Margaret Urlich, ARIA Award–Winning Musician, Dies Aged 57

August 23, 2022

Margaret Urlich, the acclaimed New Zealand-born ARIA Award-winning musician, has passed away at the age of 57. News of Urlich’s death was reported yesterday (22nd August), with the musician passing away following a two-and-a-half year battle with cancer.

“It is with incredible sadness that we inform you that Margaret Urlich passed away peacefully on 22nd August 2022 at her home in the Southern Highlands of NSW, surrounded by her family after a courageous two-and-a-half-year battle with cancer,” a statement read.

Margaret Urlich – ‘Esaping’

“Margaret is a much-loved multi award-winning member of the Australian and New Zealand music industry who captured hearts around the world as a gifted singer/songwriter with a unique voice and sense of style.” Urlich’s family and loved ones have also requested privacy at the time.

Urlich was born in Auckland in 1985, and following stints in groups such as Peking Man and When The Cat’s Away, she moved to Sydney in 1988 with the intent of establishing herself as a solo artist.

Her debut album, Safety In Numbers, was released in late 1989, going on to reach the top end of the Australian charts and win Urlich the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album in 1991. She was also nominated for the ARIA Awards for Album Of The Year and Best Female Artist, and received nominations in the latter two categories a few more times in subsequent years.

In 1990, Urlich recording backing vocals for Australian musician Daryl Braithwaite‘s now-iconic cover of Rickie Lee Jones’ ‘The Horses’. Throughout the rest of the ’90s, Urlich recorded a further three albums, with her last – 1999’s Second Nature – going Platinum in her native New Zealand.

Since her final album, Urlich remained largely absent from the world of popular music, with a 2017 interview with The Star revealing that she had instead spent the last decades working as a high school music teacher and living in the NSW Southern Highlands.