2021 ARIA Awards: Budjerah wins Breakthrough Artist, Genesis Owusu collects four gongs

The 2021 ARIA Awards took place at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo last night, with Genesis Owusu, The Kid LAROI and Budjerah walking away as the big winners.

Owusu went into the ceremony with the most nominations, and walked away with the most wins, taking home four ARIA Awards – ‘Album Of The Year’, ‘Best Hip-Hop Release’, ‘Best Independent Release’ and ‘Best Cover Art’.

“This means so much to me,” Owusu said in his acceptance speech for ‘Album Of The Year’.

“For all those people, Goon Club worldwide, eccentrics, Black people, know that it’s not up to us to change for people but it’s up to people to catch up and see what they’ve been missing out on.”

The Kid LAROI also walked away with two awards last night, taking home ‘Best Artist’ and ‘Best Pop Release’. Budjerah took home the first ever ‘Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist’ award, giving a tearful acceptance speech.

The award, named after the late music mogul, was preceded by a tribute given by the likes of Vance Joy, Ed Sheeran and Jimmy Barnes, all of whom shared kind words about the Mushroom Group founder.

“Every time I would see him,” Ed Sheeran said, “he would have a new band or a new artist or a new rapper that he would play me. It wouldn’t even be an artist signed to his label, it was just Australian music he was excited about.”

See the full list of winners from the 2021 ARIA Awards below:

Album Of The Year

Amy Shark – Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL) – WINNER
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 Artist

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)
The Kid LAROI – Stay (with Justin Bieber) (Columbia/Sony Music) – WINNER
Tones and I – Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Vance Joy – Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist

Budjerah – Budjerah (EP) (Warner Music Australia) – WINNER
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)

Best Pop Release

Amy Shark – Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)
The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)
The Kid LAROI – Stay (with Justin Bieber) (Columbia/Sony Music) – WINNER
Tones and I – Fly Away (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)
Vance Joy – Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

Best Hip Hop Release Presented By Menulog

B Wise – jamie (Semi Pro Sound)
Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL) – WINNER
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 Independent Release Presented by PPCA

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)
Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL) – WINNER
Vance Joy – Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group

Best Soul/R&B Release

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
Tkay Maidza – Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 3 (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia) – WINNER

Best Dance Release

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)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Alive (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music) – WINNER

Best Group 

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)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Alive (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music) – WINNER
The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)

Best Rock Album

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)
Middle Kids – Today We’re The Greatest (EMI Music Australia) – WINNER
Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators – The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)

Best Adult Contemporary Album

Big Scary – Daisy (Pieater/Inertia)
Crowded House – Dreamers Are Waiting (EMI Music Australia) – WINNER
Kylie Minogue – Disco (Liberator Music/Mushroom)
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Carnage (Goliath / AWAL)
Odette – Herald (EMI Music Australia)

Best Country Album

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)
Troy Cassar-Daley – The World Today (Tarampa Music / Sony Music) – WINNER

Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album

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)
Tropical F**k Storm – Deep States (TFS Records/Virgin Music) – WINNER
Yours Truly – Self Care (UNFD/The Orchard)
A. Swayze & the Ghosts – Paid Salvation (IVY LEAGUE/MUSHROOM)

Best Blues & Roots Album

Archie Roach – The Songs Of Charcoal Lane (Bloodlines/Mushroom) – WINNER
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 Children’s Album 

Amber Lawrence – The Kid’s Gone Country 2 (Fun For All The Family ABC Music)
Bluey – Bluey The Album – (Ludo Studios / Demon Music Group / BBC Studios / Rocket) – WINNER
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)

PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS

Best Video presented by YouTube Music

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)
Missing Piece – Vance Joy, Annelise Hickey (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group) – WINNER
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 Australian Live Act presented by Heaps Normal 

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)
Lime Cordiale – Relapse Tour (Chugg Music Pty Ltd) – WINNER
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)

Song of the Year presented by YouTube Music 

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 & P!nk – 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)
Spacey Jane – Booster Seat (AWAL Recordings) – WINNER
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)

Most Popular International

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)
Taylor Swift – Evermore (Universal Music Australia) – WINNER

Telstra ARIA Music Teacher Award 

Aaron Silver – Wodonga Primary School, Regional VIC
Ashley Baxter – Pimlico State High School, Townsville QLD
Daniel Wilson – Star Struck, Newcastle NSW
Zoë Barry – Sacred Heart School, Melbourne VIC – WINNER

ARTISAN AWARDS

Best Cover Art

Ngaiire Joseph & Dan Segal for Ngaiire – 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)
Eben Ejdne for Odette – Herald (EMI Music Australia)
Kofi Ansah & Bailey Howard for Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL) – WINNER
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)

Engineer Of The Year 

Chris Collins
Eric J Dubowsky
Konstantin Kersting – WINNER
Matt Corby
Tony Espie

Producer Of The Year

Andrew Klippel, Dave Hammer
Konstantin Kersting & The Rubens – WINNER
M-Phazes
Matt Corby
Robert Chater

FINE ARTS AWARDS

Best Classical Album

Christian Li – Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Decca Records Australia/Universal Music Australia
Emily Sun & Andrea Lam – Nocturnes  (ABC Classic)
Genevieve Lacey and Marshall McGuire – Bower (ABC Classic / Universal) – WINNER
Grigoryan Brothers – This is Us: A Musical Reflection of Australia (ABC Classic / Universal)
Nat Bartsch – Hope  (ABC Classic / Universal)

Best Jazz Album 

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)
Mildlife – Automatic (Inertia Music / [PIAS]) – WINNER
Petra Haden & The Nick Haywood Quintet – Songs from my Father (ABC Jazz / Universal)
Vazesh – The Sacred Key (Earshift Music / The Planet Company)

Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album

Angus & Julia Stone – Life Is Strange (BMG/WMG) – WINNER
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

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)
Joseph Tawadros  – Hope In An Empty City  (Independent / The Planet Company) – WINNER
Kuya James – ISA (Settle Down Records / MGM Distribution)