The APRA Music Awards were a little different this year, it was a virtual event to honour the best music of 2020. John Butler, Mama Kin, Kira Puru, Mo’Ju, William Crighton, Nikki Costa and Justin Stanley delivered virtual performances throughout the night.
Tones and I took home the peer-voted APRA Song of the Year for Dance Monkey. Tones and I has been bringing hits out all year long and was also awarded the 2020 Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year by the APRA Board of Writer and Publisher Directors.
“As an artist, we don’t get recognised a lot of the time as songwriters but as an artist that does write my music, I want to say thank you.”
Tones and I
Hilltop Hoods, Barry Francis (DJ Debris), Matthew Lambert (Suffa) and Daniel Smith (Pressure), were named Songwriter of the Year. Full of personality, relatable lyrics and punchy beats, their album The Great Expanse speaks for itself. Hilltop Hoods also took home the Most Performed Urban Work award for their track Leave Me Lonely for the second time in a row.
“We’ve spent our entire lives writing and making music. To be awarded ‘Songwriter of the Year’ by the APRA Board is an absolute honour. We couldn’t be more thrilled or grateful.”
Hilltop Hoods
Aussie country music powerhouse Morgan Evans took out the title for Most Performed Country Work. The back-to-back award winner claimed the prize for his song Young Again. We had a chat to Morgan about his time in Quarantine, you can check it out here.
Jimmy Barnes’s performance of Troy Cassar-Daley’s Shutting Down Our Town was awarded the Most Performed Rock Work. After reading Barnes’s memoir Working Class Boy, inspiration struck Cassar-Daley, leading to the award-winning track.
Although things were a little different this year, the stars made the most of the virtual awards with red carpet walks and “live” performances. You can rewatch the APRA awards, performances and acceptance speeches here.