The 2021 ARIA Awards were a huge cause for celebration with 74 Australian releases landing in the top ten on the ARIA Albums Chart and 12 Aussie albums reaching the number one spot.
The annual music event, which this year partnered with YouTube Music and took place as a digital show streamed live on the platform, also made a significant change to its categories, with the ARIA Award for Best Artist officially replacing the categories of Best Female Artist and Best Male Artist.
Amy Shark, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Genesis Owusu the Kid LAROI all performed at the awards show, with Troye Sivan, Lime Cordiale and The Wiggles serving as some of the presenters on the night.
Ed Sheeran also appeared for a special video tribute to Michael Gudinski, the late chairman and founder of the Mushroom Group, who passed away in March at the age of 68.
In terms of nominations, Shark and Owusu led the pack with six noms each across as many categories. The Kid LAROI was nominated in four categories including Best Pop Release for his collaboration with Justin Bieber, ‘Stay’.
Other nominees included Tones and I, Midnight Oil, Budjerah, Ngaiire, Tash Sultana and The Avalanches.
Read on for the full list of winners from the 2021 ARIA Music Awards.
Best Artist
WINNER: The Kid LAROI — Stay (with Justin Bieber) (Columbia/Sony Music)
Amy Shark — Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Budjerah — Budjerah (EP) (Warner Music Australia)
Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Keith Urban — The Speed Of Now Part 1 (CAPITOL – NASHVILLE / EMI Music Australia)
Kylie Minogue — Disco (Liberator Music/Mushroom)
Masked Wolf — Astronaut In The Ocean (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
Ngaiire — 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)
Tones and I — Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Vance Joy — Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Album Of The Year
WINNER: Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Amy Shark — Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators — The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)
The Avalanches — We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
Tones and I — Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Best Australian Live Act presented by Heaps Normal
WINNER: Lime Cordiale — Relapse Tour (Chugg Music Pty Ltd)
Amy Shark — Cry Forever Tour 2021 (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Ball Park Music — The Residency (Prawn Records/ Inertia Music)
Budjerah — Budjerah 2021 Aus Tour (Warner Music Australia)
Genesis Owusu — Smiling With No Teeth Album Tour (OURNESS / AWAL)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — Micro Tour (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard/Virgin Music)
Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators — Makarrata Live (Sony Music)
The Avalanches — The Avalanches Live (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
The Teskey Brothers — The Teskey Brothers (Headline Shows + Festivals) (IVY LEAGUE/MUSHROOM)
Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist
WINNER: Budjerah — Budjerah EP (Warner Music Australia)
Gretta Ray — Begin To Look Around (EMI Music Australia)
Masked Wolf — Astronaut In The Ocean (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
MAY-A — Don’t Kiss Ur Friends (Arcadia Music / Sony Music)
Ngaiire — 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)
Song of the Year presented by YouTube Music
WINNER: Spacey Jane — ‘Booster Seat’ (AWAL Recordings)
Amy Shark feat. Keith Urban — ‘Love Songs Ain’t For Us’ (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Dean Lewis — ‘Falling Up’ (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia)
Hooligan Hefs — ‘Send It!’ (db Music / Warner Music Australia)
Keith Urban & Pink — ‘One Too Many’ (CAPITOL – NASHVILLE / EMI Music Australia)
Masked Wolf — ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
Sam Fischer & Demi Lovato — ‘What Other People Say’ (Sony Music)
The Kid LAROI with Miley Cyrus — ‘Without You’ (Columbia/Sony Music)
Tones and I — ‘Fly Away’ (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Vance Joy — ‘Missing Piece’ (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Telstra ARIA Music Teacher Award
WINNER: Zoë Barry — Sacred Heart School, Melbourne, Victoria
Aaron Silver — Wodonga Primary School, Regional Victoria
Ashley Baxter — Pimlico State High School, Townsville, Queensland
Daniel Wilson — Star Struck, Newcastle, NSW
Best Video presented by YouTube Music
WINNER: ‘Missing Piece’ — Vance Joy, Annelise Hickey (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
’24k’ — Tkay Maidza, Nicholas Muecke (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia)
‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ — Masked Wolf, Daniele Cernera (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
‘could cry just thinkin about you’ (Full Version) — Troye Sivan & Jesse Gohier-Fleet (EMI Music Australia)
‘Dance’ — Julia Stone, Jessie Hill (BMG/WMG)
‘First Nation’ — Midnight Oil (featuring Jessica Mauboy & Tasman Keith), Robert Hambling (Sony Music)
‘Higher’ — Budjerah, Mick Soiza (Warner Music Australia)
‘Love Songs Ain’t for Us’ — Amy Shark, James Chappell (Wonderlick Recording Company)
‘The Divine Chord’ — The Avalanches, Jonathan Zawada (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
‘Won’t Sleep’ — Tones and I, Nick Kozakis, Liam Kelly (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Best Hip Hop Release Presented By Menulog
WINNER: Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
B Wise — jamie (Semi Pro Sound)
Masked Wolf — Astronaut In The Ocean (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)
The Kid LAROI — WITHOUT YOU (Columbia/Sony Music)
Youngn Lipz — Area Baby (Biordi Music/Virgin Music)
Best Pop Release
WINNER: The Kid LAROI — Stay (with Justin Bieber) (Columbia/Sony Music)
Amy Shark — Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)
The Avalanches — We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
Tones and I — Fly Away (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Vance Joy — Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)
Best Independent Release Presented by PPCA
WINNER: Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Archie Roach — The Songs Of Charcoal Lane (Bloodlines/Mushroom)
Ball Park Music — Ball Park Music (Prawn Records/ Inertia Music)
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks — Crossover (Hopestreet Recordings/The Planet Company)
Vance Joy — Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group
Best Soul/R&B Release
WINNER: Tkay Maidza — Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 3 (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia)
Budjerah — Budjerah (EP) (Warner Music Australia)
Hiatus Kaiyote — Mood Valiant (Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune)
Ngaiire — 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)
Tash Sultana — Terra Firma (Lonely Lands Records/Sony Music
Most Popular International Artist
WINNER: Taylor Swift — Evermore (Universal Music Australia)
Ariana Grande — Positions (Universal Records USA / Universal Music Australia)
Doja Cat — Planet Her (RCA Records / Sony Music)
Justin Bieber — Justice (Def Jam / Universal Music Australia)
Kanye West — Donda (Def Jam / Universal Music Australia)
Luke Combs — What You See Ain’t Always What You Get (Columbia Nashville / Sony Music)
Machine Gun Kelly — Tickets To My Downfall (Interscope / Universal Music Australia)
Miley Cyrus — Plastic Hearts (RCA Records / Sony Music)
Olivia Rodrigo — Sour (Geffen / Universal Music Australia)
Pop Smoke — Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon (Universal Records USA / Universal Music Australia)
Producer Of The Year
WINNER: Konstantin Kersting & The Rubens
Andrew Klippel, Dave Hammer
M-Phazes
Matt Corby
Robert Chater
Engineer Of The Year
WINNER: Konstantin Kersting
Chris Collins
Eric J Dubowsky
Matt Corby
Tony Espie
Best Cover Art
WINNER: Kofi Ansah & Bailey Howard for Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)
Ngaiire Joseph & Dan Segal for Ngaiire — 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)
Eben Ejdne for Odette — Herald (EMI Music Australia)
Jonathan Zawada for The Avalanches — We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
Giulia Giannini McGauran & Mitchell Eaton for Tones and I — Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album
WINNER: Angus & Julia Stone — Life Is Strange (BMG/WMG)
Antony Partos — Rams (Original Motion Picture Score) (ABC Music)
Caitlin Yeo, Maria Alfonsine, Damian de Boos-Smith — Wakefield Season One Official Soundtrack (MADBS Composing Palace)
Sia — Music Songs From And Inspired By The Motion Picture (Atlantic Records / Warner Music
Yve Blake — Fangirls (ADA/Warner Music)
Best World Music Album
WINNER: Joseph Tawadros — Hope In An Empty City (Independent / The Planet Company)
Bob Weatherall & Halfway, with William Barton — Restless Dream (ABC Music)
Bukhu – Bukhchuluun Ganburged — The Journey (Bukhu/Distrokid)
Eishan Ensemble — Project Masnavi (Earshift Music / The Planet Company)
Kuya James — ISA (Settle Down Records / MGM Distribution)
Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album
WINNER: Tropical F–k Storm — Deep States (TFS Records/Virgin Music)
Alpha Wolf — A Quiet Place To Die (Greyscale Records / Cooking Vinyl Australia)
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets — SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound What Reality? (TFS Records/Virgin Music)
Yours Truly — Self Care (UNFD/The Orchard)
A. Swayze & the Ghosts — Paid Salvation (IVY LEAGUE/MUSHROOM)
Best Adult Contemporary Album
WINNER: Crowded House — Dreamers Are Waiting (EMI Music Australia)
Big Scary — Daisy (Pieater/Inertia)
Kylie Minogue — Disco (Liberator Music/Mushroom)
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis — Carnage (Goliath / AWAL)
Odette — Herald (EMI Music Australia)
Best Jazz Album
WINNER: Mildlife — Automatic (Inertia Music / [PIAS])
Australian Art Orchestra, Reuben Lewis, Tariro Mavondo & Peter Knight — Closed Beginnings (AAO Recordings/The Planet Company)
Kristen Beradi, Sean Foran & Rafael Karlen — Haven (Earshift Music / The Planet Company)
Petra Haden & The Nick Haywood Quintet — Songs from my Father (ABC Jazz / Universal)
Vazesh — The Sacred Key (Earshift Music / The Planet Company)
Best Dance Release
WINNER: RÜFÜS DU SOL — Alive (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music)
Cosmo’s Midnight — Yesteryear (Nite High/Sony Music)
Dom Dolla — Pump The Brakes (Sweat It Out/Warner)
Jolyon Petch — Dreams (TMRW Music)
KLP & Stace Cadet — People Happy (Medium Rare Recordings / Sony Music)
Best Country Album
WINNER: Troy Cassar-Daley — The World Today (Tarampa Music / Sony Music)
Brad Cox — My Mind’s Projection (Sony Music)
Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham — The Song Club (ABC Music)
Shane Nicholson — Living In Colour (Lost Highway Australia/Universal Music Australia)
The Wolfe Brothers — Kids On Cassette (BMG/WMG)
Best Classical Album
WINNER: Genevieve Lacey and Marshall McGuire — Bower (ABC Classic / Universal)
Christian Li — Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Decca Records Australia/Universal Music Australia
Emily Sun & Andrea Lam — Nocturnes (ABC Classic)
Grigoryan Brothers — This is Us: A Musical Reflection of Australia (ABC Classic / Universal)
Nat Bartsch — Hope (ABC Classic / Universal)
Best Children’s Album
WINNER: Bluey — Bluey The Album (Ludo Studios / Demon Music Group / BBC Studios / Rocket)
Amber Lawrence — The Kid’s Gone Country 2 (Fun For All The Family ABC Music)
Diver City — Dance Silly (ABC Music / Universal)
The Wiggles — Lullabies With Love (ABC Music)
Various Artists — The Moon, The Mouse & The Frog: Lullabies from Northern Australia (ABC Music)
Best Rock Album
WINNER: Middle Kids — Today We’re The Greatest (EMI Music Australia)
AC/DC — Power Up (Leidseplein Presse / Sony Music)
Ball Park Music — Ball Park Music (Prawn Records/ Inertia Music)
Holy Holy — Hello My Beautiful World (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators — The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)
Best Blues & Roots Album
WINNER: Archie Roach — The Songs Of Charcoal Lane (Bloodlines/Mushroom)
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks — Crossover (Hopestreet Recordings/The Planet Company)
Josh Teskey & Ash Grunwald — Push The Blues Away (Ivy League/Mushroom)
Martha Marlow — Medicine Man (Independent/The Planet Company)
Ziggy Alberts — Searching For Freedom (Commonfolk Records / The Orchard)
Best Group
WINNER: RÜFÜS DU SOL — ‘Alive’ (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music)
AC/DC — Power Up (Leidseplein Presse / Sony Music)
Gang Of Youths — ‘The Angel of 8th Ave.’ (Mosy Recordings / Sony Music)
Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators — The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)
The Avalanches — We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.
