Missy Higgins, who was brought up in Melbourne, Australia, began her professional musical career in mid-2001, while she was still in boarding school at Geelong Grammar School. A few times every term when she went home to visit her family and occasionally sang in her brother's band. During this time she worked with the Kool Skools programme and also won the Triple J Unearthed competition while in high school with her song "All For Believing", which she wrote at 16 and later included in her first release. [2][3]
After attracting the attention of manager John Watson, she released her first EP with his record label Eleven in November 2003. Her second EP Scar was released in August 2004, debuting at #1 on the Australian charts. Her first album, The Sound of White, was released in September 2004. Many of her songs are based around her performance on the piano and harmonica also she did a stunning performance on the nose flute at the 2004 aria awards.
The Sound of White was produced in the U.S. by John Porter with audio engineer Jay Newland, noted for his work with jazz singer, Norah Jones.
Throughout 2004, Higgins had been touring as a support act with Pete Murray and The John Butler Trio, including solo performances at the Horden Pavilion, The Clarendon, and the Enmore Theatre. With the release of The Sound of White, Higgins began another national tour, her first as the headliner.
In 2004, Higgins was nominated in four categories at the ARIA Awards. These included "Best Female Artist" and "Single of the Year". At the awards ceremony on October 17 she received the award for "Best Pop Release".
Following the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, Higgins appeared as one of the headline acts of the WaveAid fund raising concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground, to raise funds for aid organisations working in disaster affected areas.
In 2005, Higgins was nominated for a further seven ARIA Awards, taking out the awards for "Album of the Year" (for The Sound of White), "Best Female Artist", "Best Pop Release" (for The Sound of White), "Breakthrough Artist - Album Release" (for The Sound Of White) and "Highest Selling Album" (again, for The Sound of White).
Her single "Ten Days", co-written with Jay Clifford of Jump, Little Children peaked at number 12 on the ARIA charts.
She released her third single, "The Special Two", to both critical and commercial acclaim. It became an instant hit on Australian radio and in the charts debuting and peaking at number 2 on the ARIA charts. "The Special Two" EP included Missy's cover of the Skyhooks classic, "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good In Bed" which she recorded for Triple J's 30th anniversary. "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good In Bed" was the first song played on Triple J in 1975. She continued touring in mid-2005 and released her fourth single, "The Sound of White", in August 2005. In late 2005 she teamed up with Ben Lee for a national tour.
In 2006, she toured the United States, United Kingdom and South Africa along with her band before basing herself in Los Angeles to record her second album with veteran producer Mitchell Froom. Her second album, On a Clear Night, was released on April 28, 2007. "Steer", the first single from the album was released on April 4, 2007.[4]
On July 7, 2007, Higgins participated at the Australian leg of Live Earth performing her own set, as well as joining Paul Kelly, Kev Carmody and John Butler on stage for the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow."[5] The song could have been considered "the event's anthem"[6] and Rolling Stone cited it as a highlight, stating that the "whole crowd sung along – all eleven verses."[7]
Higgins' current tour is carbon neutral.[8]
“ We have made our tour carbon neutral by purchasing green energy to power the venues and hiring hybrid cars wherever possible. Everything that's left over, we buy carbon offsets. ”
On October 31st 2007 Higgins was a special guest at the TV music channel MAX's "The Max Sessions: Powderfinger, Concert For The Cure" singing lead vocals to "Sunsets" alongside front man Bernard Fanning and joined in with the encore of "These Days". The concert was a fundraiser and thank you to the "unsung heroes" of breast cancer with an invite-only audience, made up of a special group of people – those who have suffered and survived breast cancer and their support networks. The concert closed Breast Cancer Awareness Month and was the brainchild of 20-year-old Nick Vindin, who lost his mother Kate to the disease a few years ago.
Higgins is planning to temporarily relocate to Los Angeles in August of 2007 to concentrate on the US market. Higgins' second album, On a Clear Night, will be released in the US in early 2008. She is basing herself in LA for three months of music industry showcases and meetings designed to get her music used in films and television shows.[9] The single from the album "Where I Stood" recently featured in an episode of US TV show Grey's Anatomy as well as Smallville.
[edit] Personal life
Higgins, the youngest of three children of a doctor and a childcare centre operator, was raised in Melbourne, Victoria and attended Geelong Grammar School for her secondary education. She currently lives with her sister Nicola in Melbourne.
She is a vegetarian, and in 2005 appeared in a marketing campaign for the animal rights group PETA promoting awareness of animal rights.[10]
Higgins' sexuality was the subject of speculation due to the content of her lyrics; she does not use male or female pronouns to describe her partner during her concerts. In an interview with lesbian magazine Cherrie, under the headline "Missy Higgins on life, music and not being straight", when asked if she falls under the 'moniker' of ‘not-so-straight’ girls, she laughed and said, "Um, yeah, definitely". She then went on to say "I think sexuality is a fluid thing and it's becoming increasingly more acceptable to admit that you're that way", without elaborating on whether she is lesbian, bisexual, or otherwise.[11][12] As a result of press coverage, she clarified her statement and said, "I’ve been in relationships with both men and women so I guess I fall most easily under the category 'bisexual'."[13] That second statement, which appeared on her MySpace page, stated outright that she is "not, never have been, and never will be ashamed" of her sexuality. She also criticized the media for what she termed "twisting her words around".[13]
Higgins said recently in an interview on Channel V that her single "Ten Days" was written for her then boyfriend while she was backpacking in Europe for six months after she finished school. She is currently single and states that she has not been in a relationship for a long time, citing her busy schedule as a reason.
[edit] Discography
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