Andrew Charles Farriss (born 27 March 1959) is an Australian rock musician and
multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency.
Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...
best known as the keyboardist, backing vocalist, and main composer for rock band INXS. Farriss released his debut studio album in 2021.
Career
Andrew Charles Farriss was born on 27 March 1959 in
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
, to Dennis and Jill Farriss, and is the second oldest of four children: he has two brothers, Tim (born 1957) and
Jon
Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned". At the age of five years, Farriss, and his family had a holiday in London where they saw a performance by The Beatles. In 1971 the Farriss family relocated to Sydney, where he attended Davidson High School. With Tim taking up guitar lessons, Farriss "had instinctively taken to playing piano", and Jon played drums. At school Farriss met
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into th ...
after preventing a fight with another student. The two became friends and in 1976 Hutchence, on lead vocals, joined his band, Doctor Dolphin. The line up included two other classmates, Kent Kerny and Neil Sanders and, from the nearby Forest High School a bass guitarist, Garry Beers, and Geoff Kennely.
Farriss is credited solely with keyboards on the band's earliest albums, but by 1984's '' The Swing'', he was listed as playing guitar as well. On stage, he also plays harmonica and various hand-held percussion instruments.
While INXS' early albums credit the band as songwriters, by their third album, ''
Shabooh Shoobah
''Shabooh Shoobah'' is the third studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 13 October 1982. It peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained on the chart for 94 weeks. It was the band's first album to be released wor ...
'', the team of Farriss as composer and Hutchence as lyricist was well established. While there were some INXS songs written by other members of the group, or by Farriss alone, it was this combination that brought INXS the majority of their international success in the 1980s and 1990s. In fact, Farriss co-wrote all but one of the band's top-40 hits in the US.
Despite extensive writing, recording and touring commitments with INXS, Farriss collaborated with many other Australian artists in a songwriting or production capacity. His most significant early collaboration was with Jenny Morris, a New Zealand singer who had sung back-up vocals on INXS' 1985 hit album, '' Listen Like Thieves''. Farriss has also co-written and produced with the Australian Aboriginal band
Yothu Yindi
Yothu Yindi ( Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced ) are an Australian musical group with Aboriginal and '' balanda'' (non-Aboriginal) members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a white rock group called the Swam ...
, Australian country singer Tania Kernaghan and Scottish rockers
Gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...
Producer of the Year
The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality non- classical music at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...
for his work on the Jenny Morris album ''
Shiver
Shivering (also called shuddering) is a bodily function in response to cold and extreme fear in warm-blooded animals. When the core body temperature drops, the shivering reflex is triggered to maintain homeostasis. Skeletal muscles begin to s ...
''. Note: User may be required to access archived information by selecting 'The History', then 'By Award', 'Producer of the Year' and 'Option Show Nominations'.
In 2005, INXS launched a reality TV show, '' Rock Star: INXS'', a worldwide search for a new lead singer. While all of INXS knew it would be impossible to replace Michael Hutchence, who died in 1997, they wished to carry on bringing their music to the world.
In 2016, Farriss was inducted into the Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2019, Farriss released his debut solo single "Come Midnight". In January 2020 he released his second single "Good Momma Bad". He has performed solo at the Hay Mate drought relief concert, the Gympie Muster, the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. On 28 August 2020 Farriss released his single "All the Stars Are Mine" and announced his EP ''Love Makes the World'', which was released on 2 October 2020.
On 26 January 2020 Farriss was awarded with the Member of the
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...
.
Farriss released his debut, self-titled album in March 2021.
Personal life
Farriss married Shelley Blanks on 22 April 1989 (divorced 2012). The couple have three children.
In the official INXS autobiography ''Story to Story'', Farriss describes his dislike of touring and being away from his family.
Farriss married Marlina Neeley in October 2013. The couple live on a cattle farm in the Tamworth Region of New South Wales.
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
, rowspan="3", "Break My Heart" by Dua Lipa (Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence, Dua Lipa, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Ali Tamposi, Andrew Watt)
, Song of the Year
,
,
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, Most Performed Pop Work
,
, rowspan="2",
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, Most Performed Australian Work
,
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ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.
, -
,
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
, Andrew Farriss for ''
Shiver
Shivering (also called shuddering) is a bodily function in response to cold and extreme fear in warm-blooded animals. When the core body temperature drops, the shivering reflex is triggered to maintain homeostasis. Skeletal muscles begin to s ...
ARIA Award for Producer of the Year
The ARIA Music Award for Producer of the Year, is an award presented within the Artisan Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", and have been given by t ...
,
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Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters.
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, 2016
, Himself
, Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
,
Countdown Australian Music Awards
''
Countdown
A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
'' was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine ''
TV Week
''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news.
Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...
''. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.
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, 1984
, Himself (with
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into th ...
)
, Best Songwriter
,
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West Australian Music Industry Awards
The
West Australian Music Industry Awards
The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). The WAMi Awards are Western Aust ...
(WAMIs) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on annually by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM).2007 West Australian Music Industry Award Winners
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, 2008
, The Farriss Brothers (Andrew, Tim and
Jon
Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned". Official Andrew Farriss Website