Age: 48
Kasey Chambers
Age: 48
Kasey Chambers (born 4 June 1976) is an Australian country singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of singer and musician Bill Chambers, and the sister of musician and producer Nash Chambers.
Solo success
Chambers recorded her solo album The Captain on Norfolk Island over a few weeks in late 1998 with Nash Chambers producing the album and Bill Chambers on guitar. US country musicians Buddy Miller and Julie Miller added guitars and vocals to four tracks. The Captain was released in 1999 in Australia and in 2000 in the US. Chambers won the 1999 ARIA Award for "Best Country Album" for The Captain and a year later she would win "Best Female Artist". The strong word of mouth would eventually lead to The Captain going double platinum in Australia. The Captain would eventually reach the top 50 of the Billboard country albums in 2001 with Chambers touring the US as support act to Lucinda Williams. Subsequently, she supported Emmylou Harris on her Australian tour. Chambers would receive further exposure when "The Captain" was played on episode 8 of the third season of HBO's The Sopranos titled "He Is Risen".
Chambers' second album Barricades & Brickwalls was released in late 2001 debuting at No. 4 in the ARIA album charts. The record really took off in early 2002 with lead single "Not Pretty Enough" going to No. 1 on the ARIA singles charts. Chambers became the only Australian country artist to have a No. 1 single and album on the charts in that country simultaneously. Subsequent singles "Million Tears" and "If I Were You" also made the Australian Top 40 singles charts in 2002.
Commercial success
While "Not Pretty Enough" eventually went double platinum, Barricades & Brickwalls would achieve sales of 7x platinum in Australia meaning Chambers had the second best selling single and album by an Australian artist in 2002 behind Kylie Minogue whose single Can't Get You Out of My Head and album Fever became the biggest successes of the year. At the 2002 ARIA Awards, Chambers won "Album of the Year", "Best Female Artist" and "Best Country Album". Barricades & Brickwalls was released in the US in 2002 peaking just outside the top 100 of the Billboard 200 album charts, topping the Billboard Heatseeker Charts and reaching the top 20 of the Billboard country charts. The album also received a generally positive critical response.
She recorded a cover of the Cyndi Lauper song "True Colours" which became the theme song of the 2003 Rugby World Cup and reached the top 5 in Australia in May 2003. It was the 76th best-selling single in Australia that year and won gold accreditation in the Australian ARIA charts.
Chambers released her third solo album Wayward Angel in Australia on 31 May 2004. It debuted at No. 1 on the Australian charts and went platinum in its first week of release. Singles from the album include "Hollywood", "Pony" and "Saturated". Following the Boxing Day Tsunami, Chambers appeared at the Wave Aid fundraising concert in Sydney, to raise funds for aid organisations working in disaster affected areas.
Chambers's next album, Carnival, debuted in the No. 1 position on the ARIA album charts in late August 2006. The lead single, "Nothing at All" also reached the top ten of the singles chart.
Chambers and Shane Nicholson with Troy Cassar-Daley played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 14 March 2009 for Sound Relief, a multi-venue rock music concert in support of relief for the Victorian Bushfire Crisis. The event was held simultaneously with a concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground. All the proceeds from the Melbourne Concert went to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire relief. Appearing with Chambers in Melbourne were, Augie March, Bliss N Eso with Paris Wells, Gabriella Cilmi, Hunters & Collectors, Jack Johnson, Jet, Kings Of Leon, Liam Finn, Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly, Split Enz and Wolfmother.
In 2010 the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Award for 'Best Independent Country Album' went to the Australian country family dynasty - Kasey Chambers, Poppa Bill and the Little Hillbillies - for their Lost Music Blues album. A unique collaboration of 3 generations - the 16 original songs were crafted together by Kasey, her father Bill, brother Nash and their collective brood of Little Hillbillies.
Personal life
Chambers was born in Mount Gambier, South Australia. She has an older brother, Nash Chambers. She grew up on the Nullarbor Plain and the tiny fishing village in Beachport, South Australia. Her family owned the local Fish and Chip shop for a time and were playing and touring with her family band, "The Dead Ringer Band" which included her father Billy Chambers a Golden Guitar Award songwriter and Nash Chambers, now a well known music producer and performer. "The Dead Ringer Band" continued to tour locally and interstate gaining support and popularity along the way.
In late 2005, Chambers married Australian singer-songwriter Shane Nicholson. Chambers and Nicholson have two children, son Arlo Ray (2007) and daughter Poet Poppin (2011). Chambers has an older son, Talon, from a previous relationship. In April 2013, Chambers and Nicholson announced their separation after eight years of marriage.
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUS |
US Country |
US |
US Heat |
US Folk |
US Indie |
||||
The Captain |
|
11 | 49 | — | — | — | — |
|
|
Barricades & Brickwalls |
|
1 | 13 | 104 | 1 | — | — |
|
|
Wayward Angel |
|
1 | 31 | — | 15 | — | — |
|
|
Carnival |
|
1 | — | — | 22 | — | — |
|
|
Rattlin' Bones |
|
1 | — | — | 21 | — | — |
|
|
Little Bird |
|
3 | 32 | — | 6 | 9 | 39 |
|
|
Storybook |
|
21 | 53 | — | 16 | 19 | — | ||
Wreck & Ruin |
|
6 | 35 | — | 15 | 10 | — | ||
Bittersweet |
|
2 | 49 | — | 24 | 23 | — | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or not released to that country |
Singles
Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Certifications |
Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUS |
NZ |
||||
2000 | "Cry Like a Baby" | 71 | — | The Captain | |
"The Captain" | 68 | — | |||
2001 | "Runaway Train" | 86 | — | Barricades & Brickwalls | |
"On a Bad Day" | — | — | |||
2002 | "Not Pretty Enough" | 1 | 4 |
|
|
"Million Tears" | 32 | — | |||
"If I Were You" | 32 | — | |||
2003 | "True Colours" | 4 | — |
|
Non-album song |
2004 | "Like a River" and "Hollywood" | 28 | — | Wayward Angel | |
2005 | "Pony" | 10 | — | ||
"Saturated" | 75 | — | |||
2006 | "Nothing at All" | 9 | — | Carnival | |
"Surrender" | 74 | — | |||
2008 | "Rattlin' Bones" | 55 | — | Rattlin' Bones | |
"Monkey on a Wire" | — | — | |||
"Wildflower" | — | — | |||
2010 | "Little Bird" | 82 | — | Little Bird | |
2011 | "Beautiful Mess" | — | — | ||
"Luka" | — | — | Storybook | ||
2012 | "Adam and Eve" | — | — | Wreck & Ruin | |
"The Quiet Life" | — | — | |||
2014 | "Wheelbarrow" | — | — | Bittersweet | |
2016 | "F U Cancer" | — | — | single only |
Music videos
Year | Video | Director |
---|---|---|
2000 | "Cry Like a Baby" | Paul Elliott |
2002 | "Not Pretty Enough" | Danny Passman |
2004 | "Like a River" | Sean Gilligan |
2008 | "Rattlin' Bones" | Helen Clemens |
2011 | "Little Bird" | Gemma Lee |
2012 | "Adam & Eve" | Duncan Toombs |
2013 | "The Quiet Life" | |
2014 | "Wheelbarrow" | Renny Wijeyamohan |
"Bittersweet" |
Other contributions
- 107.1 KGSR Radio Austin - Broadcasts Vol.10 (2002) - "Not Pretty Enough"
- Hear Music Vol 8 - Between Stories (2002) - "Not Pretty Enough"
Awards and recognition
Year | Award-giving Body | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | ARIA Award | Best Country Album (The Captain) | Won |
1999 | ARIA Awards | Best Female Artist (The Captain) | Nominated |
2000 | ARIA Award | Best Female Artist (The Captain) | Won |
2000 | ARIA Awards | Single of the Year (The Captain) | Nominated |
2000 | APRA Awards | Song of the Year (Cry Like A Baby) | Nominated |
2000 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work (Cry Like A Baby) | Nominated |
2000 | Mo Awards | Female Country Performer of the Year | Won |
2001 | APRA Awards | Song of the Year (The Captain) | Nominated |
2001 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work (The Captain) | Won |
2002 | ARIA Awards | Best Cover Art (Barricades & Brickwalls) | Nominated |
2002 | ARIA Awards | Best Country Album (Barricades & Brickwalls) | Won |
2002 | ARIA Awards | Best Female Artist (Barricades & Brickwalls) | Won |
2002 | ARIA Awards | Highest Selling Single (Not Pretty Enough) | Nominated |
2002 | ARIA Awards | Highest Selling Album (Barricades & Brickwalls) | Nominated |
2002 | ARIA Awards | Single of the Year (Not Pretty Enough) | Nominated |
2002 | ARIA Awards | Album of the Year (Barricades & Brickwalls) | Won |
2002 | APRA Awards | Songwriter of the Year | Won |
2002 | APRA Awards | Song of the Year (On A Bad Day) | Nominated |
2002 | APRA Awards | Song of the Year (Runaway Train) | Nominated |
2002 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work (On A Bad Day) | Nominated |
2002 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work (Runaway Train) | Nominated |
2002 | Mo Awards | Female Country Performer of the Year | Won |
2003 | ARIA Awards | Highest Selling Album (Barricades & Brickwalls) | Nominated |
2003 | APRA Awards | Song of the Year ("Not Pretty Enough") | Won |
2003 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Australian Work ("Not Pretty Enough") | Won |
2003 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work ("If I Were You") | Nominated |
2003 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work ("A Million Tears") | Nominated |
2003 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work ("Not Pretty Enough") | Won |
2004 | ARIA Awards | Best Cover Art (Wayward Angel) | Nominated |
2004 | ARIA Awards | Best Country Album (Wayward Angel) | Won |
2004 | ARIA Awards | Best Female Artist (Wayward Angel) | Won |
2004 | ARIA Awards | Album of the Year (Wayward Angel) | Nominated |
2005 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work ("Hollywood") | Nominated |
2005 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work ("Like a River") | Won |
2006 | ARIA Awards | Best Female Artist (Nothing at All) | Nominated |
2006 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work ("Hollywood") | Nominated |
2006 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work ("Pony") | Won |
2006 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work (Saturated) | Nominated |
2007 | APRA Awards | Most Performed Country Work ("Nothing at All") | Won |
2007 | ARIA Awards | Best Female Artist (Carnival) | Nominated |
2008 | ARIA Awards | Album of the Year (Rattlin' Bones) | Nominated |
2008 | ARIA Awards | Best Country Album (Rattlin' Bones) | Won |
2008 | ARIA Awards | Best Cover Art (Rattlin' Bones) | Nominated |
2009 | APRA Awards | Country Work of the Year ("Rattlin' Bones") | Won |
2009 | APRA Awards | Song of the Year ("Rattlin' Bones") | Nominated |
2009 | CMAA Awards | Album of the Year (Rattlin' Bones) | Won |
2009 | CMAA Awards | APRA Song of the Year (Rattlin' Bones) | Won |
2009 | CMAA Awards | Group or Duo of the Year (Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson) | Nominated |
2009 | CMAA Awards | Single of the Year (Rattlin' Bones) | Won |
2009 | CMAA Awards | Video Clip of the Year (Rattlin' Bones) | Won |
2009 | CMAA Awards | Highest Selling Album of the Year (Rattlin' Bones) | Won |
2009 | Americana Music Awards | Best Duo/Group of the Year (Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson) | Nominated |
2009 | Americana Music Awards | Song of the Year (Rattlin' Bones) | Nominated |
2009 | ARIA Awards | Best Music DVD (Rattlin Bones Max Sessions) | Nominated |
2010 | CMAA Awards | Female Artist Of The Year (Kasey Chambers) | Won |
2010 | CMAA Awards | Album Of The Year (Little Bird) | Nominated |
2010 | CMAA Awards | APRA Song of the Year (Little Bird) | Won |
2010 | CMAA Awards | Video Clip Of The Year (Little Bird) | Nominated |
2010 | CMAA Awards | Single of the Year (Little Bird) | Won |
2010 | CMAA Awards | Toyota Heritage Song Of The Year (Nullabor (The Biggest Backyard)) | Nominated |
2010 | CMAA Awards | Vocal Collaboration Of The Year (Love Like A Hurricane - Kasey Chambers & Kevin Bennett) | Won |
2011 | ARIA Awards | Best Country Album (Little Bird) | Won |
2011 | ARIA Awards | Best Female Artist Artist (Little Bird) | Nominated |
2012 | APRA Awards | Country Work of the Year ("Beautiful Mess") | Nominated |
2013 | ARIA Awards | Best Country Album (Wreck & Ruin) | Won |
2013 | ARIA Awards | Best Cover Artist (Wreck and Ruin) | Nominated |
2014 | ARIA Awards | Best Country Album (Bittersweet) | Won |
2014 | ARIA Awards | Best Female Artist Artist (Bittersweet) | Nominated |