1978–1986: Men at Work In 1978, Hay met
Ron Strykert and they formed an
acoustic duo. The band released their debut studio album,
Business as Usual, in 1981, which was followed by
Cargo (1983) and
Two Hearts (1985) before breaking up in January 1986. In 1986, Hay joined as guest vocalist with
the Incredible Penguins for a
cover of "
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", a charity project for research on
little penguins, which peaked at No. 10 on the Australian
Kent Music Report in December 1985.
1987–1993: Solo career beginnings Following the break-up of Men at Work in 1986, Hay released his debut single "Hold Me" in January 1987. The song peaked at number 40 on the Kent Music Report. His debut studio album,
Looking for Jack was released in January 1987 and peaked at number 58. Hay relocated to
Los Angeles in 1989. He settled in the
Topanga region of the city and has resided in the United States since. In January 2016, he became a US citizen. In March 1990, Hay released "Into My Life", the
lead single from his second studio album,
Wayfaring Sons, which was released in April 1990. Neither single nor album reached the ARIA top 100. The album was credited to the Colin Hay Band, which consisted of Gerry Hale, Paul Gadsby and Robert Dillon. In 1994, Hay established his own recording label, Lazy Eye Records, and released his fourth studio album,
Topanga. In 1996, Hay reunited with Men at Work and toured South America, which led to the live Men at Work album,
Brazil. In 2001, Hay released his sixth studio album,
Going Somewhere. Hay toured North America with former Beatles
Ringo Starr, as a member of his
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. In May 2011, Hay released his eleventh studio album
Gathering Mercury. In December 2013, Hay announced on his website that he was done touring "for the time being" and would spend 2014 writing and recording. In February 2015, Hay released his twelfth studio album,
Next Year People. The album was preceded by the single "Trying to Get to You". On 4 August 2015,
Colin Hay: Waiting for my Real Life, a documentary film about Hay, debuted at the
Melbourne International Film Festival. On 27 January 2017, he released the first single, "A Thousand Million Reasons", from his thirteenth studio album
Fierce Mercy, released in March 2017.
Fierce Mercy debuted at number 44 on the ARIA chart, becoming his second solo chart entry in Australia. The album was promoted with his segments on ''
Julia Zemiro's Home Delivery and Sunday Night''. Also in 2017, Hay released his first audiobook, ''Aesop's Fables with Colin Hay'', published by Devault-Graves Digital Editions, for which he narrated 24 of
Aesop's Fables written by author
Tom Graves.
2021–present: "Down Under" remix, and other successes In August 2021, Hay released his fourteenth studio album, ''I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself''. The album features 10 versions of some of Hay's favourite songs from
the Beatles (
Norwegian Wood,
Across the Universe)
Blind Faith,
Del Amitri,
Dusty Springfield,
Faces,
Gerry and the Pacemakers (
Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying),
Glen Campbell (
Wichita Lineman),
Jimmy Cliff (
Many Rivers to Cross) and
the Kinks (
Waterloo Sunset). In late 2021, Australian producer
Christian "Luude" Benson (from the Tasmanian
electronic dance music duo
Choomba) remixed Men at Work's "Down Under" as a drum and bass track, with Hay re-recording the vocal for the track's release on the
Sweat It Out record label. "Down Under" by Luude featuring Colin Hay charted at number 32 on the UK Singles chart on 7 January 2022 and at number 48 in Australia (ARIA Top 50 Singles for week of 10 January 2022). Hay's fifteenth studio album,
Now and the Evermore, was released on 18 March 2022. In 2022, Australian rock band
Lime Cordiale released their song "
Colin" from their album
Enough Of The Sweet Talk. Hay lends vocals to the song, and part of the music video was filmed at his house. ==Personal life==