Famous Australian Rock Musicians

Named one among the 12 Greatest Female Electric Guitarists by Elle magazine, Australian musician, singer and songwriter Orianthi Penny Panagaris began playing the guitar at the age of three and moved to acoustic by six. At fifteen, she began her professional career, concurrently focusing on songwriting and released her debut independent album at the age of 20. 

Daniel Johns is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician best known for his association with Silverchair where he was the former frontman and lyricist. Renowned for his guitaring skills, Daniel Johns was ranked 18th on Rolling Stone magazine's 25 Most Underrated Guitarists list in 2007.

Tammin Sursok is an actress and singer whose portrayal of Dani Sutherland earned her the Logie Award for Most Popular New Female Talent in 2001. Sursok is also known for her singing skills; her debut studio album Whatever Will Be peaked at number 13 on the ARIA Charts. Apart from acting and singing, Sursok has also been campaigning against bullying.

Award-winning Australian singer Kate Miller‐Heidke specializes in both contemporary pop and classical music. Apart from releasing multi-platinum hits such as Last Day on Earth, she has also composed the opera Rabbits and performed at various international music festivals. Her album O Vertigo! became the fastest crowdfunded project on Pledge.

Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins is known for her chartbusting singles such as Scar and Where I Stood. She has also performed at international events such as TEDx. Her hit album The Sound of White made it to the top 5 of the End of Decade Top 100 Albums Chart in 2010.

Australian indie singer Laura Imbruglia is better known as the sister of popstar Natalie Imbruglia, who once rocked the charts with her global hit Torn. Known for tracks such as Looking for a Rabbit, Laura has also written the web series Amateur Hour and appeared in the TV series Crash Palace.

The cofounder of the Australia’s iconic rock band, INXS, Andrew Farriss also serves as its main songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist, and backing vocalist. Opening his first band, Doctor Dolphin, while in high school, he later joined The Farriss Brothers before cofounding The Vegetables, which later became INXS. Winner of many awards, he released his debut album at the age of 62.

Rowland S. Howard began his career playing the guitar and writing songs as a teenager. A significant name in the rock, punk, and post-punk scene, he later gained fame with the band The Birthday Party. He was working on the album Pop Crimes when he lost his battle with liver cancer.

Mick Harvey is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and arranger. He often collaborates with his longtime friend and fellow musician Nick Cave, with whom he formed the bands The Boys Next Door and The Birthday Party. He also has a successful solo career. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including many ARIA Awards.

Australian psychedelic rock sensation Nick Allbrook is better known as the lead singer of Pond. Initially interested in sports such as soccer and skateboarding, he took to music much later. His was one of the rare bands to release a track, Pink Lunettes, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Best known as lead singer and solo continues member of the Australian alternative rock band The Vines, Craig Nicholls developed an early interest in music. He opened his band, then called Rishikesh, in 1994. Later he changed the name to Vines and as it started playing gigs he began writing songs for it, also painting covers for several of its album.

Steve Kilbey is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and bass guitarist best known for his association with the rock band The Church. He performs as a solo artist as well and has 14 solo albums to his name. A multi-talented personality, he is also a poet, painter, and music producer. As an artist, he has had at least two exhibits in US. 

Australian jazz fusion guitarist Frank Gambale has released twenty albums over a period of three decades. After graduating from the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, Gambale taught there from 1984 to 1986. He is known for his use of sweep picking and economy picking techniques. Gambale has also been head of the guitar department at the LA Music Academy.

Australian rock musician, singer and songwriter, Rob Bailey began his music career at the age of 13. He played bass guitar for various rock bands such as Flake, Acid Road, Natural Gas, Rudy and the Aardvarks and Company of Men. From April 1974 to January 1975, he was also associated with the hard rock band AC/DC.

George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga is best remembered as the lead singer of the Aboriginal rock band Warumpi Band. Part of the Yolngu tribe, he specialized in the rock-reggae-country genre. He and his band released the first Australian rock single in the Aboriginal language, Jailanguru Pakarnu, or Out of Jail.