ARIA Award winners: Fremantle’s Tame Impala steal show with five 2020 wins

Kevin Parker rolled out of bed today to the news that his globetrotting Fremantle psych-pop kings Tame Impala had earned two Grammy Awards nominations.

And the unassuming 34-year-old superstar went to sleep tonight having won five more gongs at the 2020 ARIA Awards.

Hosted by nine-time winner Delta Goodrem at a socially distanced ceremony in Sydney, this year’s virtual event was not the usual boozy music industry shindig.

But Tame Impala had much to celebrate as they claimed their third Album of the Year award for The Slow Rush.

Their chart-topping fourth long-player, released in February, also made it a trifecta of Best Rock Album titles.

Parker, the multi-instrumentalist and studio genius behind all of Tame Impala’s music, was named Producer and Engineer of the Year.

Tame Impala also won Best Group, which is slightly ironic given the solo project only becomes a five-piece band for concerts.

The quintet of pointy ARIA trophies brings their career tally to an impressive 13 from 27 nominations.

And Parker and co will hope to add a Grammy or two to their trophy collection, with The Slow Rush up for best alternative music album and Lost in Yesterday will compete for Best Rock Cong at the 63rd annual gongs due to be held on January 31.

Tame Impala have garnered four Grammy nominations since 2014.

Back to the ARIAs, and the other major winners celebrated the diversity of Australia’s music scene.

Zambian-born, Botswana-raised and now Melbourne-based hip-rapper Sampa the Great won three awards — Best Female Artist plus Best Hip-Hop and Independent Release for her Australian Music Prize-winning debut album The Return.

The 27-year-old, born Sampa Tempo, is the first woman of colour to take out the hip-hop gong.

Meanwhile, veteran Indigenous singer-songwriter Archie Roach, who was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame at the event, took home Best Male Artist and Best Adult Contemporary Release for his top 10 album Tell Me Why.

The album re-imagining his career-defining songs, including Stolen Generations classic Took the Children Away, is the companion to Roach’s memoir of the same name.

The ARIA wins were the 64-year-old Victorian’s first since Looking for Butter Boy earned two awards at the 1998 ceremony.

Trailblazing feminist Helen Reddy, who died in September, joined Roach in the ARIA Hall of Fame, with Tones and I, Amy Shark, Marcia Hines and Goodrem among the female stars joining forces to cover her 1972 anthem I Am Woman.

While Sydney sibling duo Lime Cordiale led the nominations with eight, Oli and Louis Leimbach only claimed the ARIA for Breakthrough Artist — their first win.

Other winners included Shark, rising Indigenous soul artist Miiesha, country singer Fanny Lumsden, popular roots outfit the Teskey Brothers and prolific Melbourne psych-rockers King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.

Paul Kelly and Paul Grabowsky won best jazz album, while Teeny Tiny Stevies denied The Wiggles their 14th Best Children’s Album award.

International superstars, including Billie Eilish, Sam Smith and Australia’s Sia, beamed in performances from Los Angeles and London, while Harry Styles won the publicly voted title of Best International Artist.

Aussie pop rockers 5 Seconds of Summer swayed enough fans to earn the Song of the Year award for their double-platinum hit Teeth.

AND THE ARIA WINNERS ARE:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Tame Impala: The Slow Rush

FEMALE ARTIST - Sampa the Great

MALE ARTIST - Archie Roach

GROUP - Tame Impala

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST - Lime Cordiale

POP RELEASE - Amy Shark: Everybody Rise

ROCK ALBUM - Tame Impala: The Slow Rush

DANCE RELEASE - Dom Dolla: San Frandisco

HIP-HOP RELEASE - Sampa the Great: The Return

SOUL/R&B RELEASE - Miiesha: Nyaaringu

INDEPENDENT RELEASE - Sampa the Great: The Return

ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM - Archie Roach: Tell Me Why

COUNTRY ALBUM - Fanny Lumsden: Fallow

HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL ALBUM - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Chunky Shrapnel

BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM - The Teskey Brothers: Live at the Forum

CHILDREN’S ALBUM - Teeny Tiny Stevies: Thoughful Songs for Little People

COMEDY RELEASE - Anne Edmonds: What’s Wrong With You?

PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS

VIDEO - Guy Sebastian: Standing With You

AUSTRALIAN LIVE ACT - Amy Shark

SONG OF THE YEAR - 5 Seconds of Summer: Teeth

INTERNATIONAL ARTIST - Harry Styles

MUSIC TEACHER AWARD - Sarah Donnelly from Wilcannia Central School

ARTISAN AWARDS

COVER ART - Washington: Batflowers

ENGINEER OF THE YEAR - Kevin Parker for Tame Impala

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR - Kevin PArker for Tame Impala

FINE ARTS AWARDS

CLASSICAL ALBUM - Richard Tognetti and Erin Helyard: Beethoven and Mozart Violin Sonatas

JAZZ ALBUM - Paul Kelly and Paul Grabowsky: Please Leave Your Light On

ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK OR MUSICAL THEATRE CAST ALBUM - Chelsea Cullen: I Am Woman

WORLD MUSIC ALBUM - Jospeh Tawadros: Live at the Sydney Opera House