Missy Higgins is set to be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame this year.
Announced today, the iconic Melbourne singer-songwriter will be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame during the 2024 ARIA Awards on Wednesday, November 20th.
Since releasing her seminal debut album, The Sound of White, in 2004, Higgins has gone on to become one of the biggest Australian artists of her generation, creating some of the country’s most beloved songs.
Higgins has been cited as a major influence by many acclaimed contemporary Australian artists, including Gordi, Gretta Ray, and Angie McMahon.
ARIA CEO, Annabelle Herd, says, “Australia has seen Missy Higgins’ music career go from strength to strength, including nine ARIA Awards, several number one albums, and multiple sell-out national tours.
“The ARIA Hall of Fame is all about celebrating legendary music talent who leave a unique mark, inspiring not only the industry but Australia and the world. Missy is the absolute epitome of this.
“We couldn’t be happier to welcome one of Australia’s most loved and admired artists, Missy Higgins, into the ARIA Hall of Fame.”
Higgins adds: “I feel very honoured and grateful. So many artists I love and admire are in the ARIA Hall of Fame, so it feels a bit surreal to be joining them. This year has already been really special, now this is going to make it even more memorable.”
Higgins’ Hall of Fame induction will cap a stellar year for the musician.
She’s set to release her first new album in six years, The Second Act, on September 6th.
Written and co-produced by Higgins and, appropriately for such an intimate piece of work, The Second Act was recorded at her own home. An evocative and highly thematic batch of 12 new songs about trying to build a new life, it has been described as a “kind of sequel” to Higgins’ stunning debut The Sound of White.
The album contains the deeply personal single, “A Complicated Truth,” a ballad that’s struck a deep chord with fans, who have experienced its emotional weight as Higgins previewed the single during her sold-out 40-date national tour over recent months.
“I was driving around one day with my five-year-old daughter in the back of the car, not long after her dad and I had split up, and she started asking a heap of questions all of a sudden like ‘why can’t daddy live in our house anymore?’ And ‘how can you just stop being married if you made promises to each other?’” Higgins said about the track.
“As you can imagine it felt like a dagger in my heart. I just didn’t know what to tell her. So later that night I decided to try and answer her questions in a song. Maybe one day when she listens to it she might understand things a bit better.”
Higgins follows in the footsteps of Jet, who were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2023. The honour arrived at a good time for the Melbourne rock band, who celebrated the 20th anniversary of their iconic debut album, Get Born, last year.
Missy Higgins’ The Second Act is out September 6th (pre-save/pre-order here).
