About Bernard Fanning
Bernard Joseph Fanning is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist of Queensland alternative rock band Powderfinger from its formation in 1989.
Born and raised in Toowong, Brisbane, Fanning received piano lessons from his mother at an early age. At the age of 15, while he attended St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, he began writing music. Upon graduating from Gregory Terrace, Fanning moved on to the University of Queensland, where he studied journalism briefly. 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 drummer Jon Coghill 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 they disbanded 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 also advocates for Aboriginal justice in Australia.
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 Fanning's brother John from cancer would inspire 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 Gregory Terrace, Fanning entered the University of Queensland to study journalism; however, he had equal interest in pursuing a music career, and left university at the age of 19 to do so.
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.'"
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