Guy Sebastian Profile

Full Name:Guy Sebastian - Contact Guy Sebastian
Famous As: Pop singer
Date of Birth: October 26, 1981
Place of Birth: Malaysia
Nationality: Australian
Claim to Fame: Winner of the first series of Australian Idol.

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Guy Sebastian
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Guy Sebastian

Background information
Birth name Guy Theodore Sebastian
Born 26 October 1981 (1981-10-26) (age 28)
Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Origin Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Genres Pop, R&B, Soul, Gospel
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Years active 2003–present
Labels Sony Music (2003–present)
Website Official Website

Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer-songwriter, and winner of the first Australian Idol television talent quest in 2003. He has released four top 4 albums including a No.1 and No.2,1 which all achieved either platinum or multi platinum accreditation.2345 His fifth album Like It Like That was released in October 2009, debuted at No. 6, and achieved gold accreditation in its 3rd week.6 He has also released six top 10 singles which includes four No. 1's, and three other top 15 singles.7 He has 10 platinum and 1 gold accreditation for albums, and 9 platinum and 2 gold accreditations for singles, the highest album and single accreditations of any Australian Idol contestant according to official ARIA records.89

He has sold over 1.5 million cds in Australia alone, including more than 800,000 albums.4569101112 His awards include Channel V's Artist Of The Year in 2004,13 and Urban Music Awards for Best Male Artist in 2006 and Best R&B Album for his third album Closer To The Sun in 2007.1415

Sebastian has been one of Australia's most successful musicians in recent years. Three of his albums have been nominated for highest selling album at the Annual ARIA Music Awards.161718 He is the only Australian male vocalist in ARIA Chart history to have four No. 1 singles, one behind John Farnham's record in Australian music history.1920 His debut single "Angels Brought Me Here" was the highest selling single in Australia in 2003, and won the 2004 ARIA for highest seller.1621 His most recent No. 1, "Like it Like That", was the highest selling Australian artist single in 2009.2223 In January 2010 ARIA published the top sellers of the previous decade, and "Angels Brought Me Here" was named the highest selling song of the decade, with "Like It Like That" coming in at No.29, the 6th highest Australian artist entry. On the album chart his debut album Just As I Am was No.28, the 9th highest placed Australian artist album, and the highest entry for an Australian Idol contestant.24

Sebastian has worked with high profile American musicians. He co-wrote songs for his second album Beautiful Life with Brian McKnight and Robin Thicke.10 His fourth album The Memphis Album, a tribute album to Memphis soul, was recorded with members of The Mgs, including Steve Cropper who co-wrote and played on some of the original songs.25 The Mgs were also his band on his 2008 Australian tour.26 His lastest album features several tracks with John Mayer playing guitar and singing backing vocals, and also a duet with Jordin Sparks, "Art Of Love".2728

Sebastian's debut single reached No.1 in four Asian countries and New Zealand.29 It achieved platinum accreditation in New Zealand, with his debut album reaching No.3 and gaining double platinum accreditation there.3031 In February 2010 "Art Of Love" was released in New Zealand and debuted on the RAINZ singles chart at No. 14.32 Sebastian was signed to Victor Records, a subdivision of Sony America's Commercial Group in 2008. Due to company restructuring the release was delayed, but they recently reaffirmed the album will be released in the US in 2010.33

Contents

Early life

Guy Sebastian was born in Klang, Malaysia on the 26th of October 1981. His father Ivan is of Sri Lankan descent, while his mother Nellie has an English and Portuguese background and was raised in India. The family moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1988. They eventually took up residence in Adelaide, South Australia due to Ivan's work as a geologist. As a child Sebastian took violin lessons, and although he had no formal training in other musical instruments also plays guitar, drums and piano. He attended Paradise Community Church, which is a Pentecostal Assemblies of God church and one of the largest churches in Australia. He became one of Paradise's main worship singers, performing for up to 15,000 people.34 He also sang with the then Paradise Community Church Youth Conference Planetshakers, performing both lead and backup vocals in their 2002 and 2003 conferences and albums.35 After winning Australian Idol he continued his association with Paradise Church, recording on several of their albums, Adore in 2004,36 and Set Me Free in 2005.37 After leaving school Sebastian began studies in Medical Radiation but left to pursue a career in music. He juggled two jobs, teaching vocals at high schools and working as a recording engineer, while also studying Music Technology at the Elder School Of Music.34

2003 Australian Idol

Main article: Guy Sebastian (Winner Australian Idol 2003)

In May 2003 Sebastian successfully auditioned for Australian Idol, singing Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky".38 He progressed through the Idol series establishing a strong fanbase and praise from the judges, who often made reference to his afro hairstyle which became a focal point of his image. He was declared the winner on November 19. The final was the most popular program broadcast in Australia during 2003, and the second most popular non-sporting broadcast in Australian television history.39

Shortly after recording his first album Sebastian travelled to the UK to compete in World Idol. He sang "What a Wonderful World", and his performance was well received by the World Idol judges with several suggesting he could win the competition.40 However after the viewer voting was tallied Sebastian was ranked 7th out of the 11 competitors. There were questions over his song selection for the competition as his new arrangement of "What a Wonderful World" was an unusual version of a classic. In a 2004 interview on Rove, an Australian TV show, Sebastian said: "I actually picked "When Doves Cry" initially, and Prince wouldn't let me do it."41

Recording career

November 2003 To September 2004 Just As I Am

Main article: Just as I Am (Guy Sebastian album)

Guy Sebastian was in the studio within a day of becoming the first Australian Idol to record his debut album, which had to be completed in 6 days to ensure it was out by Christmas.42 Despite this time restriction, Sebastian included 3 of his own songs on the album. His winner's song "Angels Brought Me Here" debuted at No.1, and broke an ARIA record. Its first week sales of 128,000 were at the time the highest ever for an Australian artist.43 The single remained at No.1 for 3 weeks, and was the highest selling single in Australia in 2003, gaining 4 X Platinum accreditation.21 In January 2010 ARIA released the lists of highest sellers of the Decade. "Angels Brought Me Here" was announced as the highest selling song of the decade, ahead of Anthony Callea's cover of "The Prayer".24

Sebastian's debut album Just As I Am was released in the 2nd week of December and debuted at No.1. Again Sebastian broke an ARIA record with the album selling 163,711 copies in its first week, giving it the "highest ever album sales in one week for ANY album in Australian chart history*(*includes local, international, solo acts, groups, soundtracks & compilations)."1044 This record held firm until December 2009, when Susan Boyle sold nearly 165,000 units of I Dreamed A Dream in the week prior to christmas.45 Just as I Am remained at No.1 for 4 weeks and finished as the 5th highest selling album of 2003 within 3 weeks of debut, and went on to fall just a few thousand short of gaining 7 X Platinum accreditation.24647 It remains the highest selling album for any Australian Idol contestant, coming in at No.28 on the ARIA highest sellers of the Decade, the 9th highest Australian artist entry.24

In early 2004 Sebastian and the other Idol finalists toured around Australia. His debut single reached No.1 in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia and New Zealand.29 The album also peaked at No.3 and became double platinum in New Zealand.48 During this time Sebastian appeared at the Asian MTV Awards, was a guest judge on New Zealand Idol and also performed on Indonesian Idol.10 His 2nd single "All I Need Is You" was released in Australia in March and debuted at No.1 and was accredited Platinum. In April 2004, Sebastian went on a promotional trip to Malaysia before traveling to Europe and the US to write for his 2nd album. He worked with songwriters including Brian McKnight and Robin Thicke. While overseas he was invited to perform on American Idol.49 In June he performed a duet with Filipino singer Sarah Geronimo at the Philippine MTV Awards.

When ARIA Music Award nominations were announced in September there was some suggestion the music industry did not support the Idol concept, as although 4 contestants were nominated in sales awards, none received industry voted nominations. The Age reported: "According to ARIA awards producer Mark Pope, last year's Australian Idol victor, Guy Sebastian, missed out on nomination for two ARIA prizes - Breakthrough Artist (single) and (album) - by just a few votes." 50

October 2004 To December 2005 Beautiful Life

Main article: Beautiful Life (album)
Beautiful Life Tour

Sebastian's second album Beautiful Life had a more R&B edge to it and included a duet with American R&B singer, Mýa. It also contained songs co-written with Robin Thicke and Brian McKnight.10 The first single "Out with My Baby" was released in October, and became Sebastian's fourth consecutive No.1 release. The song was accredited Platinum and had sales of 90,000.10 He performed at the 2004 ARIA Music Awards where he received the award for the Highest Selling Single for "Angels Brought Me Here", and the Channel V Award for Oz (Australian) Artist Of The Year.13 Sebastian was also nominated for Highest Selling Album for Just As I Am.16

Beautiful Life was released at the end of October and debuted at No.2 on the Aria charts. The album went on to become Platinum, and eventually sold in excess of 100,000 units.310 Sebastian embarked on a national tour in November and released 2 more singles from the album, "Kryptonite" which debuted at No.15, and "Oh Oh" at No.11.51 In March 2005 Sebastian commenced the second stage of his Beautiful Life tour. He received awards for Favourite Video, Favourite Music Artist, and Favourite Aussie at the 2005 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards, and a MTV Video Music Award for "Out With My Baby".5253 He also received a nomination for Highest Selling Album for Beautiful Life in the 2005 ARIA Music Awards.17 Sebastian spent some time overseas writing for his third album during 2005. He also became an ambassador for World Vision Australia, and traveled to Africa to film a documentary for them.54 In late November he was the guest performer for the annual Indian Pacific Outback Christmas Journey.55

May 2006 To August 2007 Closer to the Sun

Main article: Closer to the Sun (Guy Sebastian album)

Between May and August 2006 Sebastian appeared as a mentor on the inaugural It Takes Two, in which performers from non-musical fields are teamed with professional singers to perform a duet each week. Sebastian's partner was three-time Australian Olympic swimmer Sarah Ryan. They finished second, behind Erika Heynatz and David Hobson.56 While Sebastian was appearing on It Takes Two he wrote for his new album. Scrapping most of the songs he had written in 2005, the album was mainly co written with Australian musicians. Closer to the Sun was a mix of many genres and had a pop/rock feel. The first single from the album was the ballad "Taller, Stronger, Better". It was released in August and debuted on the charts at No.3, spent 6 weeks in the Top 10 and achieved Gold accreditation.1257 Closer To The Sun debuted at No.4, and was accredited Platinum.58 The video for its second single "Elevator Love" featured former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins as his love interest.59 This single debuted at No.11, and also achieved Gold accreditation.12 It was Sebastian's second single to just miss out on a Top 10 place.60

Sebastian received an award for most played Urban work for "Oh Oh" at the 2006 APRA Music Awards.61 "Oh Oh" was also awarded Best Video and Sebastian named Best Male Artist at the Urban Music Awards, and for the second year in succession he received the Fav Aussie award at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.1462

In early 2007 Sebastian toured the Eastern states and South Australia. In May he performed 3 concerts with the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House and Hamer Hall in Melbourne.63 It was also announced that Receive the Power, a song written by Sebastian and Gary Pinto, had been chosen as the anthem for World Youth Day 2008.64 Shortly after the orchestral concerts Sebastian's management announced he would be traveling to Memphis Tennessee to record an album of soul classics with Stax musicians who played on and wrote some of the original songs. Before leaving for Memphis Sebastian performed acoustic concerts at the Basement in Sydney.65 One of these concerts was filmed for ABC Television's Live At The Basement, and was shown in October 2007. Sebastian released "Cover On My Heart" the third single from Closer To The Sun in August. It peaked at No.32 on the Aria charts.66 Closer to the Sun was awarded Best Album at the 2007 Urban Music Awards, and also Most Popular Album at the Dolly Teen Choice Awards.6768

August to December 2007 The Memphis Album

Main article: The Memphis Album

In August, 2007 Guy Sebastian recorded his tribute album of soul classics at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Steve Cropper, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, and Steve Potts (a.k.a. The Mgs), with Lester Snell on keyboards. Cropper also co produced the album with Sebastian, with Steve Greenwell mixing.25 The album was recorded on analogue tape live in the studio. Ardent Studios sound engineer Curry Weber explained the reason for this on AllMemphisMusic, an online Memphis radio station:

Going to tape is just such a richer and warmer tone when you hit it first of all. Not a lot of guys these days are talented enough to go to tape, cause it’s so definitive and destructive. When you’re on tape, it’s on tape, and it's really hard to go in and fix a bunch of stuff like you can with computer these days. But just having all those guys out there on the floor. You know those guys are amazing musicians, so going to tape was easy for them. And that was just such a great experience to see all that talent out there, and it going straight to tape and it stuck, and everything was brilliant.

Sebastian wrote about his time in Memphis in a series of blogs for the Australian newspapers: "I started recording four days ago with the band members from Booker T and the MGs. And in the four days, we cut 15 tracks. It's been such a great experience to watch these guys work. I mean, they are mostly in their late 60s and have such a wealth of experience. Can you believe these guys have played together for nearly 50 years?" 69 Cropper later spoke on AllMemphisMusic about recording the album with Sebastian:

Needless to say I’ve done a lot of things in my career, had a lot of fun, but we had more fun working with this young guy who just sings the rings around everything. You know there’s a lot of great singers out there today, a lot of them extremely talented. You never quite know where they learned, or where they’re coming from, or what their musical tastes are, but this kid came into Memphis, and just blew everybody’s socks off. He had the grit and the grime and the soul of Otis Redding, and he had the sweet soul of Al Green, he had the wonderful sweet church sound of Sam Cooke, and he just took us by storm, and it was like every song we did, we just looked at each other and like all said, 'We can’t believe this kid can sing this good'.

Shortly after his return to Australia Sebastian performed a series of 14 acoustic shows in the Eastern States and South Australia.70 It was also announced The Mgs would tour Australia with Sebastian in early 2008.71 The Memphis Album was released on 10 November 2007, debuting at No.3, and was the 7th highest selling Australian album for 2007.7273 The critically acclaimed album 74 remained in the Aria Top 10 for 8 weeks and was certified double Platinum within 10 weeks of debut.52675

The Memphis Album began attracting attention from Memphis itself. Sebastian's versions of the Memphis classics received a mention in The Memphis Flyer, a weekly alternative newspaper serving the Memphis area. In the "Daily Buzz" section John Branston wrote: "We were somewhat surprised (being cynical Memphians) to discover that the little sonofagun can really sing. He nails these tunes."76 AllMemphisMusic, which specialises in playing music originating from Memphis, began playing Sebastian's songs in late December 2007. They also had two special programs featuring the album and interviews with some of the people involved in recording it.77

2008 The Memphis Tour

Sebastian on stage with Steve Cropper during The Memphis Tour

The M.G.'s arrived in Australia on the 20th February 2008, to be Sebastian's backing band for an 18 date concert tour. The tour began on February 26 with two concerts at The Bridge Hotel, Sydney, followed by 16 further concerts in mainly theatre venues around Australia.78 Sebastian spoke to Stuart Bocking of 2UE during the tour about what it was like fronting the M.G.'s: "There were so many moments when I just had to take a step back and think 'This is unbelievable'. Like the history that is behind me, and I'm singing these songs. You know they start playing Dock Of The Bay, and the guys that played it are on the stage. You know the guy who wrote the song with Otis Redding is playing guitar. Same as Midnight Hour and Knock On Wood. All these songs that I keep starting, I'm like, 'These guys played the original, and wrote the songs and you know, were the sound that created it'."79 The audiences for these concerts were a mixture of people there to see Sebastian and people there to see living legends of Memphis soul.

There was a little apprehension about us going down to play behind him, because the people who were fans were there to see Guy. Well they were there to see some of the old Memphis guys as well. And that camaraderie with everybody, and hearing him sing our music, which was born and raised and produced and recorded in Memphis, Tennessee. It was just something I, it's hard to explain the excitement coming from being on stage and that excitement coming out of the audience. It just filled our hearts.

—Steve Cropper, AllMemphisMusic Specialty Show

One of the Melbourne concerts was filmed and a live DVD/CD entitled The Memphis Tour and was released on May 3, 2008.80 In May 2008 Sonybmg announced The Memphis Album would be released globally.81 In July Sebastian was involved with World Youth Day, including singing at the opening concert and the final Mass. July also saw him nominated for a Helpman Award for "Best Performance In An Australian Contemporary Concert", for The Memphis Tour.82 In October 2008 Sebastian was awarded 2 Australian Club Entertainment Awards. He was named best "Original Music Performer" and "Outstanding Club Performer Of The Year".83 The Memphis Album received a nomination for Highest Selling Album at the 2008 ARIA Awards, finishing 3rd.18 This was Sebastian's third album to be nominated in this ARIA Awards category. In late 2008 Sebastian toured with the Australian Army Band in an 11 date concert series to raise funds for Legacy.84 At the completion of these concerts he traveled to the US to record for his upcoming Australian and US albums. Sebastian recorded songs with John Mayer's band. John Mayer himself played guitar and backing vocals on several of the tracks.27

2009 Like It Like That

Main article: Like It Like That (Guy Sebastian Album)

Sebastian travelled to the US again in early 2009 to continue recording for his US and Australian albums. It was reported in the Daily Telegraph on February 15 he would be setting up home this year in New York for promotional reasons.

Guy Sebastian performing with David Ryan Harris at a BMI showcase at SXSW, Austin Texas March 09
"Bring Yourself" excerpt
Live Performance by Guy Sebastian of self-penned song from "Like it Like That".
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Sebastian said the US album would be a combination of songs from The Memphis Album and new original songs.85 Sebastian performed showcases at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin Texas in March 2009, including performances at the Sounds Australia and BMI showcases, and also four shows at the Drom in New York during April and May.868788 His song "Like It Like That" was chosen as the theme song for the NBC network's summer promotional campaign.8990 In late May Sebastian performed with Steve Cropper and David Ryan Harris at the 9th Annual NON-COMMvention in Philadelphia.9192 Shortly after this he returned to Australia to complete his Australian album.

Although original plans were to release his US album through Victor/Sony, Sebastian stated in an interview with Undercover.com.au in August that internal restructuring of the company had caused him to reconsider his release options. He also said he would prefer the album to be the same as the Australian album, rather than the hybrid album originally planned for America.93 Victor Records is a subdivision of Sony America's Commercial Group. The restructuring meant the division was virtually dissolved. However Commercial Group recently reaffirmed the album will be released in the US in 2010.33

"Like it Like That", the title track from his 5th Australian album was released on August 7, 2009. The song debuted at No.6 on the Aria charts and rose to No.1 in its fourth week, making it Sebastian's fourth No.1 single. His four No.1 singles places him second in Australian chart history for most No.1 singles by an Australian solo male act, with one less than John Farnham.20 Sebastian's are ARIA No.1's.19 Farnham's were achieved over three decades, with four Go-Set Australian National Chart/Kent Music Report No.1's between 1968 and 1986 and one ARIA Chart No.1 single in 19889495 "Like It Like That" spent 12 weeks in the ARIA top 10 and has gained double platinum accreditation.1196 It was the highest selling Australian artist single and the 6th highest selling single overall in Australia in 2009.2223

In January 2010 ARIA released the lists of highest sellers of the decade. "Like It Like That" came in at No.29, the 6th highest entry for an Australian song.24 The album was released on October 23, 2009 and debuted at No.6, and achieved gold accreditation in its third week on the ARIA chart.6 As well as the 3 songs featuring John Mayer, the album also includes "Art of Love", a duet with Jordin Sparks.28 "Art of Love" was officially released as the second single on November 20, 2009 and has reached No.8 on the ARIA singles Chart and has been accredited platinum.9 Sebastian and Sparks filmed the music video in Los Angeles.97 They were due to perform "Art Of Love" on the Australian Idol grand final on November 22, but Sparks was unable to travel to Australia due to a sudden illness.98 "Art Of Love" was also released in New Zealand in February 2010, debuting at No. 14 on the RAINZ singles chart.32 The third Australian single is "All To Myself", which will be released digitally on February 12 and physically on February 26.99 Sebastian will tour the mainland capital cities in February 2010, and return to the US shortly after.100

Discography

Main article: Guy Sebastian discography

Official Music Videos

Other projects

World Vision Australia 2005

World Vision Australia Magazine. December 2005

In 2005, Sebastian was appointed an ambassador for World Vision Australia. In August of that year he visited Uganda to film a documentary "An Idol in Africa" for a Network Ten television special.101 The program highlighted the issues of poverty and civil war and its effect on the population. During the making of the documentary Sebastian visited a rehabilitation centre for former child soldiers in Gulu, Uganda, and also met children who had been orphaned by HIV and Aids. Sebastian stated his African journey helped put his own life back into perspective. The program was broadcast on December 3, 2005, and repeated on December 24, 2005.102 Sebastian continued his involvement with World Vision Australia, supporting "the Child Rescue program and has supported the 40 Hour Famine. He has also been involved in the Make Poverty History coalition of which World Vision is a part".103

In 2008 Sebastian was presented with the Extreme Inspiration Award (best celeb contribution to the environment, world, community, sport or young people) at the Dolly Teen Choice Awards for his continuing support of World Vision.104

Indian Pacific Outback Christmas Journey 2005

Indian Pacific Outback concert at Watson

Sebastian was the guest performer on the annual Indian Pacific Outback Christmas Journey in late 2005. The purpose of these trips is to bring concerts to the people in the isolated areas of Australia.105 They also raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor's Service, an organisation which helps service the medical needs of the Australian Outback. After an initial concert in Sydney where $5,000 was handed over to the RFDS, the train traveled the 4352 kilometre journey across Australia to Perth, Western Australia. The trip took 3 days, and concerts were given at Bathurst, Broken Hill, Adelaide, Watson, Cook, Rawlinna Station, Kalgoorlie and finally in Perth.

Sebastian was joined on the trip by his three brothers Ollie, Chris and Jeremy, and guitarist friend Carl Dimataga. These special Christmas train trips are held each year to thank the communities along the train route for their support of the railway, and gives children in the isolated areas of Australia a chance to see stars they likely would never get the opportunity to see otherwise. John Tobin from the RFDS who also made the journey said: "Itʼs amazing to see the reaction of the kids, especially those from the Yalata and Oak Valley communities who were driven for hours in sweltering heat to a rail siding at Watson - which is in the middle of nowhere - to come and hear Guy and see Father Christmas."106

Australian Philharmonic Orchestra Concerts 2007

In May 2007 Sebastian was invited to be the guest vocalist in a series of 3 concerts with the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra. These concerts were conducted by English conductor Gavin Sutherland, and were at the Sydney Opera House and Hamer Hall in Melbourne. The Australian Philharmonic Orchestra has been presenting concerts with a blend of popular classical and contemporary music for nearly 30 years. Artists they have performed with in the past include Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras, Sir Cliff Richards and Ray Charles. In the 2007 concert series "Guy & the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra: Bigger, Stronger, Better", Sebastian performed with the 60 piece orchestra and a 40 voice choir. The concerts were a "celebration of inspirational music". Sebastian was on stage for two and a half hours and sang his own original songs and also many of the songs which helped shape his musical development, including music from The Beatles, Nat King Cole, Elvis and gospel songs.107

World Youth Day 2008

In May 2007, it was reported that Sebastian's song "Receive the Power" had been chosen as official anthem for the Roman Catholic Church's XXIII World Youth Day (WYD08) to be held in Sydney in 2008. The song was co written by Guy Sebastian and Gary Pinto, and also features the vocals of Paulini Curuenavuli.108109 The song was released in two versions, one in English and an international version with the chorus in English and verses in Italian, Spanish and French. Receive the Power was used extensively throughout the 6 days of World Youth Day in July 2008, and also in the television coverage which went around the world. Sebastian performed at the concert after the Opening Mass which officially welcomed the Pope to Australia. The Mass and concert at Barangaroo, Sydney had an estimated crowd of 150,000. Sebastian and Curuenavuli also performed both the English and International versions at the final Mass at Randwick Race Course on the 20th Of July which was attended by an estimated 400,000 people.110111 They were also invited to perform Receive the Power at the Pope's Farewell and thank you to volunteers on 21 July.112

In November 2008 a 200 page book named Receive The Power was launched to commemorate World Youth Day 2008. Sebastian was invited to attend, along with Curuenavuli and TV journalist Ray Martin. They were presented with copies of the book by Cardinal Pell, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, to thank them for their involvement in World Youth Day.113

Army In Concert 2008

In late 2008 Sebastian was invited to perform a series of 11 concerts with the Australian Army Band to raise funds for Legacy.84 The concerts featured 60 Army musicians and a precision ceremonial team. "Legacy is a voluntary organisation providing services to Australian families suffering financially or socially after the death of a spouse or parent during or after their defence force service."114 The concerts were held in theatre venues around Australia and the funds raised went to the local Legacy branch in the area each concert was held. The Army's music director Major Andrew Ryder when interviewed by the Townsville Bulletin after the completion of the last concert said, "The audience were up on their feet by the end of the concert, jiving along with Guy. We played a lot of his songs and some of the old soul stuff that he was doing from the album. He's very professional to work with". The Townville Bulletin also reported this one concert alone raised $10,000 for the North Queensland branch of Legacy.115

Post Memphis special appearances

Since winning Australian Idol, Sebastian has been in demand for special appearances and events. This demand increased considerably after he returned from recording his soul album in Memphis. From September 2007 to February 2009, in between three tours (Acoustic tour, The Memphis Tour and touring with the Australian Army Band), his involvement in World Youth Day, and also several trips to the USA to write and record for his upcoming Australian and USA albums Sebastian was a guest performer at more than 30 corporate, charity, and media events. These included-

Guy Sebastian and Olivia Newton John performing Summer Nights at the Olivia Newton-John & Friends Concert
  • Olivia Newton-John & Friends Concert, September 2008: This concert was held at the State Theatre in Sydney to raised funds for Newton-John's Cancer and Wellness Centre Appeal. Sebastian was chosen to sing a duet with Newton-John. They sang her iconic hit from Grease, Summer Nights.117
  • Golden Stave Hall Of Fame Dinner, October 2008: Golden Stave is the Australian Music and Entertainment Industry's charity fund raising organisation. This was their first Hall Of Fame dinner to celebrate their 30th anniversary.118 Sebastian performed and was also announced as a Golden Stave ambassador on the night.119
  • Summer Down Under - Australia Zoo, January 2009: Sebastian was selected to perform a concert in the Crocoseum at Australia Zoo in their Summer Down Under series. Bindi and Terri Irwin were in the audience.120
  • Oscar Haven, February 2009: Just a few weeks after moving to the US to begin the promotion for his US release, Sebastian performed at an Oscar Haven event. "Haven is held during Oscars week so invitees include all Film Academy nominees as well as actors and insiders from film, television and music industries." 121 Sebastian was a headline act at a Haven party hosted by Stardust Pictures and Jamie Kennedy.122

Personal life

In late 2007 after eight years of courtship he and girlfriend Julie Egan became engaged. They were married in Manly, Sydney on 17 May 2008.123

Awards and Recognition

Year Award-Giving Body Award Result
2010 Australian Recording Industry Association ARIA Top 100 Singles Of The Decade 2000/2009. Highest seller: "Angels Brought Me Here" Won

24
2010 Australian Recording Industry Association Top 50 Australian Artist Singles 2009. Highest Seller: "Like It Like That" Won

22
2009 Bandit.fm Single Of The Year: "Like It Like That" Won

124
2009 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards So Hot Right Now Won

125
2008 ARIA Music Awards Highest Selling Album: The Memphis Album Nominated18
2008 Australian Club Entertainment Awards Outstanding Club Performer Of The Year Won

126
2008 Australian Club Entertainment Awards Original Music Performer Won

126
2008 Dolly Teen Choice Awards Extreme Inspiration Award: For support of World Vision Australia Won

127
2008 Helpman Awards Best Performance In An Australian Contemporary Concert: The Memphis Tour Nominated128
2007 Dolly Teen Choice Awards Most Popular Album: Closer to the Sun Won129
2007 Australian Club Entertainment Awards Outstanding Club Performer Of The Year Nominated

130
2007 Australian Club Entertainment Awards Original Music Performer Nominated

130
2007 Urban Music Awards Best R&B Album: Closer to the Sun Won

15
2007 MTV Australia Video Music Awards Best Pop Video: "Elevator Love" Won

68
2006 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards Fave Aussie Won

62
2006 Urban Music Awards Best Male Artist Won

14
2006 Urban Music Awards Best Video Clip: "Oh Oh" Won

14
2006 APRA Music Awards Most Performed Urban Work: "Oh Oh" Won

61
2006 APRA Music Awards Most Performed Urban Work: "Kryptonite" Nominated

61
2005 ARIA Music Awards Highest Selling Album: Beautiful Life Nominated

17
2005 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards Favourite Aussie Won

52
2005 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards Fave Music Video: "Oh Oh" Won

52
2005 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards Favourite Music Artist Won

52
2005 Australian Recording Industry Association ARIA #1 Chart Award: "Out With My Baby" Won

131
2005 MTV Australia Video Music Awards Best Pop Video: "Out With My Baby" Won

53
2005 Adelaide Advertiser Confidential Awards Favourite Adelaide Celebrity Won
2004 Channel V Awards Oz Artist Of The Year Won

13
2004 ARIA Music Awards Highest Selling Single: "Angels Brought Me Here" Won

16
2004 ARIA Music Awards Highest Selling Album: Just As I Am Nominated

16
2004 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards Favourite Music Video: "All I Need Is You" Won
2004 Australian Recording Industry Association ARIA #1 Chart Award: "All I Need Is You" Won

131
2004 Australian Recording Industry Association ARIA #1 Chart Award: Just As I Am Won

131
2004 Australian Recording Industry Association ARIA #1 Chart Award: "Angels Brought Me Here" Won

131
2003 Australian Recording Industry Association. End of Year Top 100 Singles Highest selling single: "Angels Brought Me Here" Won

21

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External links

Preceded by
None		 Australian Idol
Winner
Season 1 (2003)		 Succeeded by
Casey Donovan
v • d • e
Guy Sebastian
Studio albums

Just As I Am (2003) · Beautiful Life (2004) · Closer to the Sun (2006) · Like It like That (2009)
Cover albums
Extended plays
Your Song (2007) · Guy Sebastian EP (2009)
Singles
DVDs
Related articles
v • d • e
Australian Idol
Seasons
1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8
Hosts
Judges
Winners
Guy Sebastian  · Casey Donovan  · Kate DeAraugo  · Damien Leith  · Natalie Gauci  · Wes Carr  · Stan Walker
Winner's Singles
Runners-up
Notable alumni
Other personalities
Related articles

citation needed