Jimmy Barnes AO (b. 1956), singer/songwriter, is a solo performer and the former lead singer of the quintessential Australian pub band, Cold Chisel. Born in Glasgow, Barnes immigrated to Adelaide with his family at age five. At seventeen Barnes joined Cold Chisel, which had been formed by Ian Moss, Steve Prestwich and Don Walker in 1973. After five years performing around the country, the band released the strong-selling Cold Chisel (1978). They followed up with Breakfast at Sweethearts before hitting the mainstream with East (1980), which went triple-platinum. Two more albums were followed by a tour of the UK and the USA in late 1982, but international success eluded the band. They announced their disbandment in August 1983; a final tour was filmed as Last Stand, and their 'last' studio album, Twentieth Century, was released in 1984 (they reformed to make another in 1998). Their many live albums, compilations and EPs have combined to make Cold Chisel the only Australian band to have sold more records after they broke up than when they were together. After leaving Cold Chisel, Barnes became Jimmy Barnes and has since released twenty solo albums including Flesh and Blood (2021) – thirteen of them reached number one, the most in ARIA chart history. His two bestselling autobiographies, Working Class Boy (2016) and Working Class Man (2017), were followed by a book of non-fiction short stories, Killing Time (2020) and a children's book, Rosie the Rhinoceros (2021).
Gift of John McLean 2008
© Grant Matthews
John W. McLean (1 portrait)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Jimmy & Jane Barnes with photographer Jesse Lizotte on collaborating and making their photograph in a bed of roses.
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