Genesis Owusu, Amy Shark lead Rolling Stone Awards nominees

Rolling Stone Australia has announced the nominees in its 2022 Sailor Jerry Rolling Stone Australia Awards, with Genesis Owusu and Amy Shark leading the list.

Long-awaited debuts from the likes of Ruby Fields and Baker Boy appear in the Best Record category, along with huge names like Shark, Skegss, and Tash Sultana.

Crowded House’s first album since 2010, Dreamers Are Waiting, is up for an award, as is The Avalanches’ Australian Music Prize-winning We Will Always Love You, and Owusu’s Smiling with No Teeth, which won Best Album at the 2021 ARIA Awards.

Meanwhile, Best Single sees huge tracks from the likes of Gang of Youths, Tones And I, Keith Urban, and Jack River sitting alongside cuts from Shark, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Slowly Slowly, and The Kid LAROI, whose Grammy-nominated ‘Stay’ is also in the running.

Rolling Stone Australia has also named the nominees in its Readers’ Choice Award category, with CXLOE, Gordi, Holy Holy, Jimmy Barnes, Keith Urban, Paul Kelly, RÜFÜS DU SOL, and Vika & Linda proving fan favourites among the magazine’s readers and subscribers.

For the first time, a free live event series will spearhead the return of live music in the lead up to the awards visiting Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

Poppy Reid, The Brag Media’s Managing Editor, said Rolling Stone Australia is “thrilled” to once again honour and celebrate Australian music.

After all we endured in 2021, and continue to endure, the music community never ceases to amaze me as it continues to produce meaningful and remarkable music,” Reid said.

“Our judges didn’t have an easy task in their hands refining this highly-competitive list of nominees, but looking at how well it represents the local contemporary music sector, there has never been a more important time to acknowledge the contributions and successes that diversity brings to our industry,” Reid added.

The awards return to The Argyle in Sydney on March 30, with performers yet to be announced.