Vanessa Joy Amorosi (born 8 August 1981) is an Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist. She has sold at least two million units in albums or singles worldwide.
Amorosi rose to fame in 1999 when her debut single, "Have a Look", reached gold status in Australia. The following year, she achieved international success with her debut studio album, The Power. She performed at both the 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony and its accompanying closing ceremony in Sydney. Her performance of "Heroes Live Forever" at the opening ceremony gained international acclaim. Performed at the closing ceremony, "Absolutely Everybody", which became the anthem of the games, went on to be a major hit in Australia and many European countries including the United Kingdom and Germany. After releasing her second studio album, Change, in 2002 and taking a break from the spotlight, Amorosi returned in 2008 with the release of her third studio album Somewhere in the Real World. The album's most successful single, "Perfect", marked her comeback to the ARIA top 5 singles and was the most played Australian song on Australian radio for 2008. Her fourth studio album, Hazardous, followed in 2009 and is Amorosi's second-best selling album in Australia behind her debut, The Power. It produced her first number one-charting single, "This Is Who I Am".
She subsequently released three more albums: Back to Love (2019), Blacklisted Collection (2020) and City of Angels (2022).
To date, Amorosi has received a total of 16 ARIA and APRA nominations. She has won an APRA award with "Shine", a VIVA Comet Award for "Best International Newcomer" and an ARIA No.1 Chart Award with "This Is Who I Am".
Amorosi was born in Melbourne, in a Roman Catholic family of partial Italian origin, the daughter of singers Frank and Joy Amorosi. When she was four, she and her younger sisters, Mellissa and Natasha, went to rap, jazz and classical ballet classes run by her uncle. She attended Emerald Primary School and Emerald Secondary College. At the age of 12, Amorosi started to perform in shopping centres and local council concerts under the supervision of her family. She also performed on Young Talent Time. Amorosi was discovered performing at Matrioshka, a Russian restaurant in Carnegie, by Jack Strom (after being referred by Leigh Hope) and signed a recording contract in 1997. After being signed to MarJac Productions (co-owned by managers Mark Holden and Jack Strom) and recording a promo CD titled "Get Here", she secured a deal with Transistor Music Australia.
In 1999, Amorosi released her debut single "Have a Look" which became a Top 20 hit and went gold in Australia. At the end of this year she performed at Carols in the Domain. "Have a Look" was followed by her second single "Absolutely Everybody", an anthemic dance song, which reached the Top 10. It was certified double platinum and became the longest charting Australian single by an Australian female artist. It remained in the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart for over six months after its release. "Absolutely Everybody" was released internationally and reached the Top 10 in many European countries including the UK and Germany where it received a gold certification. Amorosi performed at many large events such as the NRL Grand Final, the opening of the Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island and the new millennium on New Year's Eve at Darling Harbour.
Following the success of the first two singles, Amorosi released two more singles in 2000. "Shine" and the double A-sided single "The Power"/"Every Time I Close My Eyes" became major Australian hits. Both were accredited gold by the ARIA Australian music industry. The rights to create a remixed version of "Shine" were purchased by the airline Ansett Australia, who used this version for a commercial. Amorosi was one of many celebrities to appear in the commercial. In Europe, "Every Time I Close My Eyes" was released as the fourth single from The Power and became her most successful song in Germany behind "Absolutely Everybody".
From 29 April to 25 May, Amorosi supported Savage Garden for 16 shows on the Australian leg of their Affirmation World Tour.
Her album The Power reached number one on the Australian album charts. Amorosi received six ARIA nominations in the year 2000 awards and The Power was nominated for "Best Female Artist" and "Best Pop Release" in the ARIA Music Awards of 2001.
Her largest audience came in September 2000 with performances at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and at the Paralympic Games. At the opening ceremony of the aforementioned Olympics she sang the Olympic song titled "Heroes Live Forever". Amorosi won the APRA Award in 2001 for "Most Played Song" on Australian Radio with "Shine", and received international acclaim in Germany where she won "Best International Newcomer" at the 2001 VIVA Comet Awards. Later that year she also made a special appearance at the Goodwill Games opening and closing ceremonies in Brisbane. In 2001, she performed at the AFL Grand Final.
In October 2001, Amorosi released Turn to Me, a compilation album with new songs and tracks from The Power, which were previously unreleased in Australia. It also contains the studio version of the Olympic song "Heroes Live Forever". Turn to Me was released in Australia only and achieved a top 30 peak. The same titled lead single from the album reached number 80 on the ARIA singles chart.
In August 2002, Amorosi traveled to Manchester where she was one of the stars of the Commonwealth Games Hand-Over Ceremony, performing her single "Shine" and a new song written especially for the event, "I'll Always Be a Melbourne Girl".
On 18 November 2002, Amorosi released her second studio album Change. It was released in Germany only and contains the previous released singles "One Thing Leads 2 Another", which debuted at No. 67 on the German Singles Chart and the Australian exclusive single-release "Spin (Everybody's Doin' It)", which became a top 50 hit on the ARIA Charts. The album peaked at number 64 on the German Top 100.
In February 2003, Amorosi performed her blues set for the first time at the Melbourne International Music and Blues Festival and traveled to Germany to perform her third single "True To Yourself" from the album Change on Top of the Pops and the long-running show Wetten, dass..? which screens throughout Europe. The single was released on 24 February 2003 and peaked at number 99 on the German Singles Chart.
Change was set to be released in Australia later in 2003, but it remains unreleased there for unknown reasons.
2003–2009: Somewhere in the Real World
On 25 January 2006, it was revealed that Amorosi signed with manager Ralph Carr, having completed her seven-year management with MarJac Productions. She is quoted on the website as saying, "I have been with my previous management for seven years and thought both parties had gone as far as we could together... Moving over to Ralph Carr Management seemed like a natural progression, given the acts he has successfully managed. I am excited and enthused." On 22 November, it was announced that Amorosi had signed to Universal Music Australia.
Amorosi's involvement with Kids Help Line and the Variety Club led to a number of honours, including a 2003 nomination for Australian of the Year. She still has the farm where endangered animals can find refuge, although she does not get to visit much; her friends run it for her. She supported Kiss on their 2008 tour of Australia.