Colin Hay

Biography

Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay is a member of the band Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
Hay has made appearances in films such as Cosi (1996) and in television shows such as The Resident, The Larry Sanders Show, JAG, The Mick Molloy Show, A Million Little Things, and Scrubs. In Scrubs, he performs an acoustic version of the Men at Work hit "Overkill" in the first episode of the second season titled, My Overkill, along with a bit of the acoustic version of "Down Under×Down Under19 November 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Down Under2:38" during a cutaway of the second episode of the seventh season titled, My Hard Labor. His music also appeared in the television series What About Brian, The Black Donnellys, Cane, and the BBC medical drama Casualty.

Early life

Colin James Hay was born on 29 June 1953 in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland to James and Isabella Hay. In 1967, when he was 14, the Hays emigrated to Melbourne in Australia. His parents owned a small music shop; his father, a piano tuner, had been a stage singer and dancer in Glasgow.

1978–1986: Men at Work

In 1978, Hay met Ron Strykert and they formed an acoustic duo. In 1979, Hay and Strykert added Jerry Speiser and Greg Ham and started composing songs for what would become Men at Work.
The band released their debut studio album, Business as Usual, in 1981, which was followed by Cargo (1983) and Two Hearts (1985) before breaking up in January 1986.
In 1986, Hay joined as guest vocalist with the Incredible Penguins for a cover of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", a charity project for research on little penguins, which peaked at No. 10 on the Australian Kent Music Report in December 1985.

1987–1993: Solo career beginnings

Following the break-up of Men at Work in 1986, Hay released his debut single "Hold Me×Hold Me1986 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAHold Me4:09BHome Sweet Home3:11" in January 1987. The song peaked at number 40 on the Kent Music Report. His debut studio album, Looking for Jack×Looking for Jack1 January 1987 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 10 tracksA1Hold Me4:09A2Can I Hold You?3:34A3Looking for Jack4:10A4Master of Crime4:55A5These Are Our Finest Days4:08B1Puerto Rico4:28B2Ways of the World4:04B3I Don’t Need You Anymore3:02B4Circles Erratica4:02B5Fisherman’s Friend5:27 was released in January 1987 and peaked at number 58.
Hay relocated to Los Angeles in 1989. He settled in the Topanga region of the city and has resided in the United States since. In January 2016, he became a US citizen.
In March 1990, Hay released "Into My Life", the lead single from his second studio album, Wayfaring Sons, which was released in April 1990. Neither single nor album reached the ARIA top 100. The album was credited to the Colin Hay Band, which consisted of Gerry Hale, Paul Gadsby and Robert Dillon.
In 1992, Hay released the acoustic album Peaks & Valleys×Peaks & Valleys25 May 1992 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Into the Cornfields4:002She Keeps Me Dreaming3:503Can’t Take This Town3:284Walk Among His Ruins3:325Hold on to My Hand4:586Keep on Walking2:327Dream On (In the Night)5:198Bad Boy2:199Conversation3:1510Melbourne Song2:4411Sometimes I Wish6:2912Go Ask an Old Man2:5913Sea Dogs3:28. The album featured Hay's sister, Carol on vocals.

1994–2004: ARIA Hall of Fame and Lazy Eye Records

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994, Hay was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame as a member of Men at Work.
In 1994, Hay established his own recording label, Lazy Eye Records, and released his fourth studio album, Topanga×Topanga7 December 1994 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1I Haven’t Seen You in a Long Time3:202Into the Cornfields4:103Waiting for My Real Life to Begin4:574Can’t Take This Town4:525I Think I Know3:596Against the Tide4:547I Don’t Miss You Now2:558She Put the Blame on You3:499Woman’s Face5:1410Lost Generation3:5811Road to Mandalay3:4812Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh Baby4:49.
In 1996, Hay reunited with Men at Work and toured South America, which led to the live Men at Work album, Brazil.
In October 1998, Hay released his fifth studio album, Transcendental Highway×Transcendental Highway13 October 1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Transcendental Highway5:482Don’t Believe You Anymore3:563My Brilliant Feat5:494Goodbye My Red Rose3:325If I Go4:286I’m Doing Fine4:597Wash It All Away3:248Cactus4:439Death Row Conversation4:5610I’ll Leave the Light On4:3911Freedom Calling5:0412I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You7:23 and in 1999 recorded and released the song "Misty Bay" with his girlfriend, Cecilia Noël.
On 1 October 2000, Hay performed with Men at Work at the 2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. In 2001, Hay released his sixth studio album, Going Somewhere×Going Somewhere2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Beautiful World4:042Looking for Jack2:573Going Somewhere2:414Wayfaring Sons3:425Children on Parade3:386My Brilliant Feat3:267Waiting for My Real Life to Begin5:468Don’t Wait Up4:009Lifeline4:0310Circles Erratica4:0511Water Song4:1012Maggie4:2113I Don’t Know Why2:53.
In 2002, Hay released his seventh studio album Company of Strangers×Company of Strangers2002 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1I Got Woken Up3:402Small Town Big Hell4:243Lucky Bastard4:024Company of Strangers4:475No Win Situation3:006Dear J3:177Small Price to Be Free4:558How Long Will It Last3:389Lifeline3:5110Don’t Wait Up5:2611Beautiful World3:4012And If You Only Knew3:05 and the video album Live at the Continental recorded in 2000.
In July 2003, Hay released his eighth studio album, Man @ Work×Man @ Work22 July 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Beautiful World (alternate mix)3:402Down Under (acoustic version)3:343Overkill (acoustic version)3:474Storm in My Heart (new recording)3:095Looking for Jack (new recording)4:076Don’t Be Afraid2:567It’s a Mistake (new recording)4:478Waiting for My Real Life to Begin5:469To Have and to Hold3:2910Who Can It Be Now? (acoustic version)3:2511Be Good Johnny (new recording)3:3612Love Is Innocent4:4413Down Under4:48, re-recording some Men at Work hits and his solo songs, including a reimagined version of "Down Under×Down Under19 November 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Down Under2:38" recorded with Hay's wife, Cecilia Noël, described as "more carnivale than outback". Hay toured North America with former Beatle Ringo Starr, as a member of his Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
In 2004, Hay launched his one-man show named Man at Work, a mixture of songs and stories.

2005–2020: Continued success

In 2006 Hay provided his voice for one of the characters in the animated film The Wild.
In April 2007, Hay released his ninth studio album, Are You Lookin' at Me?×Are You Lookin' at Me?24 April 2007 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Are You Lookin’ at Me?4:122Lose to Win3:583Here in My Hometown5:244Up in Smoke3:375No One Knows3:586This Time I Got You4:077Lonely Without You3:548What Would Bob Do?4:469Pure Love3:2510Me and My Imaginary Friend3:0211Land of the Midnight Sun4:2712I Wish I Was Still Drinking4:13. In 2008, Hay plays the role of Nick at the horror movie The Uninvited.
In May 2009, Hay performed at the Artist for the Arts Foundation benefit at Barnum Hall, Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, California. Performing alongside Curt Smith of Tears for Fears, Fee Waybill of the Tubes, Venice, and over 70 members of the Santa Monica High School Orchestra and Girls Choir, the benefit helped to provide funds for the continuation of music education in public schools.
In August 2009, Hay released his tenth studio album, American Sunshine×American Sunshine18 August 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Oh California3:562Prison Time3:593There’s Water Over You3:534I Came Into Your Store3:115No Time2:586Broken Love3:537I Can’t Get Up Out of This Bed3:288The End of Wilhemina3:319Baby Can I See You Tonight?4:3010Pleased to Almost Meet You2:5711American Sunshine4:0212Love Is Innocent4:4913Waiting for My Real Life to Begin5:54.
In 2010, Hay released the live album, Live at the Corner×Live at the Corner2010 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 27 tracks1Going Somewhere2I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You3Here in My Home Town4Lose to Win5No One Knows6Lifeline7Beautiful World8What Would Bob Do?9Pure Love10Down By the Sea11Lonely Without You12Looking for Jack13Who Can It Be Down?14This Time I Got You15Catch a Star16Overkill17It’s a Mistake18Are You Lookin’ at Me?19Down Under20Waiting for My Real Life to Begin21Be Good Johnny22Monologue23Melbourne Song24Interview25There’s Water Over You (acoustic)26Prison Time (acoustic)27Oh, California (acoustic), filmed in 2007 at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, Australia.
In August 2010, Hay performed in Missoula, Montana with a Los Angeles roots rock band named Patrolled By Radar.
In May 2011, Hay released his eleventh studio album Gathering Mercury×Gathering Mercury29 March 2011 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Send Somebody4:382Family Man4:253Invisible4:034Dear Father3:195Gathering Mercury4:216Half a Million Angels4:037Far From Home3:538Where the Sky Is Blue4:059A Simple Song3:3010Goodnight Romeo2:5011Send Somebody (Stripped mix)4:3512Invisible (Stripped mix)3:5213Half a Million Angels (Stripped mix)4:0414Where the Sky Is Blue (Stripped mix)4:05. In 2011, Hay commented on his early solo career, stating, "After Men at Work, for the better part of a decade, I was stumbling around being unfocused. It was pre-internet; I really had to try to find my audiences by going out on tour. Men at Work really didn't build a foundational audience. We came in as a pop band with enormous radio success; once that goes away and the band breaks up the audience tends to go away with it. You're left with what you want to make of it. When you start out doing those tours, you start again [and] you tend not to attract a very big number of people. I'd play to a hundred people or sometimes less".
In December 2013, Hay announced on his website that he was done touring "for the time being" and would spend 2014 writing and recording.
In February 2015, Hay released his twelfth studio album, Next Year People×Next Year People17 February 2015 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Trying to Get to You2:592If I Had Been a Better Man3:223Did You Just Take the Long Way Home3:444I Want You Back2:585Next Year People4:216Lived in Vain3:447Scattered in the Sand4:048To There From Here3:399Mr. Grogan3:3710Waiting in the Rain4:0611Are We There Yet?3:5412Lament for Whiskey McManus3:36. The album was preceded by the single "Trying to Get to You".
On 4 August 2015, Colin Hay: Waiting for my Real Life, a documentary film about Hay, debuted at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
On 27 January 2017, he released the first single, "A Thousand Million Reasons", from his thirteenth studio album Fierce Mercy×Fierce Mercy3 March 2017 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Come Tumblin’ Down4:002Secret Love3:573A Thousand Million Reasons3:364The Best in Me3:525Frozen Fields of Snow3:546The Last to Know3:437I’m Going to Get You Stoned4:298I’m Walking Here4:049Two Friends4:2110She Was the Love of Mine3:4611I’m Inside Outside In3:0812Blue Bay Moon4:4713Love Don’t Mean Enough3:30, released in March 2017. Fierce Mercy debuted at number 44 on the ARIA chart, becoming his second solo chart entry in Australia. The album was promoted with his segments on Julia Zemiro's Home Delivery and Sunday Night.
Also in 2017, Hay released his first audiobook, Aesop's Fables with Colin Hay, published by Devault-Graves Digital Editions, for which he narrated 24 of Aesop's Fables written by author Tom Graves.

2021–present: "Down Under" remix, and other successes

In August 2021, Hay released his fourteenth studio album, I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself. The album features 10 versions of some of Hay's favourite songs from the Beatles (Norwegian Wood, Across the Universe) Blind Faith, Del Amitri, Dusty Springfield, Faces, Gerry and the Pacemakers (Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying), Glen Campbell (Wichita Lineman), Jimmy Cliff (Many Rivers to Cross) and the Kinks (Waterloo Sunset).
In late 2021, Australian producer Christian "Luude" Benson (from the Tasmanian electronic dance music duo Choomba) remixed Men at Work's "Down Under×Down Under19 November 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Down Under2:38" as a drum and bass track, with Hay re-recording the vocal for the track's release on the Sweat It Out record label. "Down Under" by Luude featuring Colin Hay charted at number 32 on the UK Singles chart on 7 January 2022 and at number 48 in Australia (ARIA Top 50 Singles for
week of 10 January 2022).
Hay's fifteenth studio album, Now and the Evermore×Now and the Evermore18 March 2022 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Now and the Evermore3:372Love Is Everywhere3:483Into the Bright Lights3:304The Sea of Always3:275Starfish and Unicorns3:296A Man Without a Name3:387Undertow3:408All I See Is You3:529Agatha Bell3:3310When Does the End Begin?3:31, was released on 18 March 2022.
In 2022, Australian rock band Lime Cordiale released their song "Colin" from their album Enough Of The Sweet Talk. Hay lends vocals to the song, and part of the music video was filmed at his house.

Personal life

Hay is married to singer Cecilia Noël, who often provides backing vocals at his shows. Noël has also helped with production on Hay's solo studio albums. Hay said of his ninth solo studio album, Are You Lookin' at Me?×Are You Lookin' at Me?24 April 2007 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Are You Lookin’ at Me?4:122Lose to Win3:583Here in My Hometown5:244Up in Smoke3:375No One Knows3:586This Time I Got You4:077Lonely Without You3:548What Would Bob Do?4:469Pure Love3:2510Me and My Imaginary Friend3:0211Land of the Midnight Sun4:2712I Wish I Was Still Drinking4:13 (2007) that "She was really crucial. She was a really great sounding board for me. She's a really good producer in the sense that she's very musical and has a great sense of song structure and so forth. So she was great to bounce ideas off. And she sang on nearly all the songs. So she was really a great part of this record." Hay and Noël live in Topanga Canyon in the Los Angeles area.
On 13 February 2009, former Men at Work band member Ron Strykert was arrested for allegedly making death threats against Hay.
Hay became an American citizen in 2016. He also has a residence in St Kilda, Melbourne.

Acting

After performing in Men at Work, Hay performed in a number of films and TV shows, usually in small roles.

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Men at Work were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994.

Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters.

Country Music Awards of Australia

The Country Music Awards of Australia is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They commenced in 1973.

Countdown Australian Music Awards

Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.