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 27) Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Origin	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Genre(s)	Pop, R&B, Soul
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2003–present
Label(s)	Sony BMG (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. Since winning the competition, he has released four top four albums and seven top twenty singles, which includes four #1's.¹ His cd sales in Australia alone total over 1.3 million, including 800,000 albums.²³⁴ He has been awarded 10 Platinum Accreditations for albums the highest for any Australian Idol contestant according to official Australian Recording Industry Association records, and 6 Platinum and 2 Gold accreditations for singles.⁵

Sebastian also had success overseas with his first release reaching #1 in New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.⁶ His success outside Australia is most evident in New Zealand, where his first single "Angels Brought Me Here" was accredited Platinum. It spent 3 weeks at #1, and remained in the NZ Top 50 chart for 22 weeks during 2003/2004.⁷ His debut album Just As I Am reached #3 on the NZ charts, and gained 2xPlatinum accreditation.⁸ His second single "All I Need Is You" peaked at #5, and spent 14 weeks in their Top 50.⁹

Contents 1 Early Life and Australian Idol 2003 2 Recording career 2.1 November 2003 To September 2004 Just As I Am 2.2 October 2004 To December 2005 Beautiful Life 2.3 May 2006 To August 2007 Closer to the Sun 2.4 August to December 2007 The Memphis Album 2.5 2008 The Memphis Tour 2.6 US Album Like It Like That 3 Other projects 3.1 World Vision Australia 2005 3.2 Indian Pacific Outback Christmas Journey 2005 3.3 Australian Philharmonic Orchestra Concerts 2007 3.4 World Youth Day 2008 3.5 Army In Concert 2008 3.6 Post Memphis special appearances 4 Personal life 5 Discography 6 Awards and recognition 7 References 8 External links

Early Life and Australian Idol 2003

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.¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ After winning Australian Idol he continued his association with Paradise Church, recording on several of their albums, Adore in 2004,¹² and Set Me Free in 2005.¹³ Sebastian began studies in Medical Radiation, but left to pursue his love of 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.¹⁴

In May 2003 he successfully auditioned for Australian Idol, singing Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky".¹⁵ Sebastian 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. Shortly after recording his first album, Sebastian traveled 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.¹⁶ However after the viewer voting was tallied, Sebasian 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."¹⁷

The official biography Guy Sebastian – Angels Brought Me Here: The Official Biography by L. B. Bermingham was published in 2004.¹⁸

Recording career

November 2003 To September 2004 Just As I Am

Guy Sebastian was in the studio within a day of becoming the first Australian Idol to record his first album, which had to be completed in 6 days to ensure it was out by Christmas.¹⁹ Despite this time restriction, Sebastian included 3 of his own songs on the album. His winner's song "Angels Brought Me Here", was released and debuted at #1, and broke an ARIA record. Its first week sales of 128,000 were the highest ever for an Australian artist.²⁰ The single remained at #1 for 3 weeks, and was the highest selling single in Australia in 2003, gaining 4 X Platinum accreditation.²¹ Sebastian's debut album Just As I Am was released in the 2nd week of December and debuted at #1. Again Sebastian broke an ARIA record with the album selling 163,000 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).".²² This record still holds firm today. Just as I Am remained at #1 for 4 weeks and finished as the 5th highest selling album for 2003 within 3 weeks of debut, and went on to fall just a few thousand short of gaining 7 X Platinum accreditation.^{23 24} Just As I Am remains the highest selling album for any Australian Idol contestant.

In early 2004 Sebastian and the other Idol finalists toured around Australia. His debut single reached #1 in four Asian countries and New Zealand.²⁵ The album also peaked at #3 and became double Platinum in New Zealand.²⁶ During this time Sebastian appeared at the Asian MTV Awards, was a guest judge on New Zealand Idol and also performed on Indonesian Idol.²⁷ His 2nd single "All I Need Is You" was released in Australia in March and debuted at #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.²⁸ 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." ²⁹

October 2004 To December 2005 Beautiful Life

Sebastian's second album Beautiful Life had a more R&B edge to it and included a duet with American R&B singer, Mýa. The first single, "Out with My Baby" was released in October, and became Sebastian's fourth consecutive #1 release. The song was accredited Platinum and had sales of 90,000.³⁰ 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.³¹ Sebastian was also nominated for Highest Selling Album for Just As I Am.³²

Beautiful Life was released at the end of October and debuted at #2 on the Aria charts. The album went on to become Platinum, and eventually sold in excess of 100,000 units.³³ Sebastian embarked on a national tour in November and released 2 more singles from the album, "Kryptonite" which debuted at #15, and "Oh Oh" at #11.³⁴ 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".³⁵³⁶ He also received a nomination for Highest Selling Album for Beautiful Life in the 2005 ARIA Music Awards.³⁷

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.³⁸ In late November he was the guest performer for the annual Indian Pacific Outback Christmas Journey.³⁹

May 2006 To August 2007 Closer to the Sun

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.⁴⁰ 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 #3, spent 6 weeks in the Top 10 and achieved Gold accreditation.⁴¹⁴² Closer To The Sun debuted at #4, and was accredited Platinum.⁴³ The video for its second single "Elevator Love" featured former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins as his love interest. ⁴⁴ This single debuted at #11, and also achieved Gold accreditation.⁴⁵ It was Sebastian's second single to just miss out on a Top 10 place.⁴⁶

Sebastian received an award for most played Urban work for "Oh Oh" at the 2006 APRA Music Awards.⁴⁷ "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.⁴⁸⁴⁹

In early 2007 Sebastian toured the Eastern states and South Australia. In May he performed at 3 concerts with the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House and Hamer Hall in Melbourne. ⁵⁰ 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 2008.⁵¹ 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.⁵² One of these concerts was filmed for ABC Television's Live At The Basement, and was shown in October 2007. 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.⁵³⁵⁴

August to December 2007 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.⁵⁵ The album was recorded on analogue tape live in the studio. Ardent Studios sound engineer Curry Weber explained the reason for this:

“

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.56

”

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?" ⁵⁷ Cropper later spoke on radio about recording the album with Sebastian:

“

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. 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'. 58

”

Shortly after his return to Australia Sebastian performed a series of 14 acoustic shows in the Eastern States and South Australia.⁵⁹ It was also announced The Mgs would tour Australia with Sebastian in early 2008.⁶⁰ The Memphis Album was released on 10 November 2007, debuting at #3, and was the 7th highest selling Australian album for 2007.⁶¹⁶² The critically acclaimed album ⁶³ remained in the Aria Top 10 for 8 weeks and was certified double Platinum within 10 weeks of debut.⁶⁴⁶⁵

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."⁶⁶ AllMemphisMusic, an online Memphis radio station which specialises in playing music originating from Memphis began playing Sebastian's songs in late December 2007. They also featured 2 special programs where they played the album and interviewed some of the people involved in recording it.⁶⁷ AllMemphisMusic continue playing songs from the album right up to the present day.

2008 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.⁶⁸ 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'."⁶⁹ 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.70 —Steve Cropper

”

One of the Melbourne concerts was filmed and a live DVD/CD entitled The Memphis Tour and was released on May 3, 2008.⁷¹ In May 2008 Sonybmg announced The Memphis Album would be released globally in 2009.⁷² 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.⁷³ 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".⁷⁴ The Memphis Album received a nomination for Highest Selling Album at the 2008 ARIA Awards, finishing 3rd.⁷⁵ 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.⁷⁶ 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 4 of the tracks. ⁷⁷

US Album Like It Like That

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

	"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.

He said the album would be a combination of songs from The Memphis Album and new original songs. "They were originally just going to release The Memphis Album, but I don't want to be known as a covers artist here." ⁷⁸ The title of his US album will be Like It Like That and it is being released on the Victor/Sony label.⁷⁹

Sebastian performed showcases at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin Texas in March 2009, including performances at the Sounds Australia and BMI showcases.^{80 81} He also performed 4 shows at the Drom in New York during late April early May as part of the launch for his cd in the US. ⁸² "Like It Like That" the title track from his upcoming US album has been chosen as the theme song for the NBC network's summer promotional campaign.⁸³⁸⁴ The promotion first aired on NBC during the final of Celebrity Apprentice on May 10.⁸⁵ Sebastian performed with Steve Cropper and David Ryan Harris at the 9th Annual NON-COMMvention in Philadelphia at the end of May 2009.⁸⁶⁸⁷

Sebastian's 5th Australian album is slated for release in October 2009. It will include the originals tracks from his American release. He will tour the mainland capital cities in February 2010.⁸⁸ Like It Like That is set for release in the US in January 2010. The first release from the album is an EP titled Guy Sebastian EP which was added to US iTunes on May 26. It contains 2 orginals, "All To Myself" and "Like It Like That", and "Take Me To The River", a soul cover from The Memphis Album.⁸⁹ "All To Myself" will go to radio soon, followed by a US tour. ⁹⁰

Other projects

World Vision Australia 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. ⁹¹ 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. ⁹² 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".⁹³

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.⁹⁴

Indian Pacific Outback Christmas Journey 2005

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.⁹⁵ 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."⁹⁶

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.⁹⁷

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.^{98 99} 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.¹⁰⁰¹⁰¹ They were also invited to perform Receive the Power at the Pope's Farewell and thank you to volunteers on 21 July. ¹⁰²

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.¹⁰³

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.¹⁰⁴The 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."¹⁰⁵ 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.¹⁰⁶

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. Since September 2007, 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 has been a guest performer at more than 30 corporate, charity, and media events. These include-

• Asian Idol, December, 2007: Sebastian was a guest star on Asian Idol, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. He performed an "Angels Brought Me Here" duet with Indonesian Idol Mike Mohede and a medley of Memphis soul songs. ¹⁰⁷

• 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.¹⁰⁸

• Frontline Appeal, October 2008: The Frontline Appeal raises money for the school chaplaincy service in Queensland. This fundraising dinner was attended by 1,600 people in 2008. Sebastian was the headline performer and also a speaker at this event. ¹⁰⁹

• 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.¹¹⁰ Sebastian performed and was also announced as a Golden Stave ambassador on the night.¹¹¹

• 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. ¹¹²

• 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." ¹¹³ Sebastian was a headline act at a Haven party hosted by Stardust Pictures and Jamie Kennedy. ¹¹⁴

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 2008.¹¹⁵

Discography

• 2003: Just as I Am
• 2004: Beautiful Life
• 2006: Closer to the Sun
• 2007: The Memphis Album
• 2008: The Memphis Tour DVD+CD

Awards and recognition

Year	Award-Giving Body	Award	Result
2008	ARIA Music Awards	Highest Selling Album: The Memphis Album	Nominated 116
2008	Australian Club Entertainment Awards	Outstanding Club Performer Of The Year	Won 117
2008	Australian Club Entertainment Awards	Original Music Performer	Won 118
2008	Dolly Teen Choice Awards	Extreme Inspiration Award: For support of World Vision Australia	Won 119
2008	Helpman Awards	Best Performance In An Australian Contemporary Concert: The Memphis Tour	Nominated 120
2007	Dolly Teen Choice Awards	Most Popular Album: Closer to the Sun	Won 121
2007	Australian Club Entertainment Awards	Outstanding Club Performer Of The Year	Nominated 122
2007	Australian Club Entertainment Awards	Original Music Performer	Nominated 123
2007	Urban Music Awards	Best R&B Album: Closer to the Sun	Won 124
2007	MTV Australia Video Music Awards	Best Pop Video: "Elevator Love"	Won 125
2007	Photo Imaging Council Of Australia	Celebrity Photographer Of The Year	Won 126
2006	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Fave Aussie	Won 127
2006	Urban Music Awards	Best Male Artist	Won 128
2006	Urban Music Awards	Best Video Clip: "Oh Oh"	Won 129
2006	APRA Music Awards	Most Performed Urban Work: "Oh Oh"	Won 130
2006	APRA Music Awards	Most Performed Urban Work: "Kryptonite"	Nominated 131
2005	ARIA Music Awards	Highest Selling Album: Beautiful Life	Nominated 132
2005	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Favourite Aussie	Won 133
2005	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Fave Music Video: "Oh Oh"	Won 134
2005	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Favourite Music Artist	Won 135
2005	Australian Recording Industry Association	ARIA #1 Chart Award: "Out With My Baby"	Won 136
2005	MTV Australia Video Music Awards	Best Pop Video: "Out With My Baby"	Won 137
2005	Adelaide Advertiser Confidential Awards	Favourite Adelaide Celebrity	Won
2004	Channel V Awards	Oz Artist Of The Year	Won 138
2004	ARIA Music Awards	Highest Selling Single: "Angels Brought Me Here"	Won 139
2004	ARIA Music Awards	Highest Selling Album: Just As I Am	Nominated 140
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 141
2004	Australian Recording Industry Association	ARIA #1 Chart Award: Just As I Am	Won 142
2004	Australian Recording Industry Association	ARIA #1 Chart Award: "Angels Brought Me Here"	Won 143

References

External links

• Guy Sebastian's Official US website
• Guy Sebastian on Myplay
• Guy Sebastian's Official Australian website
• Guy Sebastian's Official Myspace
• Official Guy Sebastian US Street Team Myspace
• Guy Sebastian at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by None

Australian Idol Winner Season 1 (2003)

Succeeded by Casey Donovan

v • d • e Guy Sebastian Studio albums Just As I Am · Beautiful Life · Closer to the Sun Cover albums The Memphis Album Singles "Angels Brought Me Here" · "All I Need Is You" · "Out with My Baby" · "Kryptonite" · "Oh Oh" · "Taller, Stronger, Better" · "Elevator Love" · "Cover on My Heart" DVDs The Memphis Tour Related articles Discography · Australian Idol · Paradise Community Church · World Idol

v • d • e Australian Idol Seasons 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 Hosts Andrew G  · Ricki-Lee Coulter Judges Ian "Dicko" Dickson  · Marcia Hines  · Kyle Sandilands Winners Guy Sebastian · Casey Donovan · Kate DeAraugo · Damien Leith · Natalie Gauci · Wes Carr Winner's Singles "Angels Brought Me Here" · "Listen with Your Heart" · "Maybe Tonight" · "Night of My Life" · "Here I Am" · "You" Runners-up Shannon Noll · Anthony Callea · Emily Williams · Jessica Mauboy · Matt Corby · Luke Dickens Notable alumni Cosima De Vito  · Paulini Curuenavuli  · Rob Mills  · Axle Whitehead  · Joel Turner  · Ricki-Lee Coulter · Lee Harding  · Dean Geyer  · Lisa Mitchell  · Carl Riseley Other personalities Mark Holden  · John Foreman  · James Mathison  · Tina Arena  · Darren Hayes Related articles Idol Backstage · Young Divas · List of finalists · List of commercial releases  · Idol series