Mark Denis Lizotte (born 31 May 1966) is an American-born Australian singer-songwriter and musician, who has released material under the name Diesel, Johnny Diesel, as leader of band Johnny Diesel & the Injectors, and as a solo performer, as well as under his

birth name A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth r ...

. Two of his albums reached No. 1 on the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA) Albums Charts, '' Hepfidelity'' in 1992 and '' The Lobbyist'' in 1993. Since 1987, Lizotte, has played on several albums by his brother-in law, Australian rock singer,

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-s ...

. Although better known as a singer-songwriter and guitarist, Lizotte is also competent on bass guitar, drums, percussion and keyboards; and has also produced an album by Richard Clapton and one by

Vika and Linda Bull Vika and Linda, also known as Vika and Linda Bull, are an Australian vocal duo consisting of Vika Susan Bull (born 1966) and her younger sister, Linda Rose Bull . They came to prominence after singing backing vocals in Joe Camilleri's band The ...

. He has won six

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

with three for 'Best Male Artist' in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Career

1966–1986: Early years and Innocent Bystanders

Diesel was born on 31 May 1966 in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

, United States, and emigrated to Australia with his family, in November 1971. His father, Henry Bertram Lizotte (born 19 June 1929), and his mother, Theresa Rita (née Morin, born 18 January 1930) were parents of Jeannine, Bruce, Michael, Laura, Donna, Brian and Mark. They arrived in Sydney, his father purchased a station wagon and the family drove down the Hume Highway and settled in Albury, NSW. Later moving to

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 is ...

, where he later had a job pouring petrol—an experience that provided inspiration for his music. Henry was a professional saxophonist performing in the US and Australia, Diesel and his siblings were surrounded by music from an early age. While his siblings became teachers, Diesel eventually settled on electric guitar as his main instrument. He later recalled a time in

Year 8 Year 8 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the eighth or ninth year of compulsory education. It is known as Seventh grade in the United States and Canada, and First ...

( 1980) at Scarborough Senior High School when he decided on a musical career: "I was trying to get my head around

algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary a ...

..and suddenly I thought: 'Hang on, I don't have to do this. I can play music as a job!'". During his school days at Scarborough Senior High School, he joined a newly formed band by Duncan Andrews named "Dark Spot". The band was Diesel's first. Whilst the band was without a vocalist for some time, Andrews was on bass, with Bill Advic on electric rhythm guitar and Diesel on lead guitar. Each band member tried out for the vocalist spot but it was thought that no one could sing well enough. In 1981 Dark Spot entered the battle of the band competition in Fremantle with an original song penned by Duncan Andrews with Andrews on vocals and bass. It was well regarded that Diesel's lead guitar talents stole the show and won first prize for the band. In his mid-teens, Diesel (as Mark Lizotte) performed with The Kind and Close Action.Spencer et al., (2007
Lizotte, Mark
entry. Retrieved 4 December 2009.Spencer et al, (2007
CLOSE ACTION
entry. Retrieved 4 December 2009. The Kind had Diesel with Denise DeMarchi,

Suze DeMarchi Suze DeMarchi (born 14 February 1964) is an Australian singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the band Baby Animals (1989–1996, 2007–present). Early life DeMarchi was born in Perth, Western Australia to Walter and Shirley DeMarchi and h ...

, Dean Denton, Gary Dunn, John 'Yak' Sherrit and Boyd Wilson. Close Action included Diesel on guitar, Bernie Bremond on saxophone, John Heussenstamm on guitar and Sherrit on drums. In 1983 he joined Innocent Bystanders, a Perth pub rock band,Spencer et al, (2007
INNOCENT BYSTANDERS
entry. Retrieved 4 December 2009. and they released a single, "Lebanon" in 1984 with the line-up of Diesel, John "Tatt" Dalzell on bass guitar, Brett Keyser on vocals, Cliff Kinneen on keyboards and Sherrit on drums. Innocent Bystanders travelled to Sydney to record their second single, "Dangerous", released in July 1986. They had attracted the attention of

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

ers, The Angels, and went on to record another single and an album, ''Don't Go Looking Back'', which was released later in 1986, however, Diesel had already left the band.

1986–1991: Band: Johnny Diesel & the Injectors

By June 1986, Diesel was back in Perth and had split from Innocent Bystanders leaving fellow member Ross Watson but taking Bremond, Dalzell and Sherritt, and they formed Johnny Diesel & the Injectors with George Dalstrom as a second guitarist.Spencer et al., (2007
JOHNNY DIESEL AND THE INJECTORS
entry. Retrieved 4 December 2009. The band played a mixture of R&B,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

; they developed a local following in Perth but decided to relocate to Sydney in September 1987. Dalstrom left by the end of 1986. According to

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

Ed Nimmervoll Edward Charles Nimmervoll (21 September 1947 – 10 October 2014) was an Australian music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock and pop magazines ''Go-Set'' (1966–1974) and ''Juke Magazine'' (1975–92) both as a journalist a ...

, the name Johnny Diesel was either from Lizotte's days as a petrol dispenser or from a corruption of John Dalzell's name being misapplied to him as the lead singer. As explained by Lizotte, the real story is that the band's name was never meant to be permanent; it came about as the result of a casual joke concerning the band's bass player, John Dalzell. "John had one kid and another on the way," Mark explains. "A friend of ours used to refer to them as 'Johnny Diesel and his little injectors'; I thought it was funny. Then I got a call from the woman from the

erth Erth may refer to: *Earth, planet * Erth, visual theatre company resident at the Carriageworks art complex in Sydney, Australia *Saint Erc, early Irish saint in Cornwall *Urith Urith (also known in Welsh as Iwerydd) was a Christian woman from t ...

venue where we were playing one night a week... 'You're starting to draw a few people,' she said. 'I'm going to put an ad in the paper, does this nameless band have a name?' I told her we were 'Johnny Diesel and the Injectors'. It was just a joke. I wanted it to appear in the newspaper to amuse John Dalzell but the name stuck. When we got to Sydney, our Management said, 'Everyone will think you're Johnny Diesel. Are you going to go along with it?' I wasn't going to be stuck-in-the-mud, so I said, yeah. Whatever... fine". Johnny Diesel & the Injectors moved to Sydney in September after taking up

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Brent Eccles Brent Eccles is best known as the drummer for The Angels, an Australian pub rock band. He has also drummed in: The Breed, Vox Pop, Stuart & The Belmonts, Streetalk, Space Waltz, After Hours, and Citizen Band. Eccles left Citizen Band in 1981, a ...

, drummer for The Angels. The group began playing support shows for The Choirboys and The Radiators. They came to the attention of Jane Barnes, wife of hard rocker,

(ex-

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...

), and through her recommendation, Diesel was hired to work on Barnes' third solo album, '' Freight Train Heart''. When Barnes took to the road to tour the album in November, Diesel was retained as lead guitarist, while Johnny Diesel & the Injectors were the opening act. It was the beginning of a long and ongoing relationship between Diesel and Barnes. The relationship would later become personal as well as professional, with Diesel and Barnes becoming brothers-in-law after Diesel married Jep (Jane Barnes' sister) in 1989. Diesel's band signed with

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

and their

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous debut album, '' Johnny Diesel & the Injectors'', was recorded in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

with producer

Terry Manning Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ...

from August 1988 and released in March 1989. The album reached No. 2 on the

(ARIA) Albums Charts. The first single " Don't Need Love" was issued ahead of the album in October 1988 and peaked at No. 10 on the ARIA Singles Charts. The second single, " Soul Revival", appeared in February 1989 and reached No. 9, while the third single, " Cry In Shame" also peaked at No. 10 in May. In all, five singles were released from ''Johnny Diesel & the Injectors'', while " Looking for Love" was also a Top 40 hit, the final single "

Since I Fell for You "Since I Fell for You" is a blues ballad composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 that was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra. A version by Annie Laurie with Paul Gayten and His Trio in 1947 led to its ...

" was a chart failure as it peaked only at No. 83. While touring United Kingdom in mid-1989, they broadcast a live performance on 14 May by

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

for the '' Tommy Vance Sessions'', produced by

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder o ...

. The recording was released as a four-track EP, '' Live in London'', in August and appeared in the ARIA top 30. At the

early in

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 Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, Johnny Diesel & the Injectors won the award for 'Highest Selling Album' (with more than 280,000 copies sold). Diesel appeared on Barnes' live album, '' Barnestorming'' in 1989 and worked with Barnes on his studio album, ''

Two Fires ''Two Fires'' is the fourth studio album by the Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, and his first United States release for Atlantic Records. It was released in Australia by Mushroom Records and was his fifth consecutive No. 1 album, debuting ...

'', during 1990. In the meantime, the only recording from Johnny Diesel & the Injectors for the year was a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

Percy Mayfield Percy Mayfield (August 12, 1920August 11, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues singer with a smooth vocal style. He also was a songwriter, known for the songs " Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Hit the Road Jack", the latter being a song ...

's " Please Send Me Someone to Love" for the soundtrack to the

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

film '' The Delinquents''. The single reached No. 11 on the ARIA singles chart Diesel decided to go solo and disbanded the group in early 1991.

1991–1997: Commercial success

In August 1991, as Johnny Diesel, his solo career was launched with the single "Love Junk", which peaked in the top 20. Diesel toured Australia with Barnes during the second half of the year. He had signed with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Music Australia and his second single, "Come to Me", was released in November under the

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

Diesel—subsequent releases saw him billed as Diesel until 1998—which reached No. 8 on the singles charts. November also saw the release of Barnes' next album, '' Soul Deep'', with Diesel on guitar and also duetting on the

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

cover " Bring It On Home to Me". Diesel left his management team of Eccles and John Woodruff. He undertook his solo Rock 'n' Soul Tour, early in 1992, with Yak Sherrit on drums, Leslie Barlow on backing vocals, Matthew Branton on bass guitar, Jim Hilbun on rhythm guitar (ex-The Angels) and Roger Mason on keyboards (

Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

).Spencer et al., (2007
DIESEL
entry. Retrieved 5 December 2009. His next release, " Tip of My Tongue", appeared in February 1992, reaching No. 4 and becoming his highest charting single. It was followed a month later by his debut solo album, '' Hepfidelity'', produced by

Don Gehman Don Gehman is an American record producer, engineer, and executive, best known for his work with John Mellencamp and Hootie & the Blowfish. He was one of "the most successful producers of the 1980s and 1990s." As a sound engineer, he also helped ...

and Manning, recorded in Los Angeles and Memphis. The album peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA charts and went on to sell more than 200,000 copies. A further two singles were issued, " Man Alive", in May, which reached the top 20, and " One More Time" in August, which did not enter the top 50. Diesel won ARIA awards for 'Best Album' and 'Best Male Artist' in

from four nominations. '' The Lobbyist'' was a mix of new songs, re-workings of some ''Hepfidelity'' tracks and a couple of covers. Released in August 1993, it also hit No. 1 on the Australian charts, and Diesel won an ARIA award for 'Best Male Artist' again, in

. The album spawned three singles: " Never Miss Your Water" in July peaked at #12, " Masterplan" in October and "

I've Been Loving You Too Long "I've Been Loving You Too Long" (originally "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)") is a soul music ballad written by Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. Considered by music critics and writers to be one of Redding's finest performances and a ...

" in January 1994. In May 1994, the '' Still Got a Long Way to Go'' four-song EP was released credited to

with Diesel, the title track being lifted from Barnes' 1993 album ''

Flesh and Wood ''Flesh and Wood'' is the seventh album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, which was issued in December 1993. It was recorded by Barnes and Don Gehman co-producing and used only acoustic instruments. On eight of its fifteen tracks, Barnes d ...

''. This made No. 57 on the Australian charts, just outside the Top 50. Diesel's next album, '' Solid State Rhyme'', appeared in November and featured the singles " All Come Together" (top 20), "Fifteen Feet of Snow" (top 30) and "Get it On". ''Solid State Rhyme'' was co-produced by Diesel and Craig Porteils—it was another commercial success, peaking at No. 10. He won the ARIA award for 'Best Male Artist' in

—for the third consecutive time. Early in 1996, Diesel recorded the album '' Short Cool Ones'' with

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

blues music Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

ian Chris Wilson as Wilson Diesel, released in February.Spencer et al., (2007
WILSON DIESEL
entry. Retrieved 5 December 2009. The project also featured drummer Angus Diggs, bass player Dean Addison and Bob Woolf on keyboards. Diesel supplied guitar, backing vocals and production skills on Richard Clapton's ''Angeltown'', released in May. Following record production, guitar, backing vocals and songwriting work on

Vika and Linda Vika and Linda, also known as Vika and Linda Bull, are an Australian vocal duo consisting of Vika Susan Bull (born 1966) and her younger sister, Linda Rose Bull . They came to prominence after singing backing vocals in Joe Camilleri's band The ...

's ''

Princess Tabu ''Princess Tabu'' is the second studio album by Australian vocal duo, and sisters, Vika & Linda Bull. It was released in August 1996 and debuted and peaked at number 30 on the Australian ARIA albums chart. According to Vika and Linda's websi ...

'' album, released in October, Diesel went on hiatus. A

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation '' Rewind – The Best Of'' also appeared in October. By year's end, he had moved to New York City, with his young family. To this point in his career, Diesel has sold over 800,000 records in Australia and won nine awards.

1998–2010: Mark Lizotte and continued success

In June 1998, Diesel signed with

Mammoth Records Mammoth Records was an independent record label founded in 1989 by Jay Faires in the Carrboro area of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The majority of the acts on Mammoth were executive-produced by Faires and the label's general manager, Steve Balcom ...

under his

, Mark Lizotte. He returned briefly to Australia in November to perform at the Mushroom 25 Live concert alongside Wilson, Barnes and Vika and Linda. He made a comeback to the Australian charts with his October 1999 album, '' Soul Lost Companion'', which reached the top 20 and spawned the singles, "

Dig Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock (geology), rock on the surface of Earth. Di ...

" (top 20) and "Satellite". He returned to live in Australia in 2002, and released his next album '' Hear'', under the Diesel

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

, in October. In March 2004 Diesel filmed his performance at Sydney's Metro Theatre and released his first DVD titled '' The First Fifteen '89–'04 Live ''. It went on to reach gold status. On 10 October 2004,

Andrew Denton Andrew Christopher Denton (born 4 May 1960) is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program ''Enough Rope'' and ...

interviewed Barnes on the ABC TV program ''

Enough Rope ''Enough Rope with Andrew Denton'' (often shortened to ''Enough Rope'') is a television interview show originally broadcast on ABC1 in Australia. The title of the show came from the phrase " give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves ...

'', Diesel then performed with Barnes and his children, Eliza Jane, Jackie and Elly May. Around the same time, Diesel released ''

Singled Out ''Singled Out'' is an American dating game show created by Burt Wheeler & Sharon Sussman which originally ran on MTV from 1995 to 1998. Each episode featured a group of 50 singles competing for a date with one main contestant. The original hosts ...

''. An entirely acoustic overview of his career, it earned an ARIA nomination. Over the same period, he also worked with Barnes on his '' Double Happiness'' album, including a duet on the track "Got You as a Friend" and providing musical backing including guitar, drums, bass guitar, percussion and keyboards on various tracks. In 2006, Diesel released '' Coathanger Antennae'', an album recorded in two months. Of it, he said "We approached it like the

Stones In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

used to do where we'd just put down a few takes live and then picked the ones that we all felt good about", emphasising the focus on live recording rather than studio polishing. Diesel made guest appearances on the Australian leg of

Dweezil Zappa Dweezil Zappa (born Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa; September 5, 1969) is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor. He is the son of musical composer and performer Frank Zappa. Exposed to the music industry from an early age, Dweezil dev ...

's 2009 Zappa Plays Zappa Tour, playing guitar and vocals after

Ray White Ray White (full name Ray Shirley White Sr) is an American soul vocalist and rock and blues guitarist, best known as a member of Frank Zappa's touring ensembles. He was drafted into Zappa's band in late 1976, being featured on rhythm guit ...

's departure from Zappa's group. The year 2008 saw the release of the studio album " Days Like These". The album peaked at number 17 in Australia. 3 July 2009 saw the release of '' Project Blues: Saturday Suffering Fools'', a blues album featuring a horn section made up of ex-Injector Bernie Bremond and family members Hank (Father) and brothers Michael and Brian Lizotte. Brian currently owns a series of theatre bars (under the name "Lizotte's"), namely in the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

suburb of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, at which Diesel has played.

2011–2020: 30 years and ''Sunset Suburbia''

4 July 2011 saw the release of " Under the Influence" – a collection of Diesel's favourite and influential guitar music featuring tracks by Jimi Hendrix, Link Wray, Albert King, Neil Young and The Sonics. "I was doing these shows called 'Under the Influence' just for fun" says Diesel. "One night it would be Jimi Hendrix or Al Green and then another night I'd do the three Kings (Albert, Freddie and B.B)" he adds. "I thought it would be good to make a record like that." A "hand-picked" retrospective album spanning 20 years of recordings titled '' You Get There from Here'' was released on 1 June 2012. Diesel made his scoring debut in 2012 with six-part series ''Bikies Wars: Brothers in Arms'', contributing the theme track "Highway Mind" and over 140 original score pieces. The first episode aired on Tuesday 15 May 2012. Diesel's real name Mark Lizotte is listed in the credits. Diesel's eleventh album '' Let It Fly'' was released on 9 August 2013. "It's all of my life's work so far brought to fruition, in many ways. It's pretty encompassing," he said. "There's a lot of stuff I've never tried before either – like, there are folk elements that are quite different for me ... I guess when you start using mandolin and fiddle, it’s gonna happen!" In 2016, Diesel commenced the "Pieces of Americana" tour and released ''

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

'' on July 1, which debuted at number 15 on the

ARIA chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. In 2018, Diesel celebrated 30 years in the industry with the release of a 30-track compilation album, ''30: The Greatest Hits'' as well as national tour titled ''Give Me Saturday Night''. In mid-2019 Diesel announced the release of a '' Sunset Suburbia'' trilogy. It consisted of two EPs, leading to a studio album in 2020. Two singles lifted from the two EPs were released in 2019, and the album was released in August 2020.

2021–present: ''Alone with Blues''

In May 2021, Diesel released "Six Steel Strings", the lead single from his album, ''

Alone with Blues ''Alone with Blues'' is the fifteenth studio album by Australian rock musician, Diesel (musician), Diesel. The album was announced in May 2021, alongside the release of the single "Six Steel Strings", and was released on 16 July 2021. the album w ...

'', released on 16 July 2021. The album peaked at number 20 on the ARIA chart. During 2022 he presented a 12-part TV documentary series ''Days Like These with Diesel'', with each episode describing a pivotal concert by Australian artists: Jet,

Baby Animals Baby Animals is an Australian hard rock band active from October 1989 to 1996 and reformed in 2007. The original line-up was Frank Celenza on drums; Suze DeMarchi on lead vocals and guitar; Dave Leslie on guitar and backing vocals; and Eddie Pa ...

Hunters & Collectors Hunters & Collectors are an Australian rock band formed in 1981. Fronted by founding mainstay, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of Pub rock (Australia), pub rock and funk, art-funk. Other mainstays are John ...

, the Angels, Diesel,

Rose Tattoo Rose Tattoo are an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, which formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice ...

, Jimmy Barnes,

Eurogliders Eurogliders are a band formed in 1980 in Perth, Western Australia, which included Grace Knight on vocals, Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals, and Amanda Vincent on keyboards. * First edition (online copy): * Second edition: In 1984, Eurogli ...

Archie Roach Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalu ...

, Icehouse,

Troy Cassar-Daley Troy Cassar-Daley (born 18 May 1969) is an Australian country music songwriter and entertainer. Cassar-Daley has released thirteen studio albums, two live albums and five compilation albums over 30 years, including the platinum-selling ''The G ...

and Cold Chisel.

Discography

*''

Johnny Diesel and The Injectors ''Johnny Diesel & the Injectors'' is the eponymous debut album by Australian rock band Johnny Diesel & the Injectors, which was released in 1989. The album peaked at number 2 on the ARIA singles chart and won two ARIA Music Awards. Bac ...

'' (1989) *'' Hepfidelity'' (1992) *'' The Lobbyist'' (1993) *'' Solid State Rhyme'' (1994) *'' Short Cool Ones'' (1996) (by Wilson Diesel) *'' Soul Lost Companion'' (1999) *'' Hear'' (2002) *'' Coathanger Antennae'' (2006) *'' Days Like These'' (2008) *'' Project Blues: Saturday Suffering Fools'' (2009) *'' Under the Influence'' (2011) *'' Let It Fly'' (2013) *''

'' (2016) *'' Sunset Suburbia'' (2020) *''

'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

, which began in 1987.

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. ! , - ,

, " Never Miss Your Water" , Most Performed Australian Work , , , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, "By the Scars" , Song of the Year , , , -

References

;General * Note: n-lineversion was expanded from the 2002 edition. ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Diesel 1966 births Living people ARIA Award winners American emigrants to Australia Australian people of Canadian descent American people of French-Canadian descent Australian singer-songwriters People from Fall River, Massachusetts Musicians from Perth, Western Australia Australian rock guitarists Australian rock singers Lead guitarists Australian male guitarists Australian male singer-songwriters American singer-songwriters American rock guitarists American rock singers American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters