Music of Australia

Performance of Aboriginal song and dance in the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney with traditional instrument, the Didgeridoo.

The music of Australia is the music made in the area of, on the subject of, or by the people of modern Australia. This includes its earlier Indigenous and colonial societies. Indigenous Australian music is a part of a 40–60,000 year history which made the didgeridoo. Combinations of Indigenous and Western styles show Australian additions to world music. Some people who do this are Yothu Yindi, Christine Anu and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. During its early western history, Australia was made of many British colonies. Australian folk music and bush ballads such as Waltzing Matilda were influenced by Anglo-Celtic culture. Classical forms came from those of Europe. Current Australian music covers many trends. They are often similar to those of the US, the UK, and similar nations. There are oftem similarities in the Australian rock and Australian country music genres.

Notable Australian musicians include: the opera singers Dame Nellie Melba and Dame Joan Sutherland; country music stars Slim Dusty (Australia's biggest selling domestic artist) and John Williamson; solo artists John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John, folk-rocker Paul Kelly; Dance group The Avalanches; jazz guitarist Tommy Emmanuel; pioneer rocker Johnny O'Keefe, global folk-rock band The Seekers, global rock and pop bands Men At Work, The EasyBeats, Bee Gees, Air Supply, Crowded House, AC/DC, INXS, Little River Band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Midnight Oil, Dragon, Silverchair, Youth Group, You Am I and Powderfinger; the "pop princess" Kylie Minogue, Pendulum, Pop Rock duo Savage Garden and alternative music stars the John Butler Trio and Xavier Rudd. Other popular artists and groups include The Choirboys, Chantoozies, Cheetah, Sharon O'Neill, Marc Williams, Peter Andre, Goanna, Australian Crawl, Rose Tattoo, Colleen Hewett, Keith Urban, The Angels, Ted Mullry Gang, Hush, The Mixtures, Helen Reddy, and Diana Trask.



Music Of Australia Media