The 2022 ARIA Awards will take place at Sydney’s iconic Hordern Pavilion in November, organisers have revealed.
The news comes after two years of ceremonies without a public audience, instead being broadcast from The Star in 2020 and live-streamed from Taronga Zoo last year over YouTube. In announcing this year’s new home, organisers pointed to the move as a celebration of live music, reverting to a live audience and a more large-scale broadcast format.
“We are so excited to take this year’s ARIA Awards to one of Sydney’s most iconic music venues,” commented ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd regarding the decision to move to the Hordern. Since opening in 1924, the Hordern Pavilion has played host to countless international and homegrown acts, including the likes of Foo Fighters, Fleetwood Mac, Coldplay, The Cure, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, INXS, Flume, Lorde, Billie Eilish, Amy Shark and many, many more.
“In a year that has had so many challenges we want to bring the joy of music back to fans, blow up the fashion, fun, and excitement of the red carpet, and celebrate the amazing achievements of our artists in true music style,” Herd continued. “I can’t think of a better place to do that than a venue as steeped in music DNA as the Hordern.”
Last year’s ARIAs saw Genesis Owusu take home four awards, including Album of the Year, Best Hip Hop Release and Best Independent Release for debut album Smiling with No Teeth. Other winners included The Kid LAROI, who won Best Artist and Best Pop Release for Justin Bieber collab ‘Stay’, Middle Kids for Best Rock Album with Today We’re the Greatest and Spacey Jane, who won Song of the Year for ‘Booster Seat’.
“Last year, the ARIAs graced me with a few lovely awards… It was something that I didn’t really expect to happen with the music that I made and the way that I presented myself. It felt like the signifier of a cultural change in Australian music,” Owusu said in a statement.
“The ARIA Awards truly have the power to put a spark in the careers of amazing Australian artists, who might not have been as accepted in the eyes of the greater public in years past. This year, we get to experience it happen again, live in the flesh, at one of Australia’s most iconic music venues. It’s fitting, it’s exciting, and I can’t wait to see the ARIA Awards continue to celebrate boundary-breakers and culture-movers.”
