Bernard Fanning

Bernard Joseph Fanning (born 15 August 1969) is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter.

Fanning was born in Brisbane on 15 August 1969.

He was raised with two brothers and a sister in an Irish Catholic family in the inner Brisbane suburb of Toowong.

The death of Fanning's brother John from cancer would inspire Vulture Street's "Since You've Been Gone".

Fanning's mother began teaching him to play piano as a young child, although his siblings were not interested in music.

Fanning attended St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, and began writing his own music at the age of 15.

Fanning has described these early works as "terrible", but notes that he enjoyed writing and arranging them.

After graduating from St Joseph's, Fanning entered the University of Queensland to study journalism; however, he had equal interest in pursuing a music career, and left university at the age of 19 to do so.

He was the lead vocalist of Queensland alternative rock band Powderfinger from its formation in 1989.

Born and raised in Toowong, Brisbane, Fanning received piano lessons from his mother at an early age.

At the age of 15, while he attended St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, he began writing music.

Upon graduating from St. Joseph's, Fanning moved on to the University of Queensland, where he studied journalism briefly.

He dropped out to pursue a music career, after meeting Ian Haug in an economics class.

Fanning joined Haug, John Collins, and Steven Bishop, who had recently formed Powderfinger, and took the role of lead singer.

After Bishop left and drummer Jon Coghill (guitarist Darren Middleton)joined, the band released five studio albums in fifteen years and achieved mainstream success in Australia.

Fanning first met Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug in a University of Queensland economics class in 1989.

Haug had recently formed Powderfinger with high school friends John Collins and Steven Bishop, who would become the band's foundational bass guitarist and drummer, respectively.

Haug was the lead guitarist and lead singer.

On discovering Fanning's singing abilities, Haug replaced himself with Fanning as lead singer and frontman.

Haug stated that, "It was a big thing to convince the others that we needed a singer. They were like, 'You're OK,' and I was like, 'No I'm not. We can do better than that.'"

Throughout the late 1990s, Powderfinger rose to prominence throughout Australia, receiving several accolades and achieving highly successful record and concert ticket sales.

As the most vocal and prominent member of the band, the popularity of the group elevated Fanning as a powerful individual in the Australian music industry.

In 1992, current guitarist Darren Middleton was invited to join Powderfinger by Fanning and Haug, after they were impressed by his work in Brisbane band Pirate.

Middleton accepted the offer and became the fifth member, joining Jon Coghill who had replaced Bishop as drummer.

The line-up of Fanning, Middleton, Haug, Collins, and Coghill then remained unchanged.

Much of the inspiration for the work on the album came from Fanning's reaction to the death of his brother in 2002, and to the ending of a 12-year relationship with his girlfriend, Philippa Sison.

In 2003, Fanning was called upon by film-maker Gregor Jordan to perform the folk song "Moreton Bay" (named after the bay in the Brisbane area) and his own original composition "Shelter for My Soul" in his film Ned Kelly.

Fanning then enlisted Jordan to film Powderfinger's first live DVD, These Days: Live in Concert.

During Powderfinger's hiatus in 2005, Fanning began his solo music career with the studio album Tea & Sympathy.

On 31 October 2005, Fanning released his debut solo album entitled Tea & Sympathy.

It debuted at number one on the Australian ARIA Albums chart, and spent 58 weeks in the top 50.

It peaked at number 11 during its 18-week stay on the New Zealand albums chart.

Tea & Sympathy included songs Fanning had written in his time with Powderfinger, as well as new material written after the band went on hiatus.

Most of the writing was done in what Fanning described as a "creative burst" between March and May 2005.

Most of the album was recorded at Real World Studios with Tchad Blake in June 2005, except for "Not Finished Just Yet", "Believe", "Wash Me Clean", and "Hope & Validation", which were recorded at Fanning's Brisbane home.

Powderfinger reunited in 2007 and released two more albums before they disbanded in late 2010.

While Powderfinger's style focuses on alternative rock, Fanning's solo music is generally described as a mixture of blues and acoustic folk.

He plays guitar, piano, keyboards, and harmonica both when performing solo and also with Powderfinger.

Often speaking out against Australian political figures, Fanning has donated much of his time to philanthropic causes.

He also advocates for Aboriginal justice in Australia.