Jimmy Barnes is known as the King Of Australian Rock. His style is a unique mix of rock and soul, which coupled with his great singing ability and extraordinary range , makes him a very popular figure in the Australian music industy.
Jimmy Barnes (born April 28, 1956 as James Dixon Swan) is a popular Australian rock singer. Barnes was born in Glasgow Scotland but moved to Australia with his family at the age of six. He first came to attention as the lead singer with popular Australian pub rock band, Cold Chisel, which he joined in 1973 and with whom he recorded seven albums between 1978 and 1983. When the band split up in December 1983, he launched a solo career almost immediately with his first album Bodyswerve entering the Australian charts at Number One. It was the first of a remarkable run of top charting albums for Barnes, as each of his first six solo albums all debuted in the Number One position, a feat that no other Australian artist is likely to match. In 1986, Barnes recorded two singles with INXS, duetting with that band’s singer Michael Hutchence on the Easybeats cover “Good Times” and “Laying Down The Law”, which was co-written by Barnes with INXS members Andrew Farriss and Hutchence. “Good Times” was used as the theme song for the Australia Made series of concerts that toured the country in the summer of 1986 - 87. Both songs later appeared on the soundtrack of classic ’80s teen vampire film The Lost Boys.
