbourne's Regent Theatre, they were presented by APRA and the...
|| Powderfinger – Fanning, Jon Coghill
Jon Coghill
Jon Coghill is an Australian drummer best known for his work with Australian rock band, Powderfinger, although he has also toured with Regurgitator. Coghill replaced Powderfinger's original drummer Steven Bishop in 1991 when Bishop wanted to pursue further studies...
, Ian Haug
Ian Haug
Ian David Haug is a lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the Australian rock band Powderfinger. Mainstays Haug and bass guitarist John Collins formed the band in Brisbane in 1989. During a hiatus in Powderfinger's career, Haug worked on a side project, The Predators, with Collins and original...
, Darren Middleton
Darren Middleton
Darren Stuart Middleton is an Australian lead guitarist for alternative rock band Powderfinger. He is also the lead singer for Drag....
, John Collins
John Collins (Australian musician)
John Andrew Collins is the mainstay bass guitarst for Australian rock band Powderfinger since 1989. He is one of the founding members of the band, along with guitarist Ian Haug, forming at their high school, Brisbane Grammar School as a three piece. Powderfinger has released seven studio albums, a...
|| Songwriter of the Year ||
|-
|"On My Mind
(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind
" On My Mind" is a song on Powderfinger's fifth studio album Vulture Street. It was released as a single in 2003 and reached #9 on the Australian music chart, the band's third highest charting single to date.-Background:After two albums of Powderfinger releasing singles that were either acoustic...
" – Fanning, Darren Middleton
Darren Middleton
Darren Stuart Middleton is an Australian lead guitarist for alternative rock band Powderfinger. He is also the lead singer for Drag....
, John Collins
John Collins (Australian musician)
John Andrew Collins is the mainstay bass guitarst for Australian rock band Powderfinger since 1989. He is one of the founding members of the band, along with guitarist Ian Haug, forming at their high school, Brisbane Grammar School as a three piece. Powderfinger has released seven studio albums, a...
, Ian Haug
Ian Haug
Ian David Haug is a lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the Australian rock band Powderfinger. Mainstays Haug and bass guitarist John Collins formed the band in Brisbane in 1989. During a hiatus in Powderfinger's career, Haug worked on a side project, The Predators, with Collins and original...
, Jonathan Coghill
Jon Coghill
Jon Coghill is an Australian drummer best known for his work with Australian rock band, Powderfinger, although he has also toured with Regurgitator. Coghill replaced Powderfinger's original drummer Steven Bishop in 1991 when Bishop wanted to pursue further studies...
|| Most Performed Australian Work ||
|-
| 2006
APRA Awards of 2006
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2006 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 5 June at the Sydney Four Seasons Hotel, they were presented by APRA and the...
|| Bernard Fanning || Songwriter of the Year ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2007
APRA Awards of 2007
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2007 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 16 June at the Sydney Hilton, they were presented by APRA and the Australasian...
|| "Songbird
Songbird (Bernard Fanning song)
"Songbird" is the second single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea & Sympathy, released in 2005. It reached #11 on National Airplay Charts in January 2006, and was #14 on Triple J Hottest 100 in 2005...
" – Fanning || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
| "Watch Over Me
Watch Over Me (song)
"Watch Over Me" is the third single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2006. Fanning has said in the past that the song had been inspired by the music played at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.-Track listing:...
" – Fanning || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
| "Wish You Well
Wish You Well
"Wish You Well" is the first single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2005 and was voted number 1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005.-Music video:...
" – Fanning || Most Performed Blues & Roots Work ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2008
APRA Awards of 2008
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2008 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 16 June at the Sydney Hilton, they were presented by APRA and the Australasian...
||rowspan="2"| "Lost and Running
Lost and Running
"Lost and Running" is a song by Australian rock group Powderfinger. It was released as the first single from the group's sixth studio album Dream Days at the Hotel Existence. It is the band's twenty-second single and peaked at No. 5 on the Australian chart, the group's second highest charting...
" – Jonathon Coghill
Jon Coghill
Jon Coghill is an Australian drummer best known for his work with Australian rock band, Powderfinger, although he has also toured with Regurgitator. Coghill replaced Powderfinger's original drummer Steven Bishop in 1991 when Bishop wanted to pursue further studies...
, John Collins
John Collins (Australian musician)
John Andrew Collins is the mainstay bass guitarst for Australian rock band Powderfinger since 1989. He is one of the founding members of the band, along with guitarist Ian Haug, forming at their high school, Brisbane Grammar School as a three piece. Powderfinger has released seven studio albums, a...
, Fanning, Ian Haug
Ian Haug
Ian David Haug is a lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the Australian rock band Powderfinger. Mainstays Haug and bass guitarist John Collins formed the band in Brisbane in 1989. During a hiatus in Powderfinger's career, Haug worked on a side project, The Predators, with Collins and original...
, Darren Middleton
Darren Middleton
Darren Stuart Middleton is an Australian lead guitarist for alternative rock band Powderfinger. He is also the lead singer for Drag....
|| Song of the Year ||
|-
|Most Played Australian Work ||
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions |
Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
NZ |
|||
| Tea & Sympathy |
|
1 | 11 |
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... : 5× Platinum |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
NZ |
||||||||
| 2005 | "Wish You Well Wish You Well "Wish You Well" is the first single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2005 and was voted number 1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005.-Music video:... " |
— | 24 | Tea & Sympathy | |||||
| "Songbird Songbird (Bernard Fanning song) "Songbird" is the second single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea & Sympathy, released in 2005. It reached #11 on National Airplay Charts in January 2006, and was #14 on Triple J Hottest 100 in 2005... " |
— | — | |||||||
| 2006 | "Watch Over Me Watch Over Me (song) "Watch Over Me" is the third single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2006. Fanning has said in the past that the song had been inspired by the music played at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.-Track listing:... " |
16 | — | ||||||
| "Weekend of Mystery Weekend of Mystery "Weekend of Mystery" is the fourth and final single from Bernard Fanning's 2005 debut album Tea and Sympathy. The single was released as an iTunes store exclusive single on 15 August 2006. As a song, it was not available on the regular CD versions of Tea and Sympathy; it was only available on the... " |
— | — | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||