Jon Stevens

Hailing from Maori roots, the multi-genre singer-songwriter Jon Stevens first rose to fame as a teen idol in his native New Zealand before stepping in as frontman for the stadium rock outfit Noiseworks during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Born in Upper Hutt in 1962, he issued two well-received collections of covers and standards before reaching adulthood. After moving to Australia, Stevens became Noiseworks’ lead vocalist and helped the band deliver several acclaimed albums across that same period. In 1992 he took the role of Judas in the Australian staging of Jesus Christ Superstar, and the resulting cast album topped Australian sales for the year. Columbia Records signed him the following year, yielding the third solo album Are U Satisfied, with Circle appearing in 1996. Asked in 2000 to replace the late Michael Hutchence, Stevens fronted INXS through 2003 before resuming solo work the next year with the R&B-oriented Ain't No Life for the Faint Hearted. His 2005 acoustic set The Works revisited signature Noiseworks tracks alongside material from his prior solo release. The single “Just a Man” surfaced in August 2011 ahead of the November arrival of his seventh solo album, Changing Times. In 2012 he partnered with guitarist David Lowy to launch the all-star American/Australian rock collective the Dead Daisies, whose self-titled debut followed in 2013. Stevens departed the group in 2015, then signed with Social Family Records for his ninth studio album, Woman. He reunited with the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart in 2017 to release Starlight.