January 1993 - Darren and Daniel meet each other Savage Garden are Darren Hayes (lead and background vocals) and Daniel Jones (keyboards, sequencing, additional guitars). The lads first met in January 1993 via an advertisement that Daniel placed in 'Time Off' magazine (a local Brisbane music newspaper). He was looking for a singer for his covers band Red Edge. The advertisement read:
'SERIOUS LEAD VOCALIST WANTED FOR COMMERCIAL MUSICAL OUTFIT PRESENTLY FINANCED BY MAJOR PUBLISHING COMPANY'
Darren telephoned Daniel and they clicked right away. They had found their musical soul mates. The covers band lasted for around 18 months, but when Darren found singing other band's songs unfulfilling, the pair set about writing for themselves.
Though they had little experience in song writing, they managed to construct some tunes loosely based around the style of their 80's heroes. 'We had high aspirations from the start' confesses Daniel. 'We talked about a record deal as if we already had one. We never thought, if this happens. Right from the beginning, it was always, when it does'.
They spent almost 12 months in a home studio writing and recording. The unknowns sent out over 150 unsolicited demos, under the name Bliss, to record companies and publishers. There was limited interest in the five track demo, and there were outright rejections. It wasn't until the tape hit the desk of veteran artist manager, John Woodruff (Baby Animals, Diesel, The Angels and Icehouse) that their global potential was spotted. He immediately flew to Brisbane to meet the pair. Despite sheltered, suburban surroundings, Woodruff was impressed with the songs and with the duo's attitude. All the frustration and the waiting had paid off. They were offered a management deal and a record contract from Roadshow/Warner Music.
Mid 1995 - Recording debut album Woodruff set Darren and Daniel up in Sydney with noted producer Charles Fisher. The album took almost 8 months to record. Although they suffered setbacks, the self titled album was finally completed.
1996 Success The first single 'I Want You' was released on July 1st 1996 and quickly went platinum (selling in excess of 70 000 copies). Peaking at number 4 on the ARIA charts, it was the most added track to radio and the biggest selling Australian single for 1996! It was also ranked No. 12 in the top 100 selling singles. The next single 'To The Moon & Back' went all the way to Number One, as did 'Truly Madly Deeply'.
March 1997 - Debut Album release DANIEL: 'With the first record we had no idea where we were going. We just threw all the enthusiasm we had into it, like into a washing machine. That's why the album is so colourful and goes in so many directions' DARREN: 'Really, a successful album, or a good album is about being true to yourself'
1997 - Guinness Book Of Records- Pop The record for the greatest ever number of ARIA Awards won by an artist in one year is 10 by Savage Garden in 1997. They were nominated in a record 13 out of 26 categories. Savage Garden ended picking 10 (!!) out of the 13 possible awards, which is also a record.
December 1997 - Truly Madly Deeply hits #1 Truly Madly Deeply debuted at number 25 on the Billboard charts on 27th November 1997. The song had hit number 1 knocking Elton John's Candle in the Wind off the top spot.
November 1999 - Savage Garden release Affirmation DARREN: "Affirmation is beautifully sad. It is about relationships. It is very personal. It's an album about accepting that life presents you with struggles. Sometimes we fall down, but we get back up again and we're stronger for it." Also, Affirmation includes the longest ballad series from the 90's!
19.01.2000 - I Knew I Loved You goes #1 I Knew I Loved You goes to #1 on the American Billboard Singles Chart for no less than 4 weeks. This makes Savage Garden only the second Australian-based band in history to have two Number 1 singles in America!
06.06.2000 - Pavarotti & friends 2000 Savage Garden perform with Luciano Pavarotti at his 7th annual 'Pavarotti & Friends' concert in Modena, Italy. Savage Garden are the first Australian artists to be asked to perform in this spectacular series of concerts. This year concert raised funds for Cambodia and Tibet. Other famous acts on the list also included Aqua, Eurhythmics, Enrique Iglesias, George Michael and Tracy Chapman.
15.11.2000 - Sydney Olympics 2000 We got to see Darren, Daniel, Karl, Angie and Ben perform at the Closing Ceremony of The Olympic Games 2000 in Sydney, Australia. They performed in the main Homebush stadium in front of a huge crowd singing Affirmation after the first Australian act, Christine Anu. Savage Garden also performed at The Domain in Sydney as a final act for the Olympic Celebration.
August 2000 - Darren decides to have a solo album According to Herald Sun newspaper's HIT magazine and announced by TTFM 101.9 in Melbourne, Australia, Darren wants to embark on a solo career. This is mainly because Daniel wants to take a break and wants to explore behind-the-scenes roles.
January 2001 - Darren and Daniel begin working on different projects In January 2001, Jones and Hayes embarked upon individual projects. Darren began work on his solo album, Spin, in San Francisco with producer Walter Afanasieff, album released on 18th of March 2002, while Daniel began promoting Australian band, Aneiki, the first signing to his music label - Meridienmusik. As well as being the band's record label, Dan also co-penned four tracks on their soon to be released debut album. He looks forward to a career of making music with a lot less public attention.
March 2001 - Rock Australia stamp collection Ten Australian greats are honoured by stamps commemorating their greatest hit singles in a series set called Rock Australia, released on March 20, 2001. Artists honoured include:
Cold Chisel for Khe Sanh (1978) Men At Work for Down Under (1981) Midnight Oil for Power and The Passion (1983) INXS for Original Sin (1984) John Farnham for You're The Voice (1988) Crowded House for Don't Dream It's Over (1988) Yothu Yindi for Treaty (1991) Silverchair for Tomorrow (1994) Kylie Minogue for Confide In Me (1994) Savage Garden for Truly Madly Deeply (1997)
A preview of the Savage Garden stamp had been released by Australia Post (Stamp bulletin magazine) as a part of Rock Australia collection. It is to commemorate the sales that Savage Garden's single Truly Madly Deeply achieved.
October 5th 2001 - Savage Garden officially call it quits After 20 million album sales and two US Number One hits, Australian musical duo Savage Garden have called it quits. Lead singer, Darren Hayes, confirmed the split during an interview with Australian journalist, Cameron Adams. 'It's amicable and it is a decision that has been coming for a long time', Hayes says. Since the end of the bands recent world tour, there has been much speculation as to the future of the musical partnership. During the promotion of their most recent album, AFFIRMATION, Daniel Jones had taken a back seat in the public promotion and contact with the media. 'It was a tough time, because I was dealing with the fact that Daniel no longer wanted to be a public person. He actually expressed a desire to leave the band shortly after AFFIRMATION was recorded'. 'We had a talk', says Hayes, 'and we agreed that he would stay on with me to see the world tour out, but that the band would break after that'. 'Initially the decision was a difficult one, I couldn't understand why Dan would want to walk away from something so successful. We talked a lot during the 8 month world tour and eventually we both just realized that we were going in completely different directions. He really didn't want to be a celebrity, he is a very private person, and he found the constant travel grueling. That made being a duo very difficult to explain to the media and fans. He encouraged me to continue making music and he began to take a back seat in the studio experimenting with other artists'.
Darren and Daniel had this message for the Savage Garden fans: 'We are extremely grateful to our fans all around the world for their incredible support over the years. The success of Savage Garden and our time together has been an amazing experience.. one that we will never forget. We just hope that you all understand our individual needs to continue growing'.
"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living." - Daniel Jones
Full Name: Darren Stanley Hayes
Role in band: Lead and backing vocals, song writer
Birth Date: 8th of May 1972
Birth Place: Logan City, Brisbane, Australia
Nicknames: Dozer as a baby (short for bulldozer because he was chubby), Daz (which he hates), Slick, Fruity Undies
Star Sign: Taurus
Hair: blonde
Eyes: blue
Height: 1.78m
Shoe Size: 8.5-9
Siblings: brother Peter John and sister Tracey Anne (both elder than him)
Parents: Robert and June Hayes
Schooling: Mabel Park Infants, Mabel Park High School
Fave School Subject: Biology, Art, English
Least fave School Subject: Maths
Previous Jobs: Worked in a record store(Woodys) and a video store(he got held up once), was also a Kindergarten Teacher
Hobbies: movies, shopping, surfing the net
Pets: a cocker spaniel called Obi (after Obi-wan Kenobi character from Star Wars!); also used to have a pet kangaroo, reportedly called Wally
Fave Music: U2, Sarah McLachlan, Madonna, Michael Jackson
Musical Influences: Prince, Michael Jackson, The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Duran Duran, Mowtown
Fave actress: Natalie Portman, Julia Louis Dreyfus
Fave actor: Harrison Ford
Fave movies: Star Wars, Blade Runner, ET, also likes horror movies
Fave TV Shows: Seinfeld, Friends, Mad About You
Fave author: Anne Rice
Fave childhood TV show: wonderwoman, scoobydoo cartoon, smurfs cartoon
Fave colour: Dusky Blue
Fave foods: Starbucks Coffee, Skim Milk, Yogurt, Baskin Robbins Peanut Butter and Chocolate Icecream, Dr Pepper, Linguini with Pesto Sauce (Darren used to be a vegetarian but now eats white meat)
Fave drinks: Cherry Cola. He rarely drinks alcohol
Fave restaurant: Avanti Italian Restaurant
Fave places: New York, Paris
Status: Wouldn't you like to know...tee hee hee
Fave songs from debut album: Carry On Dancing, Santa Monica
Fave songs from Affirmation: The Best Thing, I Don't Know You Anymore
* Darren has a completed degree in pre-school teaching and taught for 8 months while waiting for the album to be finished
* Darren met most of his childhood idols
* Darren loved the movie ET so much that, as a kid, he made a paper mache ET and rode aroud the neighbourhood with it in a basket on his bike
* Darren collects Star Wars figures; he has seen the movies over and over again and would love to be in one of the sequels
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Full name: Daniel Jones
Role In Band: Keyboards, sequencing, additional guitars, programming, songwriter
Birth Date: 22nd of July 1973
Birth Place: Essex, England
Home Town: Logan City (in Brisbane, Australia)
Nicknames: 'waggin' (because he was skipping school!)
Star Sign: Cancer
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Green
Height: 1.80m
Shoe Size: 9
Parents: Christina Jones, John Jones
Schooling: Shailer Park High School (dropped out of 10th grade to "pursue music")
Siblings: Two brothers - Oliver and Jonathan, both elder than him (Oliver is part of the band BrooklynStar)
Previous Jobs: Was a Printers help, where he nearly sliced his fingers off and he says he spent most of his time printing tape covers for the band instead of working; Daniel also wanted to be a football player and a lollipop man!
Hobbies: Jet-skiing, writing music on his laptop
Pets: a dog
Fave music: George Michael, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morisette, U2, Seal
Musical influences: Peter Gabriel, XTC, Tears for Fears
Fave actress: Meg Ryan
Fave actor: Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson
Fave movies: Austin Powers, When Harry Met Sally
Fave TV shows: Seinfeld, The Simpsons
Fave colour: Blue (a shade called pms 300!)
Drives: Mazda Astina
Fave foods: Satay Chicken, hams, Pineapple Pizza, chocolate
Status: Living with his girlfriend of many years
Fave songs on debut album: To The Moon And Back, Truly Madly Deeply
Fave songs on Affirmation: Crash And Burn, The Lover After Me
* Daniel's parents moved to Brisbane when he was only 1
* Daniel has been in a band since he was 15
Daniel: 'My brothers picked up musical instruments from the time I was about eight. I just followed suit, really.'
* Daniel has got a record label - Meridienmusik. He has signed his first band, Aneiki, featuring Savage Garden's former singer, Jennifer Waite.
* Daniel Has climbed Ares Rock
* Daniel plays Parker Guitars
Full name: Diana Kathryn Lee Anne Aiello
Role In Band: Someday I'll sing vocals with Darren...God willing...
Birth Date: 22nd of February 1983
Birth Place: Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Home Town: Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Nicknames: ChicaDi, OceanEyes, Dazzla, Dazzla Vampire, Hayes
Star Sign: Pisces
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Green
Height: 5'5"
Shoe Size: 6 1/2
Parents: Robert Aiello, Theresa Aiello
Schooling: Hazleton Area High School, Univeristy of Scranton
Siblings: One Sister - Kristin Aiello-Stahley
Previous Jobs: Staples, Weis, Verisign
Hobbies: Singing, Dancing, Exercising, Chillin' on my laptop
Pets: 2 cats, Kitten Little (Jenga) and Maui (Maui Big One)
Fave music: Savage Garden, Sarah McLachlan, Bette Midler, The Cranberries, Prince, Jewel, Michael Jackson, U2, ETC ETC ETC. :)
Musical influences: Savage Garden
Fave actress: Fran Drescher
Fave actor: Harrison Ford
Fave movies: Austin Powers, Bladerunner, Never Been Kissed, It had to be You, Anne of Green Gables
Fave TV shows: Seinfeld, The Nanny, The Golden Girls, Mad About You, Home Improvement
Fave colour: Blue (dusky)
Fave foods: General Tso's Chicken, Any Italian Food, Papa John's Pizza, Napoli's Pizza, aww heck I LOVE FOOD.
Status: *sigh*...Dazzzzzzzzzz
Fave songs on debut album: All of 'em
Fave songs on Affirmation: All of 'em
