The 2021 APRA Awards ceremony took place at Sydney International Convention Centre last night, with Tame Impala, Tones and I, The Kid LAROI and Midnight Oil among the big winners on the night.
Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker took home Songwriter of the Year, presented virtually by Mark Ronson. “When you think of the music of Kevin Parker and Tame Impala it’s very easy to get caught up in the atmosphere and the sonics and the waviness of it all,” Ronson said while presenting the award.
“It has all those things and I love those things. But really what I love the most at the root of it is the songs… You think of ‘The Less I Know the Better’ – it’s one of the most iconic bass lines of the past 20 years.”
Tones took home two awards on the night, winning in the Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Pop Work categories for her 2019 The Kids Are Coming track ‘Never Seen the Rain’. The Kid LAROI, meanwhile, won Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year.
The Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year Award went to Midnight Oil’s ‘Gadigal Land’, taken from last year’s collaborative The Makarrata Project. The band’s Rob Hirst accepted the award alongside co-writers on the track, Joel Davison and Bunna Lawrie.
There were also multiple musical performances on the evening, with the Teskey Brothers and Jimmy Barnes uniting to cover Matt Taylor’s ‘I Remember When I Was Young’ in tribute to the late Michael Gudinski.
Sycco, Stevan and Hauskey also teamed up to perform a rendition of Tame Impala’s ‘Lost in Yesterday’. Other performers on the evening included Odette, Lime Cordiale and Cat & Calmell.
Both country music pioneer Joy McKean and the late Helen Reddy were also honoured on the evening as joint recipients of the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.
“My mother was very proud of being Australian and she was proud of using her voice, her success and her visibility to elevate others,” Reddy’s daughter Traci Donat said during an acceptance speech. “In the final years of her life, she was incredibly optimistic and moved to see so many young women passionately carrying the torch.”
See the full list of winners and nominees below, and head to APRA’s YouTube channel for acceptance speeches and musical performances.
2021 APRA Music Awards Winners
Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year
Missy Higgins – ‘Carry You’ (Tim Minchin)
Amy Shark – ‘Everybody Rise’ (Amy Shark / Joel Little)
Midnight Oil feat. Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs & Bunna Lawrie – ‘Gadigal Land’ (Joel Davison / Rob Hirst / Bunna Lawrie)
Tame Impala – ‘Lost In Yesterday’ (Kevin Parker)
Guy Sebastian – ‘Standing With You’ (Guy Sebastian / Jamie Hartman / Greg Holden)
Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year
Charlton Howard (The Kid LAROI)
Grace Shaw (Mallrat)
Miiesha Young (Miiesha)
Louis and Oli Leimbach (Lime Cordiale)
Thelma Plum
Most Performed Australian Work
Dua Lipa – ‘Break My Heart’ (Andrew Farriss / Michael Hutchence / Dua Lipa / Jordan Johnson / Stefan Johnson / Ali Tamposi / Andrew Watt)
The Rubens – ‘Live In Life’ (Scott Baldwin / Elliott Margin / Sam Margin / Zaac Margin / William Zeglis)
Tones And I – ‘Never Seen The Rain’ (Toni Watson)
Flume feat. Vera Blue – ‘Rushing Back’ (Harley Streten / Celia Pavey / Eric Dubowsky / Sophie Cates)
Martin Garrix & Dean Lewis – ‘Used To Love’ (Dean Lewis / Martijn Garritsen / Kristoffer Fogelmark / Albin Nedler)
Most Performed Alternative Work
The Rubens – ‘Live In Life’ (Scott Baldwin / Elliott Margin / Sam Margin / Zaac Margin / William Zeglis)
Tame Impala – ‘Lost in Yesterday’ (Kevin Parker)
Lime Cordiale – ‘Robbery’ (Louis Leimbach / Oli Leimbach / Shane Abrahams / Daniel Choder / Jonathan Pakfar)
DMA’S – ‘Silver’ (Matt Mason / Tommy O’Dell / Johnny Took / Thomas Crandles / Joel Flyger / Liam Hoskins)
Birds of Tokyo – ‘Two of Us’ (Ian Berney / Ian Kenny / Glenn Sarangapany / Adam Spark / Adam Weston)
Most Performed Blues & Roots Work
Ash Grunwald feat. The Teskey Brothers – ‘Ain’t My Problem’ (Ash Grunwald)
Dope Lemon – ‘Give Me Honey’ (Angus Stone)
Busby Marou – ‘Over Drinking Over You’ (Thomas Busby / Jeremy Marou / Ivy Adara / Jon Hume / Lindsey Jackson)
Tash Sultana – ‘Pretty Lady’ (Tash Sultana / Matt Corby / Dann Hume)
Ziggy Alberts – ‘Together’ (Ziggy Alberts)
Most Performed Country Work
Casey Barnes – ‘A Little More’ (Casey Barnes / Michael Delorenzis / Michael Paynter)
Morgan Evans – ‘Diamonds’ (Morgan Evans / Evan Bogart / Chris de Stefano)
Brad Cox – ‘Give Me Tonight’ (Brad Cox / Joseph Mungovan)
The McClymonts – ‘I Got This’ (Brooke McClymont / Mollie McClymont / Samantha McClymont / Andy Mak)
Melanie Dyer – ‘Memphis T-Shirt’ (Melanie Dyer / Emma-Lee / Karen Kosowski)
Most Performed Dance Work
PNAU feat. Ollie Gabriel – ‘All Of Us’ (Nick Littlemore / Sam Littlemore / Peter Mayes / Oli Gabriel)
Joel Corry & MNEK – ‘Head & Heart’ (Jonathan Courtidis / Neav Applebaum / Joel Corry / Daniel Dare / Robert Harvey / MNEK / Kasif Siddiqui / Lewis Thompson)
Flume feat. Vera Blue – ‘Rushing Back’ (Harley Streten / Celia Pavey / Eric Dubowsky / Sophie Cates)
Dom Dolla – ‘San Frandisco’ (Dominic Matheson)
Martin Garrix and Dean Lewis – ‘Used To Love’ (Dean Lewis / Martijn Garritsen / Kristoffer Fogelmark / Albin Nedler)
Most Performed Hip Hop / Rap Work
Day1 – ‘Boss’ (Bailey Rawiri / Tuhi Montell)
No Money Enterprise – ‘German’ (Junior Leaupepe)
Hilltop Hoods – ‘I’m Good?’ (Barry Francis (DJ Debris) / Matthew Lambert (Suffa) / Daniel Smith (Pressure) / Paul Bartlett / John Bartlett)
ONEFOUR – ‘In The Beginning’ (Spencer Magalogo / Jerome Misa / Pio Misa / Salec Su’a)
Youngn Lipz – ‘Misunderstood’ (Filipo Faaoloii)
Most Performed R&B / Soul Work
Becca Hatch – ‘2560’ (Becca Hatch / Maribelle Anes / Jamie Muscat / Willie Tafa / Solo Tohi)
Winston Surfshirt – ‘Nobodylikeyou’ (Jack Hambling / Lachlan McAllister / Brett Ramson)
The Teskey Brothers – ‘Rain’ (Josh Teskey / Sam Teskey / Liam Gough / Brendan Love)
Milan Ring – ‘Say To Me’ (Milan Ring / Blessed Joe-Andah)
Miiesha – ‘Twisting Words’ (Miiesha Young / Stephen Collins / Mohamed Komba)
Most Performed Pop Work
Dua Lipa – ‘Break My Heart’ (Andrew Farriss / Michael Hutchence / Dua Lipa / Jordan Johnson / Stefan Johnson / Ali Tamposi / Andrew Watt)
Amy Shark – ‘Everybody Rise’ (Amy Shark / Joel Little)
Guy Sebastian – ‘Let Me Drink’ (Guy Sebastian / M-Phazes / Olubowale Akintimehin)
Tones and I – ‘Never Seen The Rain’ (Toni Watson)
Jessica Mauboy – ‘Selfish’ (Jessica Mauboy / Antonio Egizii / Isabella Kearney-Nurse / David Musumeci)
Most Performed Rock Work
Wolfmother feat. Chris Cester – ‘Chase The Feeling’ (Andrew Stockdale / Chris Cester / Jason Hill)
Cold Chisel – ‘Getting The Band Back Together’ (Don Walker)
Spacey Jane – ‘Good For You’ (Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu / Caleb Harper / Kieran Lama / Peppa Lane)
Hockey Dad – ‘I Missed Out’ (Will Fleming / Zach Stephenson)
The Amity Affliction – ‘Soak Me In Bleach’ (Joel Birch / Ahren Stringer / Daniel Brown / Joseph Longobardi)
Most Performed International Work
Harry Styles – ‘Adore You’ (Harry Styles / Amy Allen / Thomas Hull / Tyler Johnson)
Lewis Capaldi – ‘Before You Go’ (Lewis Capaldi / Thomas Barnes / Peter Kelleher / Benjamin Kohn / Philip Plested)
The Weeknd – ‘Blinding Lights’ (Abel Tesfaye / Ahmad Balshe / Oscar Holter / Max Martin / Jason Quenneville)
Dua Lipa – ‘Don’t Start Now’ (Dua Lipa / Caroline Ailin / Ian Kirkpatrick / Emily Schwartz)
Maroon 5 – ‘Memories’ (Adam Levine / Jonathan Bellion / Vincent Ford / Jacob Hindlin / Jordan Johnson / Stefan Johnson / Michael Pollack)
