Suze DeMarchi (born 14 February 1964) is an Australian singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the band

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 P ...

(1989–1996, 2007–present).

Early life

DeMarchi was born 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 is ...

to Walter and Shirley DeMarchi and has three older siblings; her sister Denise is also a singer. DeMarchi began her singing career in the early 1980s when she was 17, playing in local band Photoplay.

Career

Early years and Baby Animals

In 1985, she moved to London, England where she was signed to EMI and had a fairly successful solo career in pop music, where she released a number of singles: "Young Hearts", "Big Wednesday" and "Dry Your Eyes". Disheartened by the record company's attempt to slide her into a pop career, along with missing working with a band, she returned to Australia in mid-1989, where she and fellow Perth musicians Frank Celenza, Eddie Parise and Dave Leslie formed the band

. The band met with success in their native Australia, releasing two albums, touring with

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

, and winning various awards before permanently disbanding in 1996. This was mostly due to legal battles with their record label Imago and Suze having nodules in her throat – she even had to stop singing for a short while because of them – in 1993, which forced the band to cut short the tour for their second album. In 1994 DeMarchi collaborated with her husband

Nuno Bettencourt Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (born September 20, 1966) is a Portuguese-American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and businessman. He became known as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme. He has also recorded ...

on the song "God Took a Picture", which appeared in the film '' Highlander III: The Sorcerer''.

Solo career: 1996–2007

After the demise of Baby Animals in 1996, DeMarchi pursued a solo career. Although living in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

with her husband and young daughter (apparently temporarily in her mother-in-law's basement at one point), she signed to

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival M ...

Australia and released 1999's '' Telelove'', produced by Bettencourt, and the single "Satellite". DeMarchi supported the album with a May tour around Australia as the singles "Karma" and eventually "Open Windows" hit the shelves. DeMarchi was also nominated for an

ARIA 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 ...

for Best Female Artist. In 2001 it was rumoured that DeMarchi would be joining

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian 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 keyboardist Andrew Farriss ...

as their new front person to replace Michael Hutchence, who died in 1997, following her performance with them at a concert in December 2000 where she sang "Shine Like It Does", "

Never Tear Us Apart "Never Tear Us Apart" is a song by Australian rock band INXS, released in August 1988 as the fourth single from their sixth studio album, ''Kick''. Background and composition The music was written by keyboardist Andrew Farriss, who recorded ...

", and dueted with Jon Stevens (frequent replacement frontman for INXS, and formerly of the band Noiseworks) for "

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first Afric ...

" and " Don't Change". In June 2004 DeMarchi was recognised by the West Australian Music Industry Association and inducted as one of the inaugural inductees into the WAM Hall of Fame. In 2007, DeMarchi collaborated again with Bettencourt on several songs for the soundtrack of the motion picture ''

Smart People ''Smart People'' is a 2008 American comedy-drama film starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elliot Page, and Thomas Haden Church. The film was directed by Noam Murro, written by Mark Poirier and produced by Michael London, with Omar Ama ...

'', on which Bettencourt was credited for the musical score.

Baby Animals reunion: 2007–present

In 2007 Baby Animals reunited and released a third studio album. In 2015, DeMarchi released her second studio album ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...

'', which debuted at number 26.

Personal life

In the late 1980s, DeMarchi dated

Gavin Rossdale Gavin McGregor Rossdale (born 30 October 1965) is an English guitarist and actor, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. He helped form Bush in 1992; on the band's separation in 2002, he became the lead singer ...

, former lead singer and guitarist for the band Bush. Bush's songs " Comedown" and "

Glycerine Glycerol (), also called glycerine in British English and glycerin in American English, is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids know ...

" from 1994's '' Sixteen Stone'' are about their relationship. In 1993, DeMarchi met

, guitarist at that time for hard rock band Extreme. They co-wrote and performed the song "Because I Can" for Baby Animals' second record ''Shaved and Dangerous''. On 27 August 1994, the couple married in the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, where Bettencourt's family is from. In 1996, they had their first child, a daughter

Bebe Bettencourt Bebe Bettencourt (stylised as BeBe) (born 2 February 1996) is an Australian actress, known for playing Hedwig in the streaming service Stan's Australian TV series '' Eden'' (2021) and Eleanor "Ellie" Deacon in the film '' The Dry'' (2020). ...

. In 2002, DeMarchi and Bettencourt had their second child in Los Angeles. The couple separated in 2009 and announced their divorce in 2013.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Charity singles

Awards

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 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 songwri ...

(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". ! , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, "Tonight" by Baby Animals (Suze DeMarchi / Dave Leslie) , Song of the Year , ,

West Australian Music Industry Awards

The West Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985. , - , 1994 , , Suze DeMarchi , , Rock 'n' Roll of Renown , , , -

References

External links

Suze DeMarchi Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demarchi, Suze 1964 births Australian expatriates in England Australian expatriates in the United States Australian women singer-songwriters Australian people of Italian descent EMI Records artists Women rock singers Living people Musicians from Perth, Western Australia People educated at Newman College, Perth 21st-century Australian women singers