Jimmy Barnes

Barnes was born James Dixon Swan on 28 April 1956 in Dennistoun, His maternal grandmother was Jewish. He was raised Protestant and later became a Buddhist. Barnes has said that he recalls living in the slums of Glasgow "vividly". Barnes' father was an alcoholic, and the children endured violence, abuse, and trauma growing up. after his stepfather, as did all of the other siblings except for the eldest, John. John Dixon became the target of sexual abuse from his parents' friends' son, and left home at 13, but Barnes has said that he was one of two heroes (the other being Reg); that he "would have been killed if it weren't for him". ==Cold Chisel==

Barnes took up an apprenticeship in a foundry with the South Australian Railways in 1973, but the love he and his brother had for music led him to join a band. In 1974, his brother Swanee was playing drums with Fraternity, which had just parted ways with the singer Bon Scott. Barnes took over the role but his tenure with the band was brief and, in December 1975, he joined a harder-edged band called Orange, with the organist and songwriter Don Walker, guitarist Ian Moss, drummer Steve Prestwich, and bass guitarist Les Kaczmarek. He later said that Walker had had a profound influence on him, because "he was someone who really cared about what he was doing, and who seemed to have a plan". they moved on to Sydney in early 1977. In late 1977 WEA (later Warner Music) signed the band. Between 1978 and 1984, Cold Chisel released five studio albums and won numerous TV Week / Countdown Awards. Barnes would frequently leave and return to the band during this period, and they did not earn enough money to live on, despite pulling huge crowds. After acrimonious arguments had developed among band members, Cold Chisel reunited in 1997 and released Last Wave of Summer in 1998. In late 2024 the band did a 50th anniversary national tour, finishing with a gig at the VAILO Adelaide 500 post-race concert in Adelaide on 17 November 2024. ==Solo career==

1980s Barnes launched his solo career less than a month after Cold Chisel's Last Stand tour came to an end in December 1983. He assembled a band that included Arnott, the former Fraternity bass guitar player Bruce Howe and guitarists Mal Eastick (ex-Stars) and Chris Stockley (ex-The Dingoes) and began touring and writing for a solo album. Signing to Mushroom Records, Barnes released his first single, "No Second Prize", in August 1984, which peaked at number 12 on the Australian charts. His first solo album, Bodyswerve, was produced by Mark Opitz and released in 1984. It debuted at Number One on the Australian charts. For the Working Class Man debuted on the Australian national chart at No. 1 in December 1985 and it remained at No. 1 for seven weeks. Titled simply Jimmy Barnes in the US, the album was issued in February 1986 to tie in with the release of the Ron Howard film Gung Ho (titled Working Class Man in Australia), which used "Working Class Man". The Jimmy Barnes band that toured Australia in support of the album included Howe and Arnott, with the keyboard player Peter Kekell, the former Rose Tattoo guitarist Robin Riley and the American guitarist Dave Amato. With the release of the album in America, Barnes and a band of Canadian musicians hand-picked by his North American management team toured with ZZ Top. In 1986, Barnes recorded two songs with INXS, a cover version of the Easybeats' "Good Times" A concert film of this event was made by Richard Lowenstein and released later that year. While there, Barnes did considerable live work throughout Britain and toured with the Rolling Stones. In June 1995, Barnes released his eighth studio album, Psyclone, which peaked at number 2 in Australia and featured the top-twenty single "Change of Heart". In September 1996, Barnes released "Lover Lover", which peaked at number 6 on the singles chart. This was followed in October 1996 with Barnes's first greatest-hits compilation, Barnes Hits Anthology, which became Barnes's seventh solo number-one album. In 1998, Cold Chisel reformed and Barnes returned to Australia with his family after three years in France. In March 1999 Barnes performed the 1978 Sylvester hit "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" live onstage at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras annual party. Later that year Barnes released the heavy-rock single "Love and Hate", followed by its parent album Love and Fear. An autobiographical record combining hard rock with electronic music, Love and Fear was Barnes's first album to miss the Australian top ten, peaking at number 22. 2000s In October 2000, Barnes performed at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. In November 2000, Barnes released a second album of soul tunes, titled Soul Deeper... Songs From the Deep South. The album peaked at number 3 on the ARIA charts. A number of live albums followed with little commercial success. In 2004, Barnes recorded an album with Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, Uriah Heep drummer Lee Kerslake, bass player Bob Daisley and keyboard player Don Airey under the name Living Loud. The self-titled album featured a number of songs originally written and recorded with Ozzy Osbourne by Kerslake, Daisley, and Airey. In July 2005, Barnes released his eleventh studio album, Double Happiness, which debuted at number one on the ARIA Charts. Double Happiness was an album of duets, including several with his children, daughters Mahalia and Elly-May, sons Jackie Barnes and David Campbell. After its initial success, it was re-released as a double CD/DVD package featuring many of his duets from previous albums, including those with INXS, John Farnham, Joe Cocker, and Tina Turner. In September 2007 he started recording his twelfth studio album, Out in the Blue. Produced by Nash Chambers at Barnes' own studio Freight Train Studios, it was released on 24 November 2007. The songs were written while he recovered from his heart surgery, and was described as a change in direction, "very much a rootsy, rock album with rockabilly shuffles, powerful ballads and flat chat rock & roll". "When Two Hearts Collide" is a duet with Kasey Chambers, and other musicians featured on the album include Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), Mark Punch, and Chris Haigh, as well as his four children Mahalia, EJ, Jackie, and Elly-May. 2010s in 2012 In August 2010, Barnes released his 14th solo studio album, Rage and Ruin. Barnes stated that the ideas for most of the lyrics and song themes came from a journal he kept during a period in his life (late 1990s to early 2000s) when he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. Rage and Ruin debuted at number 3 on the ARIA Charts on 5 September 2010. Barnes headlined at Celebrate in the Park, playing a 90-minute set which included his solo hits and some Cold Chisel greats. He was joined by daughter Mahalia in a soulful rendition of "When the War Is Over", which he dedicated to the memory of Steve Prestwich. In August 2014, Barnes released 30:30 Hindsight, an anniversary album celebrating 30 years since his chart-topping debut solo album, Bodyswerve. The album debuted at No. 1 in Australia, becoming Barnes's 10th solo No. 1 album. In 2015, Barnes asked the Reclaim Australia Political Party to stop playing his music at their rallies. In July 2015, it was announced that Barnes would release Best of the Soul Years compilation. The album would be compiled of soul and R&B classics, from his three soul albums; "Soul Deep" (1991), "Soul Deeper" (2000) and "The Rhythm and the Blues" (2009). A fourth album of soul covers was released in June 2016 called, ''Soul Searchin''', which became Barnes's 11th number one album in Australia and tied Barnes the equal second-most (with Madonna and U2) of all time behind The Beatles at 14. In 2017, he featured in the song "Big Enough" by Kirin J. Callinan, alongside Alex Cameron and Molly Lewis. In addition to this, his cameo in the song's music video became a popular internet meme in late 2017. In March of the same year, Barnes released a children's album called ''Och Aye the G'nu''. It won the ARIA Award for Best Children's Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2017, although the brand that appeared on the album, as well as the poetry books that were released on the first of April are related to The Wiggles. In January 2019, Barnes announced his forthcoming eighteenth solo studio album, My Criminal Record. It was released on 17 May 2019. It was Barnes's 12th solo number-one album, and 16th when including releases with Cold Chisel on the Australian albums chart, making him the artist with the most chart-topping albums in Australian chart history, having previously tied at 11 number ones with Madonna and U2. At the APRA Music Awards of 2020, "Shutting Down Our Town" was nominated for Most Performed Rock Work of the Year. 2020s Barnes' next album, Flesh and Blood, was released in July 2021, and debuted at No.1 on the ARIA chart. The album, written with brother-in-law Diesel and Cold Chisel bandmate Don Walker, included duets with Barnes' wife, Jane, and his children Jackie, Elly-May and Eliza Jane Barnes. In April 2022, Barnes announced the forthcoming release of Soul Deep 30, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Soul Deep, alongside a national tour. The album debuted at number one on the ARIA chart later that year. In November 2022, Barnes released his first Christmas album, Blue Christmas. It became his fifteenth number-one solo album. In March 2023, Barnes announced the formation of rockabilly supergroup The Barnestormers, featuring Barnes, Chris Cheney, Slim Jim Phantom, Jools Holland and Kevin Shirley. A self-titled album was released on 26 May 2023, and reached No.3 on the ARIA chart. In June 2025, Barnes released his 21st studio album, Defiant. It debuted at No.1 on the ARIA chart, making it his 16th solo number one album . Combined with Cold Chisel, his total of 22 number one albums gives Barnes the record for the most chart-topping albums by any artist in Australian history . ==Freight Train Studios==

Barnes' Freight Train Studios were originally located at Bowral, later moving to Botany in Sydney. Among others, the following albums were recorded in the studio: • Hey Rudolph! (The Tin Lids, 2006); a collection of Christmas carols • Out in the Blue (2007) ==Other activities==

In 1992 Barnes worked with his friend Mandawuy Yunupingu, frontman of Yothu Yindi, on a project called "Sister Schools", the aim of which was to ensure that "schools with few or no Aboriginal children will forge educational and social links with schools with large numbers of Aboriginal children, in an attempt to foster tolerance and understanding". Before the launch of the project, "the Yunupingu kids" (Mandawuy's children) recorded a song written by Yunupingu called "School" with Barnes' children in their band The Tin Lids. As part of the project, endorsed by the government, schools with few or no Aboriginal children would forge educational and social links with schools with many Aboriginal children, by exchanging letters, photographs, and other media. Around 100 schools expressed interest in the project, which was launched in August 1992 by connecting the school in Yirrkala with Gib Gate Primary School near Mittagong in New South Wales. In late 2006, Barnes became patron of the Choir of Hard Knocks, a choral group formed by Jonathon Welch and consisting of homeless and disadvantaged people in Melbourne. The formation of the choir was documented by the ABC as a five-part series aired in May 2007. Barnes has regularly performed "Flame Trees" with the choir at their concerts. On 14 March 2011 he planted a flame tree, made famous in Cold Chisel's 1984 song "Flame Trees", at the National Arboretum Canberra. Barnes also guest-starred in episode 2 of season 2 of the television comedy series These New South Whales in 2018. ==Personal life==

Family In November 1979, Barnes met Jane Mahoney, the stepdaughter of an Australian diplomat whose mother was Thai. Barnes has eight children: four with his wife Jane (including Mahalia, Jackie and Elly-May; all musically known as The Tin Lids). Before that, his eldest son, David Campbell, was born of a teenage relationship with Kim Campbell. He has said about his relationship with David's mother Kim that they were just two scared children who were being beaten and abused at home, and not ready to bring up a child. David's grandmother raised him, although Barnes was at first told that he had been adopted. Barnes is brother-in-law to fellow musician and long-time collaborator Diesel. and also appeared on Sunrise on Channel 7. Jane sang and as well as playing guitar, played bagpipes and tin flute, On 7 July 2007 Barnes was a presenter at the Australian leg of Live Earth. In August he became a regular presenter on The Know, a pop culture program on the pay-TV channel MAX and has also been a presenter of the Planet Rock program on the Austereo network. On 28 November 2023, Barnes announced via Instagram that he was being treated in hospital for a bacterial infection. He remained in hospital for two weeks; on 12 December he announced, also via Instagram, that he was undergoing open heart surgery due to the infection having spread to an already-weakened valve. Autobiographies In 2016, Barnes published his autobiography, Working Class Boy, which explored his traumatic childhood experiences. In November 2017, Barnes published a second memoir; a sequel to Working Class Boy titled Working Class Man. On 3 May 2018, Barnes won the biography of the year award at the Australian Book Industry Awards for the second year in a row. His autobiography Working Class Boy was adapted into a film by Universal Pictures. Directed by Mark Joffe, the film premiered in Australian cinemas on 23 August 2018. A soundtrack was released on 17 August 2018. Beliefs and politics Barnes labels himself as "sort of Buddhist", and describes himself as a socialist. as well as rugby league team Wests Tigers, and the Port Adelaide Football Club. ==Discography==

Cold Chisel Studio albums • Bodyswerve (1984) • For the Working Class Man (1985) • Freight Train Heart (1987) • Two Fires (1990) • Soul Deep (1991) • Heat (1993) • Flesh and Wood (1993) • Psyclone (1995) • Love and Fear (1999) • Soul Deeper... Songs From the Deep South (2000) • Double Happiness (2005) • Out in the Blue (2007) • The Rhythm and the Blues (2009) • Rage and Ruin (2010) • 30:30 Hindsight (2014) • ''Soul Searchin''' (2016) • ''Och Aye the G'nu'' (2017) • Working Class Boy (2018) • My Criminal Record (2019) • Flesh and Blood (2021) • Blue Christmas (2022) • Defiant (2025) ==Written works==

Written works by Jimmy Barnes Barnes has written six books. Written works featuring Jimmy Barnes ==Recognition, honours, and awards==

Barnes' career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time. In 2017 Barnes was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the performing arts as a musician, singer and songwriter, and through support for not-for-profit organisations, particularly to children with a disability. AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. APRA Awards The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. ARIA Awards Barnes has won seven Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards, including his induction into their Hall of Fame in 2005. As a member of Cold Chisel, he had also been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1992. Helpmann Awards The Helpmann Awards is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rolling Stone Australia Awards The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of Rolling Stone magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year. TV Week / Countdown Awards Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. ==Footnotes==