Morgan Evans Named New ‘Australian Idol’ Judge

Country star Morgan Evans is joining the Australian Idol judging panel for 2027. 

The Australian singer-songwriter will appear alongside returning judges Marcia Hines and Amy Shark, replacing former judge Kyle Sandilands. 

“I’m stoked to be joining Amy, Marcia and the Idol crew next year! I reckon if you've got music in you, that's something the world needs to hear, and I've enjoyed helping new artists find that since I was teaching guitar in Newcastle," he said. 

“I've learned a lot in my travels, some of it the fun way, some of it the other way, and look forward to sharing what I can. Can't wait to hear what Australia's got."

Australian Idol alum Ricki-Lee Coulter and Scott Tweedie will also return in 2027 to host the show. 

“It’s a new era for Australian Idol. Morgan is the real deal. He’s one of the few home-grown artists to crack Nashville, and with more than a billion global streams, he is an Aussie success story," said Seven's Director of Unscripted Content, Majella Hay. "He's the perfect addition to the lineup.”

Evans - who signed with Virgin Music Group last year - first came on the scene with his debut self-titled album in 2014, and across a string of EPs and singles, has amassed more than one billion streams. As Rolling Stone AU/NZ said of him in 2020, he has the “gravitational effect of a star in the sky”.

The country star has divided his time between Australia and Nashville over the past decade. Recently, however, he spent time in his hometown of Newcastle, which culminated in his recently released album Steel Town. A love letter to Newcastle, the album embodies both the place that shaped him and the version of himself he rediscovered there in recent years, he told Rolling Stone AU/NZ earlier this year. 

“I really owed it to myself to tell my own story,” he said, reflecting on how his very public divorce in particular came to be defined through someone else’s narrative. “I don’t like to talk about that stuff, I’d rather express that through music. The whole album is not about Newcastle, but that’s where that perspective shift happened and led me to the other songs dealing with grief, or looking for peace in other parts of life.”

Since his debut album in 2014, Evans has gone on to tour locally and internationally, headline CMC Rocks, and play at iconic venues including the Sydney Opera House. 

From Rolling Stone AU/NZ