2003–2004: Australian Idol and ''That's What I'm Talking About'' In 2003, Noll successfully auditioned for the
first season of
Australian Idol, singing
Southern Sons' "Hold Me in Your Arms". His audition impressed all three judges, including
Marcia Hines who told him that she had just discovered "a voice" and
Ian Dickson who informed Noll that "Australia will love you". The grand final was held on 19 November 2003 at the
Sydney Opera House. After the viewer votes had been tallied it was announced that Guy Sebastian was the winner. Shortly after
Idol Noll signed a five-album deal with BMG Australia, which later merged with
Sony. He then embarked on the
Australian Idol national tour in January 2004, with eleven other contestants from the top twelve. That same month Noll released his cover of the
Moving Pictures song "
What About Me?" as his debut single. It debuted at number one on the
ARIA Singles Chart and spent four consecutive weeks at the top spot. "What About Me" was the highest-selling single of 2004 in Australia and was certified 4× platinum for shipments of 280,000 copies. The song also reached number two in Ireland and number ten in New Zealand. Noll's debut album ''
That's What I'm Talking About'' was released on 9 February 2004, Containing a mixture of pop, rock and country tracks, The second single "
Drive", an uptempo rock track written by Canadian singer
Bryan Adams, reached number four in Australia and was certified platinum for shipments of 70,000 copies. It became his second number one single and was certified gold for shipments of 35,000 copies. He embarked on his first solo headlining tour titled The Overdrive Tour in April 2004 to promote the album. In August 2004 Noll starred in a TV special on
Network Ten titled
Up Close with Shannon Noll, which was hosted by Ian Dickson. By late 2004 the
Nine Network had approached Noll to re-record the Australian cricket anthem "
C'mon Aussie C'mon" with updated lyrics. His version peaked at number two and was certified platinum. All proceeds from the single went towards
Red Cross' Good Start Breakfast Club, a community initiative set up to ensure all Australian school children start the day with a healthy breakfast. His second album
Lift was released on 16 October 2005, and debuted at number one. The album, with 11 out of 13 tracks co-written by Noll, covered topics including finding love, death, overcoming odds and self belief. It spent nine weeks in the top ten and was certified 3× platinum for shipments of 210,000 copies. The
lead single "
Shine" also debuted at number one and was certified platinum. It's music video was directed by Ryan Renshaw. It was later chosen as the theme song for the Australian version of reality series
The Biggest Loser. Two further singles were released from the album, "
Now I Run" which peaked at number six and "
Lonely" which peaked at number eight. Noll was set to star in the film
King of the Mountain, based loosely on the life of Australian racer
Peter Brock, but he declined the offer. In September 2006 Noll dropped Sydney firm Caplice Management and signed with New York-based management group Worldwide Entertainment Group (WEG). The decision was seen as part of his effort to gain success in the US, after having previously put on showcase performances for music industry executives with no luck. He supported American rock band
Live on their Australian tour the following month. In December 2006 Noll and
Natalie Bassingthwaighte released a cover of the
Peter Gabriel and
Kate Bush duet "
Don't Give Up" which peaked at number two and was certified platinum, after spending eleven consecutive weeks in the top ten. It served as the lead single from the compilation album
Home: Songs of Hope & Journey, which was released to raise funds for
beyondblue's depression research activities. "Don't Give Up" earned Noll a nomination for Highest Selling Single at the ARIA Music Awards the following year. His third album,
Turn It Up, was released on 15 September 2007; it debuted at number three and was certified platinum. Noll had travelled to the US earlier that year to work on the album with several songwriters and producers, including
Richard Marx,
Luke Ebbin and
Bon Jovi guitarist
Richie Sambora. The anthemic rock tune "
Loud" was released as the lead single from
Turn It Up and debuted at number three. Noll was honoured in an episode of the Australian version of
This Is Your Life. His first compilation album
No Turning Back: The Story So Far was released on 27 September 2008, and debuted at number seven. The album included ten of Noll's hit singles and five new tracks. He embarked on his No Turning Back Tour to promote the album's release. In June 2009, Noll again appeared as Parson Nathaniel in the UK tour of ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds''. Noll's second compilation album
What Matters the Most, featuring songs from his previous albums, was released in the UK to coincide with the tour but it did not chart. Two of his previous singles, "Shine" and "Now I Run", were re-released to accompany the album's UK release. He returned to Australia the following month for his acoustic In the Raw Tour, which featured a special Q&A session with host Nick Bennett.
2010–2014: A Million Suns In January 2010, Noll announced that he had parted ways with Sony, adding that it was time for a fresh start elsewhere. He later signed with
Universal Music Australia and released his fourth album
A Million Suns on 14 October 2011 which debuted at number eight. The lead single "
Switch Me On" was co-written by
Benji Madden of
Good Charlotte, and its music video was filmed in
Tokyo. "Switch Me On" reached number 42 and was certified gold. Three further singles "My Place in the Line", "Living in Stereo" and "Rewind" all failed to chart. Noll embarked on his A Million Suns Tour in 2012 to promote the album. In April 2012, Noll became a contestant on the
twelfth season of
Dancing with the Stars Australia and was partnered with professional dancer Elena Samodanova. He was forced to withdraw from the competition the following month after suffering a severe spinal injury while rehearsing a lift with Samodanova. Noll released the single "Man I Can Trust" on 1 October 2012 to coincide with the release of his autobiography
Shannon Noll: So Far, which he wrote with Sydney writer Alan Whiticker. The book explores Noll's early days on the family farm, the pain his family suffered following his father's death, his depression and drug usage, as well as the battles he waged against his critics and the music industry. In late 2013 Noll became the featured promoter of South Australian retailer
Radio Rentals and its sister brand RT Edwards in Queensland. The commercials for Radio Rentals and RT Edwards featured Noll singing the
Roy Orbison hit "
You Got It". Noll released "We Only Live Once" in July 2014 as the lead single from his next album, but it did not chart. The single's music video featured an appearance by
Miss Universe finalist
Renae Ayris. Noll embarked on his We Only Live Once Tour in September 2014 to support the single's release.
2016–present: Unbroken and Raw On 30 September 2016, Noll released the single "Who I Am", from his forthcoming fifth studio album. On 5 May 2017, Noll released the single "Southern Sky" This was followed by the release of a video and announcement of a national tour on 9 May. On 4 December, Noll and his record label Warner Music announced his fifth studio album is titled
Unbroken and was released in Australia on 2 February 2018. In January 2018, Noll competed in the fourth season of the Australian ''
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. On 4 November 2019, Noll released a song titled "Long Live the Summer", which was the lead single for his forthcoming sixth studio album. He then went on to release a track called "Wonderful", on 20 November 2020, which was featured as the second single for the album. In 2020, Noll toured across
New South Wales and performed over 30 intimate and acoustic shows. Following this successful run of shows, fans requested an album based on these shows. The album includes the first song written entirely by Noll. The third and final single of the album was a song titled "Better", which was released on 23 April 2021. Noll's sixth studio album, titled
Raw, was officially released on 28 May 2021 and was supported by the
Raw & Uncovered Australian tour. Upon release, Noll said the album "features some new songs plus new recordings of many of the songs you love hearing at my live shows plus covers of some Aussie classics."
Raw debuted at number 3 on the ARIA Charts, becoming his sixth consecutive top ten studio album. At the end of the year, the album was positioned at number 49 on the ARIA Year End Charts for Australian Country Albums. In August 2022, Noll was revealed to be Blowfly on the
fourth season of Network 10's
The Masked Singer Australia, where he placed fifth overall. On 23 August, he released his first song for 2022, a non-album single titled "Take Me Away". In September 2022, he released two remixed versions of his 2004 hit song "
What About Me". In Early 2023, Noll released a podcast titled
Idol Talking With Nollsie, to coincide with the return of
Australian Idol, which had been picked up by the
Seven Network. In April 2023, he released another single titled "Believe It", which was his first release of that year, and revealed that he was working on his seventh studio album. == Charity ==