ARIA Hall of Fame ‘Will Return In 2023’

The stage is almost set for the 2022 ARIA Awards, though one critical piece won’t be a part of the celebration — the ARIA Hall of Fame.

The HoF, once a standalone event which was later absorbed into the ARIAs, will be missing from the agenda for the second consecutive year.

Organisers say the decision to skip would allow proceedings to pay closer attention to three inductees who died in recent times, The Seekers’ Judith Durham, Archie Roach and Olivia Newton-John.

“Having lost three iconic Australian artists and ARIA Hall of Fame inductees in the last twelve months, we have chosen to pay due respect and properly celebrate them through three very special tribute performances, rather than including a Hall of Fame induction,” reads a statement provided by an ARIA Awards spokesperson.

As previously reported, Newton-John will be remembered with a medley of fan-favorites “Hopelessly Devoted To You,” “Xanadu” and “You’re The One That I Want,” featuring ARIAs host Natalie Imbruglia, Kye, Peking Duk and Tones And I, who is musical director of the tribute.

Meanwhile, Budjerah, Jessica Mauboy and Thelma Plum will recognise Roach with his ARIA Award-nominated number, “One Song,” while Casey Donovan and Dami Im will each perform a solo salute to Durham, with “I’ll Never Find Another You” and “The Carnival Is Over.”

AC/DC

One of the top honors in the Australian music industry, the ARIA HoF was inaugurated in 1988, with six legendary acts immediately elevated: Dame Joan Sutherland, Johnny O’Keefe, Slim Dusty, Col Joye, Vanda & Young, AC/DC.

The hit parade kept rolling until 2005, when the trade body changed tac and created a standalone platform to celebrate its greatest and best, the ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame.

In subsequent years, as many as seven homegrown giants were inducted at each annual ceremony, leading to whispers that ARIA would soon run out of heroes to fete.

In 2011, the year after The Church’s Steve Kilbey delivered one of the all-time induction speeches, the HoF was pared back and returned to the ARIA Awards, with Kylie Minogue and the Wiggles receiving their honours. Minogue was inducted on the night by the-then prime minister Julia Gillard.

Due to the pandemic and its ruinous effects on live events, the 2021 ARIA Hall of Fame was shelved.

The ARIA Hall of Fame “will return in 2023,” reads the ARIAs statement. Though its unclear in what form the ceremony will take, with organisers not ruling out a future return to a stand-alone event.

Though the HoF segment will be missing again this year, its absence has nothing to do with the quality or volume of acts waiting for the call.

A conveyor belt of eligible and worthy acts are lined up, a list that includes Powderfinger, The Go-Betweens, Jenny Morris, Sports/Stephen Cummings, Zoot/Rick Springfield, Kate Ceberano and many others.

The Go-Betweens

According to the criteria for entry, the nominees’ careers must have commenced, and “ideally achieved significant prominence,” at least 20 years prior to the year of proposed induction.

And the Hall of Famer must have generated a “significant body of recorded work” and had a “cultural impact” here and/or abroad.

The 2022 ARIA Awards will be presented Thursday (Nov. 24) at the Hordern Pavilion as a live and in-person, the first since 2019.

In other ARIAs news, icon Richard Wilkins will join forces with his son Christian Wilkins and comedian Lucinda “Froomes” Price to co-host the “Red Carpet,” presented by Interflora and streaming live on YouTube from 4.00pm to 6.00pm AEDT.

“Interflora have delivered exceptional value to this year’s ARIA Awards as a presenting partner, helping us to deliver a production that will be visually stunning and wholly unique,” comments ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd.

“Each year, we strive to deliver exciting and memorable ways to present the incredible creativity of Australian music to the world through the awards. I’m absolutely confident that Interflora’s work will bring that and much more.”

The ARIAs telecast will kick off from 7:30pm on Channel 9, 9Now and streaming internationally on YouTube, with Imbruglia, songwriter and drummer G Flip, and ARIA Award-winning singer Ruel on hosting duties.

Multiple nominees Rüfüs Du Sol, Flume (featuring MAY-A), Baker Boy, Amyl and The Sniffers, and Vance Joy are among the performers on the night.

With seven nominations, Rüfüs Du Sol is at the top of the leaderboard.

The 2022 ARIA Awards are partnered with YouTube are supported by the NSW Government through Destination NSW.

Tickets are available here.