The Grand Ballroom of Sydney’s International Convention Centre was packed out with songwriters, publishers, publicists, media, managers, loved ones and more as the 2018 APRA Music Awards took place for another year – acknowledging the contributions and achievements of Australian songwriters both at home and abroad over the last 12 months.
Hosted by Julia Zemiro, the event saw live performances from the likes of Baker Boy, All Our Exes Live in Texas, No Mono, Ainslie Wills and more received warmly, while recipients of category awards included Ben Abraham, Sarah Aarons, Morgan Evans and more. Special announcements during the night of course were reserved for Midnight Oil, who were awarded the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music – followed by an impassioned speech from the band and to close the night, an epic tribute performance courtesy of Suze DeMarchi and Baby Animals, Adalita, and Izzi Manfredi of The Preatures.
The Song of the Year for 2018 was awarded to Paul Kelly for his song “Firewood and Candles”, while A.B. Original took out the Songwriter of the Year APRA.
APRA’s Chairperson Jenny Morris delivered a heartfelt tribute to outgoing CEO Brett Cottle, who leaves the post to Dean Ormiston after an impressive innings at the helm of more than 40 years’ service to APRA AMCOS, 28 as CEO.
Check out the full list of winners below!
2018 APRA MUSIC AWARD WINNERS
SONG OF THE YEAR
Paul Kelly – “Firewood and Candles”
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
A.B. Original (Briggs and Trials)
BREAKTHROUGH SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Sarah Aarons
OVERSEAS RECOGNITION AWARD
Ben Abraham & Kylie Sackley
TED ALBERT AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICES TO AUSTRALIAN MUSIC
Midnight Oil
MOST PLAYED AUSTRALIAN WORK
Peking Duk ft. Elliphant – “Stranger”
COUNTRY WORK OF THE YEAR
Morgan Evans – “Kiss Somebody”
BLUES & ROOTS WORK OF THE YEAR
Busby Marou – “Best Part of Me”
DANCE WORK OF THE YEAR
Peking Duk ft. Elliphant – “Stranger”
ROCK WORK OF THE YEAR
Birds of Tokyo – “Brace”
POP WORK OF THE YEAR
Amy Shark – “Adore”
URBAN WORK OF THE YEAR
Illy ft. Anne-Marie – “Catch 22”
INTERNATIONAL WORK OF THE YEAR
Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
MOST PLAYED AUSTRALIAN WORK OVERSEAS
Sia – “Cheap Thrills”
LICENSEE OF THE YEAR
Settlers Tavern, Margaret River (Rob and Karen Gough)
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Photos by Nathan Atkins.
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