Troye Sivan won Song of the Year at the 2024 APRA Music Awards, held on Wednesday 1 May at the ICC Sydney.
The Australian pop artist won the peer-voted category, the top accolade at the APRAs, for 'Rush', co-written with Styalz Fuego, taken from Sivan's third studio album Something to Give Every Other, which bowed at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart in 2023.
Fuego was on hand to receive the ring-shaped award, the final award of the night.
“As a creative when I work with an artist I'm already a fan of, I think 'don't say that—that's us.' It's always like, I imagine this song could ruin their career. I'm so happy that Troye and I did something that people finally loved.”
Sivan has been in scintillating form at the awards ceremonies, dominating the 2023 ARIAs with four wins and receiving a Grammy nomination. Sivan (2017) and Fuego (2013) are both former recipients of the APRA Breakthrough Series Songwriter of the Year category.
Meanwhile, blues acts The Teskey Brothers scooped Songwriter of the Year, following the release of their ARIA No.1 album The Winding Way, adding to a collection that includes ARIA Awards and a Rolling Stone Australia Award, won earlier this year for Best Recording. The coveted award is decided by the APRA Council of Authors and Publisher Directors.
Singer-songwriter Dean Lewis spoke to the APRAs about “How Do I Say Goodbye,” a tearjerker that captures his shock after learning of his father's cancer diagnosis. “Goodbye” won for most Australian act and most pop act, taking his all-time APRA tally to six. During his taped acceptance speeches, Lewis called out the “great Mike Taylor”, the former head of Island Records Australia who died in January after a battle with cancer, aged 54. “Goodbye” was the last song they worked on together. Louis explained.
Other winners on the night included grentperez, the inaugural recipient of the emerging songwriter of the year award; Parkway Drive for the inaugural category of hard rock/heavy metal projects with the most performances. ONEFOUR for most hip hop / rap work. Sia, has landed Australia's most-performed overseas act for the fifth time. and Taylor Swift for International Work of the Year.
One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the Ted Albert Award for outstanding services to Australian music to Bart Willoughby, singer, songwriter and drummer with No Fixed Address.
Longtime friends Stephen Pigram and Don Walker of Cold Chisel did the honors.
The 2024 edition of APRA “was an unforgettable evening where we honored several first-time winners as well as established national treasures, including the amazing Bart Willoughby,” comments APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston.
“Recognizing the incredible talent in Australia's music landscape, it's important to recognize that as an organization championing gender diversity through advocacy, funding and creative opportunities, we need to do more to address the disparity in the industry between men and women, non-binary and gender diverse award winners'. He continues, “We must constantly challenge the lack of diversity in every aspect of the industry – whether in rooms, office staff, on stages or on the airwaves and streaming platforms – and commit to enhancing the entirety of Australia's musical brilliance.
Established in 1982, the Australasian Performing Right Association's annual songwriters' ceremony is one of the Australian music industry's most treasured events, a worthy counterpart to the UK's Ivor Novello Awards.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/troye-sivan-dean-lewis-teskey-brothers-2024-apra-music-awards-1235670595/