Adam Brand (musician)

Biography

Adam Brand (born 27 January 1970 in Perth), first began playing drums at age ten, and followed his father, a travelling salesman, in his teens. Brand moved to Sydney in 1997 and released his first album, a self-titled effort, on Flying Nun Records the following year. The album reached No. 44 on the Australian ARIA album charts and was certified platinum. Brand was awarded three CMAA awards in 1999, Song of the Year ("Last Man Standing"), New Talent of the Year, and Video Track of the Year after being nominated in five categories. Brand was nominated for Best Country Album (Adam Brand) at the 1999 ARIA Music Awards. He also won the 'Johnny O’Keefe Encouragement Award' at the 1999 Mo Awards.

In 2000, he released his next album, Good Friends, which reached No. 26 on the album charts. Brand received a further CMAA Award for Vocal Collaboration of the Year with Melinda Schneider for "Love Away the Night". He was also nominated again for Best Country Album (Good Friends) at the 2000 ARIA Awards. In 2001 Brand won three CMAA Awards for Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year. He also won a Mo Award for Male Country Performer of the Year.

In 2001, he began recording for Compass Brothers Records releasing Built for Speed. The album was released in January 2002 reaching No. 24 on the album charts and was certified platinum in Australia. He won a further Mo Award for Male Country Performer of the Year that year. In 2003, Brand also won a CMAA Award, Heritage Song of the Year, for "The Anzac".

Brand's next album, Get Loud, was released in 2004, debuted at No. 2 on the Australian Country charts and No. 16 on the national albums chart in 2004 and was certified Gold. Get Loud was also nominated as Best Country Album at that year's ARIA Awards. On 10 October 2005 he released a Christmas themed album, Christmas in Australia.

2006 saw the release of Brand's fifth studio album, What a Life. The album reached No. 28 on the national album charts and was certified Gold. Brand received another ARIA nomination for 'Best Country Album' (What a Life) in 2006. His next album, Blame It on Eve was released in July 2008, peaking at No. 1 on the Australian Country charts and No. 10 on the National Album charts (his highest charting solo album to date). He also won three CMAA Awards: Single of the Year, Vocal Collaboration of the Year and Video Clip of the Year with Lee Kernaghan and Steve Forde for "Spirit of the Bush", in 2008.

In 2009 he released Hell of a Ride, which peaking at No. 2 on the Australian Country charts and No. 19 on the National Album charts. Brand also won the Best Independent Country Album award at the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Awards and the CMAA Award for Male Artist of the Year. In September 2009 Brand signed a recording contract with the Nashville-based division of Sony Music Entertainment for the distribution of his recordings in the United States.

He featured in season nine of the live Australian reality show Dancing with the Stars, winning the competition on 6 September 2009. He was partnered by professional dancer Jade Hatcher, who Brand married on 31 May 2010.

His 2014 album My Side of the Street earned him the CMAA award for Male Artist of the Year.

In January 2016, Brand released an album with supergroup The Outlaws, featuring fellow Australian country musicians Travis Collins, Drew McAlister, Matt Cornell and Mike Carr.

He is the winner of 14 Golden Guitar Awards.

Personal life

Brand is a keen fan of motor sport. His song "Dirt Track Cowboys" is themed around speedway racing and features speedway commentator Wade Aunger. Brand has also raced, spending several years racing in the V8 Utes category racing Ford Falcon V8s in the early 2000s. Brand made a return to racing in 2011, competing in the 2011 Eastern Creek Six Hour. Brand and his co-drivers won their class racing a Suzuki Swift.

He has been married and divorced a number of times. At the age of thirty-nine he met Jade Hatcher, then nineteen, on the set of Dancing With The Stars in 2009. They went on to win the competition despite a lower score compared to their competitor, Today Tonight presenter Matt White. Adam and Jade married in May 2010, but in late 2011 it was announced that they had separated.