Jon Stevens (born 8 October 1961) is a New Zealand singer, best known for his work with

Noiseworks Noiseworks are an Australian hard rock band formed in Sydney in 1986 with bass guitarist Steve Balbi, guitarist Stuart Fraser, drummer Kevin Nicol, keyboardist Justin Stanley and lead vocalist Jon Stevens. They had four Australian Top 10 al ...

and ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

''.

Biography

1980–1986: career beginnings and ''Jezebel''

Stevens was born in

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...

, New Zealand, and is of Scottish and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent. His brother is singer

Frankie Stevens Frankie Stevens (born Francis Donald McKechnie Stevenson), (born Wellington, 1950), MNZM, is a New Zealand entertainer and singer. He was a judge for all three seasons on the reality series ''New Zealand Idol''. He is the brother of singer Jon S ...

. He formed his first band while at

Heretaunga College Heretaunga College is a state coeducational secondary school located in Upper Hutt, New Zealand. The school has approximately students from Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18). The college grounds are a large area with primary access via Ward Street ...

. Stevens released his debut studio album ''

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and ) was the daughte ...

'' on

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

in 1980. It peaked at number 7 on the New Zealand charts and was certified Gold. He moved to Australia in 1981 and subsequently became an

Australian citizen Australian nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds Australian legal nationality. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applic ...

. In 1982, a self-titled album was released, but was not successful. In 1983, Stevens formed the band the Change with guitarist Stuart Fraser. Over the next few years, additional members were added before renaming themselves as

in 1986.

1986–1992: Noiseworks and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''

In 1986, Stevens became the lead singer of the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

band

. The band released three platinum studio albums between 1987 and 1991, with a greatest hits released in 1992. The band had three top ten singles across that time, those being " Take Me Back", "

Touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It is ...

" and " Hot Chilli Woman" In 1992, Stevens played the role of

Judas Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...

in the Australian production of

. A cast recording album was released in July 1992, which peaked at number 1 and was the highest selling album in Australia in 1992.

1993–1999: Solo work – ''Are U Satisfied'' and ''Circle''

In 1993, Stevens signed with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and released his third solo studio album, ''Are U Satisfied'', which peaked at number 27 on the

ARIA Charts 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 1994, Stevens recorded "

Don't Knock My Love "Don't Knock My Love" is a hit song performed by R&B singer Wilson Pickett and written by Pickett with Brad Shapiro. Released in the spring of 1971 from the album of the same title, it spent a week at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Best Selling ...

" with

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song " Pash" received a gold ...

for her album '' Kate Ceberano and Friends''. and released " Last One Standing For You" with

Black Sorrows The Black Sorrows are an Australian blues rock band formed in 1983 by mainstay vocalist Joe Camilleri (ex-Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons), who also plays saxophone and guitar. Camilleri has used various line-ups to record 17 albums, with five reachi ...

and a cover of

the Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

' "

I Wish It Would Rain "I Wish It Would Rain" is a 1967 song recorded by the Temptations for the Motown label (under the "Gordy" imprint) and produced by Norman Whitfield. Release Issued with the Melvin Franklin-led "I Truly, Truly Believe" as its B-side, "I Wish ...

" with all proceeds from the song benefitting drought-stricken farmers. In 1996, Stevens released his fourth studio album, ''Circle''. In 1997, he recorded a cover of

Frankie Goes To Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (drums, percussion), Mark O'Toole (bass guit ...

's "

Two Tribes "Two Tribes" is an anti-war song by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records on 4 June 1984. The song was later included on the album '' Welcome to the Pleasuredome''. Presenting a nihilistic, gleeful lyric ...

". It was also the time in Australia when rugby league was going through a change with the split to "Super League". Television hosts, Foxtel, decided to use this song as their theme song for the series. Stevens co-wrote the official song for the

Sydney 2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

torch relay, entitled "Carry the Flame", with Barbara Griffin, who arranged the composition.

2000–2003: INXS

From 2000 to 2003, Stevens fronted Australian rock band

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

after the death of their lead singer

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 ...

. Stevens toured with the band for a year before he was officially announced as their lead singer in March 2002, prior to a 40-city US tour. The Stevens-fronted INXS released a song in 2003 called "

I Get Up "I Get Up" was a song by Australian rock band INXS, released as a non-album single on 10 November 2003. The song was written by Andrew Farriss and Jon Stevens. It was the first new material from INXS since their former frontman, Michael Hutch ...

" but he quit the band in October of that year before an album was released. Stevens explained in a May 2009 interview that his departure from the band was due to a creative lull:

After 3½ years I'd had enough - the creativity was too slow. I had too much going on with my own stuff and I just said, "No". No need to be going away for months on end, away from home, away from family. It's hard to justify it when you're just playing other people's songs.

2004–2011: Solo work and touring

In late 2004, Stevens released his fifth studio album, ''Ain't No Life for the Faint Hearted'', a modern R&B album that features a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

the Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

' "

Light My Fire "Light My Fire" is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on their eponymous debut album. Released as an edited single on April 24, 1967, it spent three weeks at number one on t ...

". In 2005, Stevens released '' The Works'', recorded as part of the Liberation Blue acoustic series, which included tracks from his time in Noiseworks. After a national tour with

Ian Moss Ian Richard Moss (born 20 March 1955) is an Australian rock musician from Alice Springs. He is the founding mainstay guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial eleven year phase from 1973 to 1984, Moss was recorde ...

and the Choirboys— "Six Strings & The Works"—he completed a smaller acoustic tour, followed by a short break and an announcement that Noiseworks were preparing to tour again in late September 2007. After two months on the road across Australia, Stevens took a break. In January 2008, Stevens's management confirmed plans for a massive national tour with Ian Moss, Jack Jones and Tania Doko. The tour was titled Let's Get Together and was scheduled to begin in Melbourne in April 2008, following Stevens's acoustic tour of regional Victoria with Australian country music singer Adam Brand. In August 2011, Stevens released a new single "Just a Man" to Australian radio. A seventh solo studio album was released in September 2011 on new record label Universal Music Australia, called '' Changing Times''. On 11 November 2011, a new album of soul music cover versions, called '' Testify!'', was also released.

2012–present: The Dead Daisies, ''Woman'' and ''Starlight''

In July 2012, Stevens teamed up with production outfit Silver Sneakerz for a dance remix of Noiseworks' 1988 hit "

". It was released on dance label Hussle Recordings (a division of Ministry of Sound). They performed the track live on

The X Factor Australia ''The X Factor'' is an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent. The first season of the show premiered on Network Ten on 6 February 2005. Ten dropped ''The X Factor'' after ...

on 30 October 2012. In 2013, Stevens contributed the song "Fly" for the

Planes (film) ''Planes'' is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated sports comedy film produced by Disneytoon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed and co-written by Klay Hall, it is a spin-off of Pixar's ''Cars'' franchise. Despite not bein ...

soundtrack. Also in 2012, Stevens formed

the Dead Daisies The Dead Daisies are an Australian-American rock supergroup and collective formed in 2012 in Sydney, Australia by David Lowy. Musicians that have joined Lowy for the project have included Richard Fortus (Guns N' Roses), Jon Stevens (INXS, No ...

with guitarist David Lowy, son of Australian shopping-centre magnate Frank Lowy. The two were introduced by David Edwards, ex-manager of INXS. The band's first single was "Lock N Load" featuring Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, which was released in April 2013. The band's debut album was released in August 2013. In April 2015, the band announced that Stevens was no longer a member of the group. Stevens signed with

Social Family Records Social Family Records is an independent record label in Australia. All Social Family Records releases are distributed in Australia by EMI Music Australia/ Universal Music Australia and internationally by The Orchard.Social Family Records is f ...

and released his ninth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

titled ''

Woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

'' in September 2015. The album peaked at number 86 on the Australian

. In 2016, Jon Stevens teamed up with Dave Stewart from

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...

and they wrote and recorded a new album called ''Starlight''. The first single, "Hold On" was released on 13 February 2017, and the album was released on 31 March 2017. The album debuted at number 16 on the ARIA Charts; becoming Stevens' highest charting album of his career.

Causes

In 2012, Stevens is listed as a supporter of the "Oscar's Law" campaign, together with other publicly known figures. The campaign protests against the factory farming of companion animals and is named after a neglected dog found in central Victoria, Australia. Other notable supporters include

Mark McEntee Mark McEntee ( ; born 16 July 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the Australian rock band, Divinyls. Early life McEntee was born in Perth, Western Australia, and went to Christ Church Grammar S ...

(musician),

Mick Molloy Michael Molloy (born 11 July 1966) is an Australian comedian, writer, producer, actor and television and radio presenter who has been active in radio, television, stand-up and film. He currently hosts '' The Front Bar'' on the Seven Network. ...

(comedian) and the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

(

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

Discography

Solo albums

* ''

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and ) was the daughte ...

'' (1980): * ''

Jon Stevens Jon Stevens (born 8 October 1961) is a New Zealand singer, best known for his work with Noiseworks and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Biography 1980–1986: career beginnings and ''Jezebel'' Stevens was born in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and is ...

'' (1982) * '' Are U Satisfied'' (1993): * ''Circle'' (1996) * ''Ain't No Life for the Faint Hearted'' (2004) * '' The Works'' (2005) * '' Changing Times'' (2011) * '' Testify!'' (2011) * ''

'' (2015) * ''

Starlight Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It typically refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the Sun, observable from Earth at night, although a component of starlight is observable from Earth during daytime. Sunligh ...

'' (2017)

Awards and nominations

Country Music Awards (CMAA)

The

Country Music Awards of Australia The Country Music Awards of Australia also known as the Golden Guitar Awards (originally named Australasian Country Music Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, in Tamworth, New South Wales ...

(CMAA) (also known as the Golden Guitar Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the

Tamworth Country Music Festival The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including Australia Day, in Tamworth, New South Wales. The festival is the second bigg ...

, celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They have been held annually since 1973. , - , rowspan="2", 2016 , , rowspan="2", " Spirit of the Anzacs"
(with

Lee Kernaghan Lee Kernaghan OAM (born 15 April 1964) is an Australian country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. Kernaghan has won four ARIA Awards and three APRA Awards, and has sold over two million albums, and as of 2021, has won 38 Golden Guitars at ...

Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the winner of the first '' Australian Idol'' in 2003, judge on Australia's ''The X Factor'' from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach ...

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and subseq ...

, Sheppard,

Shannon Noll Shannon Noll (born 16 September 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter who first came to prominence as runner-up of the first season of ''Australian Idol'' in 2003, which led to him being signed to Sony BMG. He has released five top ten albu ...

and

Megan Washington Megan Alexanda Washington (born 7 January 1986) is an Australian musician and songwriter who has worked mononymously as Washington. Originally performing jazz music, her style shifted to indie pop and alternative rock. She has released three ...

) , , Vocal Collaboration of the Year , , , - , Video clip of the Year , , , -

Logie Awards

The

Logie Awards The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

(officially the TV Week Logie Awards) is an annual gathering to celebrate

Australian television Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Bris ...

, sponsored and organised by 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 ...

'', with the first ceremony in 1959, known then as the TV Week Awards, the awards are presented in 20 categories representing both public and industry voted awards. , - ,

Logie Awards of 1993 The 35th Annual TV Week Logie Awards was held on Friday 19 March 1993 at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne, and broadcast on Network Ten. The ceremony was hosted by Bert Newton and guests included John Spencer, Vanessa Williams, Tom Jones, Pamela ...

, "Everything's Alright" , Most Popular Music Video ,

New Zealand Music Awards

The

New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in

New Zealand music The music of New Zealand has been influenced by a number of traditions, including Māori music, the music introduced by European settlers during the nineteenth century, and a variety of styles imported during the twentieth century, including ...

and have been presented annually since 1965. ! , - , 1979 , , Jon Stevens , , Most Promising Male , , , , rowspan="4" , , - , rowspan="3" , 1980 , , "Montego Bay" , , Single of the Year , , , - , Jon Stevens , , Most Promising Male , , , - , Jon Stevens , , Male Vocalist of the Year , , , -

References

External links

Jon Stevens - Official WebsiteThe Dead Daisies - Official WebsiteAudioCulture profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Jon 1961 births Living people People from Upper Hutt New Zealand emigrants to Australia Naturalised citizens of Australia New Zealand rock singers Australian people of Māori descent New Zealand Māori musicians INXS members Australian rock singers People educated at Heretaunga College The Dead Daisies members