Bernard Fanning Bio and Facts
Bernard Fanning is a well-known Australian artist/band. Find biography and interesting facts of Bernard Fanning's career and personal life. Discover detailed information about Bernard Fanning's height, real name, wife, girlfriend & kids. Bernard Fanning Wiki, Facebook, Instagram, and socials. Bernard Fanning Height, Age, Bio, and Real Name.
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Bernard Fanning Biography Facts
Bernard Fanning has been appeared in channels as follow: BernardFanningVEVO.
Born 15 August, 1969 (55 years old).
What is the zodiac sign of Bernard Fanning ?
According to the birthday of Bernard Fanning the
astrological sign is
Leo .
Career of the Bernard Fanning started in 1989 .
Bernard Fanning Wiki
Australian musician and singer-songwriter
| Bernard Fanning | |
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| Fanning performing in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 15 August 1969 (age 51) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
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| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts | Powderfinger |
| Website | bernardfanning.com |
Bernard Fanning (born 15 August 1969) is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist of Queensland alternative rock band Powderfinger from its formation in 1989 to its dissolution in 2010.
Born and raised in Toowong, Brisbane, Fanning was taught the piano by his mother at an early age. At the age of 15, while attending St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, he began writing music. Upon graduating from St. Joseph's Fanning moved on to the University of Queensland, where he studied journalism for a short time. He dropped out to pursue a music career, after meeting Ian Haug in an economics class. Fanning joined Haug, John Collins, and Steven Bishop, who had recently formed Powderfinger, and took the role of lead singer. After Bishop left and guitarist Darren Middleton joined, the band released five studio albums in fifteen years and achieved mainstream success in Australia. During Powderfinger's hiatus in 2005, Fanning began his solo music career with the studio album Tea & Sympathy. Powderfinger reunited in 2007 and released two more albums before disbanding in late 2010.
While Powderfinger's style focuses on alternative rock, Fanning's solo music is generally described as a mixture of blues and acoustic folk. He plays guitar, piano, keyboards, and harmonica both when performing solo and also with Powderfinger. Often speaking out against Australian political figures, Fanning has donated much of his time to philanthropic causes. He is an advocate for Aboriginal justice in Australia.
Early life
Fanning was born in Brisbane on 15 August 1969. He was raised with two brothers and a sister in an Irish Catholic family in the inner Brisbane suburb of Toowong. The death of one of Fanning's brothers from cancer would be the inspiration for Vulture Street's "Since You've Been Gone". Fanning's mother began teaching him to play piano as a young child, although his siblings were not interested in music.
Fanning attended St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, and began writing his own music at the age of 15. Fanning has described these early works as "terrible", but notes that he enjoyed writing and arranging them. After graduating from St Joseph's, Fanning entered the University of Queensland to study journalism; however, he was equally interested in pursuing a music career, and left university at the age of 19 to do so.
Music career
Powderfinger era (1989–2004)
Fanning first met Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug in a University of Queensland economics class in 1989. Haug had recently formed Powderfinger with high school friends John Collins and Steven Bishop, who would become the band's foundational bass guitarist and drummer, respectively. Haug was the lead guitarist and lead singer. On discovering Fanning's singing abilities, Haug replaced himself with Fanning as lead singer and frontman. Haug stated that, "It was a big thing to convince the others that we needed a singer. They were like, 'You're OK,' and I was like, 'No I'm not. We can do better than that.'"
In 1992, current guitarist Darren Middleton was invited to join Powderfinger by Fanning and Haug, after they were impressed by his work in Brisbane band Pirate. Middleton accepted the offer and became the fifth member, joining Jon Coghill who had replaced Bishop as drummer. The line-up of Fanning, Middleton, Haug, Collins, and Coghill then remained unchanged.
Throughout the late 1990s, Powderfinger rose to prominence throughout Australia, receiving several accolades and achieving highly successful record and concert ticket sales. As the most vocal and prominent member of the band, the popularity of the group elevated Fanning as a powerful individual in the Australian music industry. In 2003, Fanning was called upon by film-maker Gregor Jordan to perform the folk song "Moreton Bay" (named after the bay in the Brisbane area) and his own original composition "Shelter for My Soul" in his film Ned Kelly. Fanning then enlisted Jordan to film Powderfinger's first live DVD, These Days: Live in Concert.
Style, technique, and influences
Fanning has been described as having a strong vocal range when singing, but has said he is not highly confident in his voice. In a 1998 interview, Fanning said, "I don't think I have the perfect voice or anything", and said that delivering the song's message was more important than "showing off [his] chops". He said he was not interested in singing for the purpose of singing alone, but rather because he enjoyed getting the purpose of the song across. Fanning has said: "For me, writing songs comes from anywhere", drawing inspiration from his experiences.
In his work on Tea & Sympathy, Fanning referred to his inability to play guitar solos leading to different elements becoming a focus of the songs. In an interview, he said, "I wasn't relying on solos to be big features because I simply can't play them." Fanning explained that the songs' shorter length was due to not having "four other people" to back him up when producing independently.
Fanning has said his favourite band is The Beatles.
Personal life
Fanning has performed numerous philanthropic tasks independently and with Powderfinger. The band played at the 2005 WaveAid concert to raise money for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and the Across the Great Divide tour in 2007 to promote the efforts of Reconciliation Australia. Fanning has contributed to charities including A Just Australia and Youngcare Australia, and donates his time to youth detention centres in Brisbane running songwriting workshops. In an uncharacteristic outburst, Fanning once referred to fellow Australian artist Ben Lee as "a precocious little cunt", after Lee referred to himself as "the saviour of Australian music". Fanning later apologised for the comment.
- 1969 births
- Living people
- Australian male singers
- Australian rock singers
- Powderfinger members
- The Wrights (Australian band) members
- Australian rock guitarists
- Australian indie pop musicians
- Australian indie rock musicians
- Australian multi-instrumentalists
- APRA Award winners
- ARIA Award winners
- Lost Highway Records artists
- Dew Process artists
- People educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace
- Musicians from Brisbane
- Australian people of Irish descent
- Australian male guitarists