Vance Joy

On the back of his big international hit 'Riptide', Vance Joy has marked himself out as one of Australia's most popular young singer-songwriters, rising from open mic nights in Melbourne to touring baseball stadiums with Taylor Swift.

A talented Aussie rules footballer who played for his local side Coburg, James Gabriel Keogh was a big Metallica and Green Day fan in his teens and later completed a law degree, before really focusing on his music in 2012 and taking his Vance Joy stage name from a character in Peter Carey's darkly comic 1980s novel 'Bliss'. With an old school friend spotting his talent to become his manager, a rough recording of his lullaby 'Riptide' received a flood of streams when it was uploaded to Soundcloud and when the dreamy, indie-folk singalong was used in a marketing campaign for GoPro cameras and apps, it gradually grew into an anthem known across the globe.

His self-produced EP 'God Loves You When You're Dancing' also helped him land a five-record deal with Atlantic, and by 2013 his debut album 'Dream Your Life Away' had reached the US and UK top 20 and sparked the singles 'Georgia' and 'Fire and the Flood'.

An earnest, introspective lyricist whose songs speak of first loves and overcoming inner doubts and emotional struggles, his profile was raised further when Taylor Swift covered 'Riptide' on BBC Radio One's Live Lounge segment and made him an opening act on her world tour in 2015. He went on to perform at the final of 'American Idol' with contestant Quentin Alexander, penned the song 'Great Summer' for the soundtrack to the movie 'Paper Towns' and headlined his own international tour, before returning in 2018 with second album 'Nation of Two'.