Melinda Schneider (born Melinda-Jane Bean; 7 October 1971) is an Australian

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer and songwriter and radio host. Schneider has been performing since she was three and sang with her mother, the renowned yodelling country artist

Mary Schneider Mary Schneider AM, (born 25 October 1932) is an Australian singer, songwriter and performer, who is a master at the classic Swiss Alpine style. She is best known for yodelling the works of various standards by many a classic composer. Her rep ...

on the album ''The Magic of Yodeling'' at the age of eight. Schneider is a multi-

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 ...

winner at 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 ...

winning her sixth with Paul Kelly for 'Vocal Collaboration of the Year' for their duet "Still Here" in 2009.

Career

Schneider studied dance as a child and made her acting debut on the popular Australian drama ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were ...

'' when aged thirteen. She also sang the theme music for the ABC TV series ''

Something in the Air "Something in the Air" is a song by English rock band Thunderclap Newman, written by Speedy Keen who also sang the song. It was a No. 1 single for three weeks in the UK Singles Chart in July 1969. The song has been used for films, television ...

''. In 1994, Schneider featuring on Audio Murphy Inc.'s dance track " Tighten Up Your Pants" which peaked at number 39 on the ARIA Chart. The song mixed electronic beats and yodelling. The success of "Tighten Up Your Pants" earned her a three-album deal with

Festival Records Festival Records (later known as Festival Mushroom Records) was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a wholly owned subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to ...

. Unsure of what kind of singer she wanted to be, Schneider foundered, eventually quitting Festival without making an album. In 1999, Schneider performed the duet "Love Away the Night" with Adam Brand. In January 2000, the song won Schneider her first CMAA Award for Vocal Collaboration of the Year. In 2000, Schneider released her debut studio album ''My Oxygen''. ''My Oxygen'' was recorded with the Nashville-based Australian producer Mark Moffatt. In July 2002, Schneider released her second studio album ''Happy Tears'', which peaked at number 94 on the ARIA Charts and was certified gold. ''Happy Tears'' was produced by her husband of five years, Graham Thompson and released on his Compass Bros label. In 2003, Schneider won her the first solo Golden Guitar for Female Vocal of the Year. In May 2004, Schneider released ''Family Tree'', which peaked at number 64 on the ARIA Charts and was certified gold. The album earner Schneider her first

ARIA Music Award 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 Austra ...

nomination. In 2006, Schneider was invited by

Deborah Conway Deborah Ann Conway (born 8 August 1959) is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actress. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their top 5 hit "Man Overboard". Conw ...

to take part in the Broad Festival project, with three other Australian female artists, they performed their own and each other's songs. With Schneider and Conway were

Mia Dyson Mia Celeste Dyson (born 1981) is an Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist. She has released six studio albums. Her second, ''Parking Lots'', won the ARIA Award for Best Blues and Roots Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2005. Since 2013, D ...

Kate Miller-Heidke Kate Melina Miller-Heidke (; born 16 November 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Although classically trained, she has generally followed a career in alternative pop music. She signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in th ...

and

Ella Hooper Ella Keighery Hooper (born 30 January 1983) is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, radio presenter and TV personality. Hooper is the lead singer of Killing Heidi. The band formed in 1996 (when Ella was 13) and also featured her older bro ...

. In 2010, Schneider was a participant on the

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

program ''Bush Slam'' and a celebrity contestant on the Channel 7 show ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

'' partnered by Serghei Bolgarschii in Season 10. In 2011, Schneider starred in the theatre show ''Doris: So Much More Than the Girl Next Door'', written by Schneider and David Mitchell. The show told the story of her

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

's life and at the

Twelfth Night Theatre image:Twelfth Night Theatre.jpg, 250px, Twelfth Night Theatre The Twelfth Night Theatre is an established Australian entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills, Queensland, Bowen Hills, in Brisbane, Queensland. Many notable actors, both internati ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

in May 2011. In November 2014, Schneider released ''

Great Women of Country ''Great Women of Country'' is the studio album by Australian country music singers Melinda Schneider and Beccy Cole. It was released through Universal Music Australia in 7 November 2014 and peaked at number 9 on the ARIA Charts. Background The ...

'', a collaboration with

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 ...

. The album became her first to peak inside the ARIA top ten. In 2022, performed a two-hour show titled ''Love Songs'', celebrating unconditional love Melinda has found with her long-time partner, Mark Gable. In May 2022, Schneider released a compilation album of the same name.

Personal life

Schneider is the daughter of singer-songwriter and yodeller Mary Schneider. She attended St Joseph's Kogarah (now known as Bethany College) for her high school years. Schneider is married to

Mark Gable Mark Dixon Kitchen (born 8 September 1950), known professionally as Mark Gable, is an Australian musician who serves as the frontman and a founding member of the rock band The Choirboys. The band was formed in Sydney in 1979. Mark was born in ...

lead singer of The Choirboys, they were married in September 2022 on Killcare Beach NSW after 14 years together.

Radio

Schneider was the host of her own show 'Love Songs with Melinda Schneider" on Star 104.5 FM, the show aired every weeknight in 2015 from 8 pm. As the title indicates the show was focused on songs of a romantic nature. This was Schneider's first radio show as host.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Charting singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

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 ...

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 ...

. Schneider has been nominated for two awards. , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, ''Family Tree'' ,

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 ...

, , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, ''Be Yourself'' , Best Country Album , , -

Country Music Awards (CMAA)

The

(CMAA) 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 ...

and celebrates recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. Schneider has won six awards. (wins only) , - , 2000 , , "Love Away the Night" with Adam Brand , , Vocal Collaboration of the Year , , , - , 2003 , , "The Story of My Life" , , Female Vocalist of the Year , , , - , 2005 , , ''Family Tree'' , , Album of the Year , , , - , 2005 , , "Real People" , , Song of the Year , , , - , 2008 , , ''Stronger'' , , Top Selling Album of the Year , , , - , 2009 , , "Still Here" with Paul Kelly , , Vocal Collaboration of the Year , , , -

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as 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 ...

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Melinda Schneider won eleven awards in that time. (wins only) , - , 1994 , Melinda Schneider , Johnny O'Keefe Encouragement Award , , - , 2000 , Melinda Schneider , Female Country Entertainer of the Year , , - , 2002 , Melinda Schneider , Female Country Entertainer of the Year , , - , 2003 , Melinda Schneider , Female Country Entertainer of the Year , , - , 2004 , Melinda Schneider , Female Country Entertainer of the Year , , - , 2006 , Melinda Schneider , Slim Dusty Country Performer of the Year , , - , 2007 , Melinda Schneider , Female Vocal Performer of the Year , , - , 2008 , Melinda Schneider , Female Vocal Performer of the Year , , - , rowspan="2", 2011 , Melinda Schneider , Slim Dusty Country Act of the Year , , - , Melinda Schneider , Female Vocal Performer of the Year , , - , 2014 , Melinda Schneider , Slim Dusty Country Act of the Year , , -

References

External links

Melinda Schneider
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Melinda 1971 births Living people Australian people of German descent Australian country singers 21st-century Australian singers