Australian Women Musicians

Regarded as a timeless icon, Kylie Minogue is one of the most popular singer-songwriters of her generation. Referred to as the Princess of Pop and Goddess of Pop, she is the best-selling female Australian musician of all time. Also known as the Mother of Reinvention, Kylie is revered for her contribution to fashion and music.

Australian singer-songwriter, voice-actress and director Sia Furler rose to fame with albums like We Are Born. Moving on, she bolstered her career with albums like 1000 Forms of Fear that debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and singles like Cheap Thrills, her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one. Furler has also co-written hit songs like Diamonds, Titanium and Wild Ones.

Olivia Newton-John's breathy voice and stunning beauty made her one of the biggest pop stars of the 1970s. She charmed generations of movie viewers in the blockbuster film Grease. Following a string of country and soft-rock hits, Newton-John starred opposite John Travolta in the 1978  blockbuster Grease, considered as one the most popular movie musicals of all time.

Toni Watson is an Australian singer-songwriter whose single, Dance Monkey, broke Bing Crosby's all-time Australian record by spending 24 weeks at number one position on the ARIA Singles Chart. The single also earned Toni Watson several prestigious awards, such as APRA Music Award and ARIA Music Award.

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. 

Judith Durham is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter. In 1963, she became the lead singer of the popular folk-influenced pop quartet The Seekers, which became the first Australian pop band to achieve major sales and chart success in the United States and the United Kingdom. Her services to music earned her the title Victorian of the Year in 2015.

Jessica Mauboy is an Australian singer, actress, and songwriter. She started hogging the limelight after finishing second in the fourth season of Australian Idol, which was aired in 2006. One of the most successful female artists in Australia, Mauboy has received several awards, such as ARIA Music Awards.

Tina Arena is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and musical theatre actress. Having sold more than 10 million records worldwide, Arena is one of the highest-selling Australian artists. Tina Arena has won several national and international awards, including two World Music Awards and seven ARIA Awards so far. In 2015, she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

Indiana Evans is an Australian actress, songwriter, and singer. She is best known for playing Matilda Hunter in a TV soap opera titled Home and Away, for which she won the Dolly Teen Choice Award under the Queen of Teen category. Evans is also known for contributing immensely to the 2011 soundtrack for series three of H2O: Just Add Water.

Australia’s beloved Yellow Wiggle, Emma Watkins grew up trained as a classical dancer and later became the first female member of the Australian dance group the Wiggles. She also completed a film studies course on a scholarship. Emma is an Endometriosis Australia ambassador, having suffered the ailment herself.  

Tash Sultana soared to fame with her phenomenally successful single Jungle, which was first posted on YouTube and went viral on social media, gaining a million views in 5 days. The non-binary Australian singer uses the pronoun “they.” She also made it to the 2019 Forbes 30 under 30 list.

Courtney Barnett is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter. Renowned for her witty lyrics and deadpan singing style, Barnett achieved international recognition after releasing her highly successful EP, The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas. Over the years, she has won several important awards, such as APRA Music Awards, ARIA Music Awards, and AIR Awards. 

Australian singer-songwriter Jessica Origliasso is one-half of the Australian pop-duo The Veronicas that she formed with her identical twin sister, Lisa Origliasso. They rose to fame with platinum-certified studio-albums like The Secret Life of... and Hook Me Up, and singles like You Ruin Me. They have also acted in the television series Cybergirl and co-designed a fashion line for Target.    

Tal Wilkenfeld is an Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She developed an early interest in music and graduated from Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music. She is the bandleader of her own bands and has also performed in collaboration with artists including Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock, Prince, and Mick Jagger. She is a regular practitioner of meditation. 

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.

Brody Armstrong is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. She had a tumultuous childhood marred by abuse and violence. She sought solace in music and began her career as a teenager. As a young woman, she was part of many bands with which she released numerous hit albums and singles. She also has a successful career as a soloist. 

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.

Betty Who is a singer-songwriter best known for her cover of Donna Lewis’ song I Love You Always Forever. Born in Australia, she moved to USA as a young girl to attend Interlochen Center for the Arts. She began her career as an independent artist and later signed with RCA Records. She is openly bisexual. 

Though known as a country singer, Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers also mixes folk, blues, and rock n’ roll in her music. Born to the country singer duo Bill and Diane Chambers, she joined her family band at age 10. She later released chartbusting solo hits such as Not Pretty Enough.

Lisa Origliasso is an Australian singer-songwriter best known for forming the popular pop duo The Veronicas along with her twin sister, Jessica. Origliasso is also known for her humanitarian efforts; in 2006, she joined the Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, an organization that aims at protecting animals and their natural environments.

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.

Electronic dance musician and songwriter Olivia Nervo is one-half of the Australian DJ duo Nervo that she formed with her twin sister, Miriam. Over the years, they have spawned charting singles like We're All No One and The Way We See the World. The Grammy Award-winning single When Love Takes Over by David Guetta was co-written by the Nervo sisters.

Miriam Nervo is an Australian electronic dance musician and songwriter, who formed the DJ Duo NERVO along with her twin sister, Olivia, at the age of 18. However, their career actually took off when at the age of 21, they signed with Razor Boy Music Publishing, shortly co-writing When Love Takes Over, which made them famous overnight. Their debut album, Collateral, was released in 2005. 

Donna Burke is an Australian singer, narrator, voice actress, and businesswoman. Apart from contributing to anime songs and TV commercials as a voice actress, Burke also contributes as a lyricist. In 2007, a documentary named Climate in Crisis which was narrated by her won the silver medal at the New York Television Festival.