Gina Jeffreys (also known as Gina Jeffries, Gina Hillenberg and Gina McCormack born 1 April 1968) is an Australian

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer-songwriter and radio presenter.

Career

In 1991, Jeffreys competed in The Toyota Star Maker Quest at 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 ...

. After releasing her first single " Slipping Away" (a cover of the 1975 song by

Max Merritt Maxwell James Merritt (30 April 1941 – 24 September 2020) was a New Zealand-born singer-songwriter and guitarist who was renowned as an interpreter of soul music and R&B. As leader of Max Merritt & The Meteors, his best known hits are " Slipp ...

) through

BMG Music Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music com ...

and "Radio Santa" in 1992, Gina signed a record deal with

ABC Music ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, and released "Two Stars Fell" in 1993. The song went straight to No.1 on the Australian country charts. "Two Stars Fell" won Jeffreys her first

Golden guitar The Big Golden Guitar is one of the many "big" attractions that can be found around Australia. Located in Tamworth, New South Wales, the monument is one of the best-known points of interest in New England. It is also a major attraction duri ...

award at the 1994 Tamworth

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 ...

for 'Best Female Vocal Award'. Later that year, Jeffreys supported

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

and

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...

on their Australian tours and rave reviews had her the subject of a '

Sixty Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique sty ...

' story and she was featured in an '

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

' segment. Her debut album '' The Flame'' was released in August 1994 and went platinum in 1997. Further hits followed including "Girls' Night Out" which won Jeffreys her second Golden Guitar award for 'Best Female Vocal' in 1995. In July 1996, Gina released her second album, ''

Up Close ''Up Close'' is an American sports interview show that has aired on ESPN+ since 2021 and had aired on ESPN from 1981–2001. History Early years The program debuted in 1981 on USA Network and was created by the advertising agency Foote, Cone a ...

''. This was to be the album that broke the cross-over barrier between country and mainstream. The album debuted straight into the National

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 ...

at No. 9 while taking up the No. 1 position of the National Country Charts. ''

'' achieved Gold status during the same year as its release. Jeffreys toured nationally throughout 1996 and also found time to appear as a guest host of '

Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...

' and co-hosted the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

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 ...

. In 1997, Jeffreys was inducted into Tamworth Hands of Fame. In June 1998, Jeffreys released her third album '' Somebody's Daughter'' which peaked at No. 13 on the ARIA Charts. The album was certified Gold in 1999 and produced the hits song "Dancin' With Elvis" which she won Country Music Television's 'Video of the Year' in 1999. Jeffreys released a Christmas album in 1999, titled '' Christmas Wish''. Throughout 2000, Jeffreys relocated to Nashville to record her next album, titled ''Angel''. ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

'' was released in April 2001 and the title track "

" won numerous awards; including 2002 Golden Guitar Award - Video Clip of the Year, 2002 APRA Award – Most Performed Country Work and was named a finalist in the Australian Animation Awards in 2001 and charted at No.57 on the ARIA singles chart. 2002 saw the release of '' Best of Gina Jeffreys... So Far'' which included her version of

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

's '' Creep'' which she had performed on Andrew Denton's Musical Challenge. This concluded her contract with ABC Music. Jeffreys gave birth to her son Jackson in January 2003 and took some time out of the spotlight. In 2006, Jeffreys signed a deal with 'Ocean Road Music' and returned with the release of her album '' Walks of Life''. In 2007, she was awarded Best Independent Country Release at the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Awards, for her album ''Walks of Life''. At the Tamworth Country Music Festival of 2007, Jeffreys initiated a now annual "Walk of Life" where country music artists and fans walk around the streets of Tamworth to help create awareness and raise money for the Foundation. Money raised goes towards the Leukaemia Foundation. In April 2007, Jeffreys joined

Beccy Cole Beccy Cole (born Rebecca Diane Thompson, 27 October 1972), also known as Beccy Sturtzel, Rebecca Diane Albeck and Bec O'Donovan, is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has released ten studio albums, wi ...

and

Sara Storer Sara Bettine Storer (born 6 October 1973) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and former teacher. She won a record breaking seven Golden Guitar awards in the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2004, and as of 2017, she has w ...

to form

Songbirds A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

; a successful multi-artist show in Australia that continued for many years. A live DVD was released of the Songbirds in 2009. In 2009 Jeffreys performed a sell-out concert at Tamworth with

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 ...

and

Wendy Matthews Wendy Joan Matthews (born 13 January 1960) is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in the 1990s including "Token Angels", "Le ...

followed by the release of ''

Old Paint ''Old Paint'' is the seventh studio album by Australian country singer Gina Jeffreys. It was released on the Independent label ''Ocean Road Music'' and distributed by Sony Music Australia in September 2010. The album is a tribute to her early ...

'' in 2010, a laid-back acoustic album of Gina’s all- time favourites. In August 2019, Jeffreys released her eighth studio album titled '' Beautiful Tangle''. The first single "Cash" was released in June 2019. It is Jeffrey's first new album in nine years. From January 2022, Jeffreys replaced Sarah Forster as the co-host of the breakfast show on

Star 104.5 Star 104.5 (Australian Communications & Media Authority, ACMA call sign 2GOS) is a commercial radio station broadcasting to the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast region from Gosford, New South Wales, Australia. It is owned by Nov ...

on the New South Wales Central Coast, alongside Dave 'Rabbit' Rabbetts.

Discography

Albums

Notes

Awards and nominations

ARIA 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 ...

. Jeffreys had been nominated for four

, - ,

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 ...

, , ''The Flame'' , ,

Best Country Album The Grammy Award for Best Country Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the country music genre. Honors in ...

, , , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, , ''Somebody's Daughter'' , , Best Country Album , , , - ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, , ''Angel'' , , Best Country Album , , , - ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, , ''Walks Of Life'' , , Best Country Album , , , -

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. Jeffreys has won two awards. , - ,

, "I Haven't Got a Heart" , Most Performed Country Work , , - ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, "

" , Most Performed Country Work , , -

Australian Independent Record Label Association Awards

Jeffreys has won one AIR Award , - ,

AIR Awards of 2007 The AIR Awards of 2007 is the second annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at Toff of the Town, in Melbourne, Australia on 10 December 2007 to honour ou ...

, , ''Walks Of Life'' , , Best Independent Country Release , , , -

Country Music Awards (CMAA)

The

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

, celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They have been held annually since 1973. Jeffreys has won five awards. (wins only) , - , 1994 , , "Two Stars Fell" , , Female Vocalist of the Year , , , - , 1995 , , "Girls Night Out" , , Female Vocalist of the Year , , , - , 1996 , , "Didn't we Shine" , , Female Vocalist of the Year , , , - , 1999 , , "Dancin' With Elvis" , , Female Vocalist of the Year , , , - , 2002 , , "

" ina Jeffreys (directed by Dylan Perry), , Video Clip of the Year , , , - , 2007 , , herself , , Hands of Fame , , , -

Mo Awards

The

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, that where established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were l ...

are annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. Jeffreys has won four awards. , - , 1993 , , herself, , Female Country Entertainer of the Year, , , - , 1994 , , herself, , Female Country Entertainer of the Year, , , - , 1996 , , herself, , Female Country Entertainer of the Year, , , - , 1998 , , herself, , Female Country Entertainer of the Year, , , -

References

External links

Gina Jeffreys official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffreys, Gina 1968 births Living people APRA Award winners Australian country singers Australian women singers Songbirds (group) members Musicians from Queensland