The Wiggles

The Wiggles stand out globally as one of the most successful children’s music acts, celebrated for their energetic, skillfully composed tracks and strong draw for young listeners. Targeting both younger and older toddlers, the Australian outfit issued their debut recording, The Wiggles, in 1991; the set quickly attained platinum certification. Their reach expanded rapidly across subsequent years through further albums, home videos, and live performances around the world. The Wiggles Movie arrived in 1997, and the following year the group debuted its first television series, which ran on the Disney Channel in the United States. Among the ARIA Award-winning Best Children’s Albums are 1995’s Big Red Car, 2005’s Live: Hot Potatoes!, and 2011’s Ukulele Baby!. Although three founding members stepped away in late 2012 after a farewell tour, Anthony Field—known as the Blue Wiggle—has remained a constant force, guiding the ensemble into the 2020s with releases such as Fun and Games and Lullabies with Love.

Before forming the Wiggles, several members had performed feel-good rock and R&B as the Cockroaches, earning a Top Ten hit across more than a decade. When that band disbanded in 1991, Tony Field and Jeff Fatt elected to create a children’s group that would eclipse their prior accomplishments. Rechristening themselves the Wiggles, Field and Fatt enlisted Murray Cook on bass and Greg Page on vocals; all four had qualified as preschool teachers at Macquarie University in Sydney. Young audiences responded immediately to their lighthearted songs, straightforward dances, and recurring characters including Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, Captain Feathersword, and Wags the Dog.

Issued on ABC Music through EMI distribution, the debut album The Wiggles moved close to 100,000 copies in its opening year. Subsequent releases such as Here Comes a Song (1992), Yummy Yummy (1993), and Wiggly Wiggly Christmas (1996) enjoyed comparable sales. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the Wiggles accumulated a sustained series of ARIA Awards and nominations for Best Children’s Album. Videos including Wiggle Time (1993) and Big Red Car (1995) reached double-platinum status. By the time The Wiggles Dance appeared in 1997, the group had sold nearly one million videos, while their two books, Let’s Wiggle and Dorothy the Dinosaur’s Picture Book, appeared in multiple editions. That same year also marked the Wiggles’ first feature film, The Wiggles Movie.

The ensemble’s visibility increased further during the 2000s once both the Disney Channel and ABC began airing their television program. Following double-hernia surgery in 2006, Page stepped back temporarily and was succeeded by Sam Moran. Brand extensions during the latter half of the decade included dedicated Wiggles areas in amusement parks and a collaboration with the PBS Kids Sprout network. Additional ARIA Awards arrived for albums such as 2007’s Pop Go the Wiggles! and 2011’s Ukulele Baby!. Also in 2011, the group entered the ARIA Hall of Fame, and ABC Music issued Rewiggled: A Tribute to the Wiggles, featuring reinterpretations by artists including singer/songwriter Sarah Blasko and indie pop band Architecture in Helsinki.

In 2012 the Wiggles declared that founding members Cook, Fatt, and Page would conclude their touring commitments that year. The act nevertheless persisted after the farewell tour, with Field joined by newcomers Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, and the first female member, Emma Watkins. This refreshed lineup achieved immediate commercial success, issuing a run of award-winning albums and specials such as Taking Off (2013), Rock & Roll Preschool (2015), and Wiggle Town (2016). February 2017 brought Wiggles Nursery Rhymes, containing updated renditions of traditional children’s songs. Nursery Rhymes 2 followed in March 2018 and climbed to the Top Three of the Australian albums chart. The high-energy Party Time! emerged in 2019, succeeded in 2020 by Fun and Games and Choo Choo Trains, Propeller Planes & Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car!. In 2021 the group delivered its second lullaby collection, Lullabies with Love.