Ren ée Geyer throughout an image shoot on January 23, 2007 in Sydney, Australia. Peter Carrette Archive/ GI
Bonnie Raitt has actually assessed the “inspiration” and also “staggeringly great singing” of Ren ée Geyer, the renowned Australian heart and also blues vocalist that died earlier this week, aged 69.
Geyer delighted in solo success in Australia in the ’70s with covers “It’s a Man’s Man’s World”, “Heading in the Right Direction” and also with the bouncy ’80s pop number “Say I Love You,” though never ever gained the business benefits that her abilities was entitled to.
Later, she would certainly move to Los Angeles, where she added to recordings for numerous celebrities, consisting ofRaitt
“Shocked and so saddened to hear of the sudden passing of another friend and one of the greatest singers I’ve ever known, Australia’s incomparable Renée Geyer,” composes Raitt on her social web pages.
“Her husky, powerful and deeply soulful voice and phrasing has blown me away since I first heard her back in 1980 in LA, while making her So Lucky album,” with Bump Band and also manufacturer Rob Fraboni, she composes.
Raitt “was so knocked” out that she touched Fraboni and also the band participants oh her very own, following cd, 1981’sGreen Light The cd split the leading 40, coming to a head atNo 38 on the Billboard 200.
Geyer had an “impossibly low growl, unearthly high swoops but mostly, staggeringly great singing, there was no one like her,” Raitt enthuses. “She was feisty, fiercely independent and faced a lot being a strong woman in this music business. She was also my good friend and will remain an inspiration and in my heart always.”
back in 1980 in LA, while making her So Lucky cd with manufacturer @RobFraboni, and also the Bump Band, containing fabulous principals, @IanMacMcLagan, drummer Ricky Fataar, guitar player Johnny Lee Schell and also bassistRay Ohara
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— Bonnie Raitt (@TheBonnieRaitt) January 17, 2023
Geyer sealed her symbol standing in 2005, when she was sworn in right into the ARIA Hall of Fame along with Split Enz, Normie Rowe, Smoky Dawson, The Easybeats, Hunters & & Collectors and alsoJimmy Barnes Then, in 2013 she was the initial female to be sworn in right into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame; and also in 2018 obtained the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Women in Music Awards.
While going to University Hospital Geelong to go through hip surgical treatment, professionals found that Geyer additionally had unusable lung cancer cells. She passed away Tuesday (Jan 17), “in no pain” and also “peacefully amongst family and friends,” checks out a family members declaration.
After the unfortunate information damaged, the songs neighborhood commemorated the gifted, late musician, consisting of Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, Colin Hay, Kate Ceberano, Marcia Hines, Sarah McLeod and also Troy Cassar-Daley “The U.S. had Aretha, the U.K. Dusty Springfield. We had Renée. She taught us all so much,” discusses Hay, previous vocalist and also songwriter with Men atWork “She knew not only what music was, but where it came from. We had an inkling, but so much of it was so far away.”
Since releasing her very own recording profession in 1971, Raitt has actually easily fused songs and also advocacy, motivating generations and also earning “icon” standing– she was presented the Icon Award at the 2022 Billboard Women In Music occasion.
Her 21 st and also most recent cd, 2022’s Just Like That, is chosen for 4 Grammy Awards.
