Lee Kernaghan

Lee Kernaghan (born April 15, 1964, Corryong, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian popular singer who reinvigorated Australian country music in the 1990s, synthesizing traditional country themes with energetic styles of contemporary rock and roll and images of an evolving Australian rural culture.

Kernaghan was the eldest child of Ray Kernaghan, who rose to great popularity as a country music singer during Lee’s teen years. In the mid-1970s Lee formed his first band with his brother Greg and his sister Tania—the latter of whom also went on to become a successful country singer—and he later wrote two of the songs on his father’s album Jet Set Country (1979). In 1982 Lee received a Star Maker Award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. He released his first single—with “Cheaters” on one side and “Advance Australia Again” on the other—the following year, and in 1986 he and his father represented Australia at the International Country Music Fan Fair in Nashville.

During the late 1980s the younger Kernaghan found it increasingly difficult to find gainful employment as a country music artist, and in 1990 he abandoned his musical career. In 1991, however, he recorded several demos with Australian producer Garth Porter. These soon led to a contract with ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Records. Porter produced Kernaghan’s debut album, The Outback Club (1992), and cowrote some of the songs. In 1993 the record took honours for best album, best song (“Boys from the Bush”), best male vocalist, and best producer at the Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA) Awards. The Australian Recording Industry Association also named it the best country album of 1993.

Kernaghan’s second album, Three Chain Road (1993), featured collaborations with Australian country music singer Slim Dusty, including “Leave Him in the Longyard,” which was named best group vocal at the 1994 CMAA Awards. Kernaghan’s subsequent albums—including 1959 (1995), Hat Town (1998), Rules of the Road (2001), Electric Rodeo (2002), The New Bush (2006), Spirit of the Anzacs (2015), and Backroad Nation (2019)—also earned numerous honours and enthusiastic praise from critics, fans, and the music industry. In 2004 Kernaghan was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his fund-raising efforts on behalf of farmers and rural communities.

In 2008 Kernaghan was named Australian of the Year by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Also that year, Kernaghan received multiple honours at the CMAA’s annual awards ceremony, where his hit song “Spirit of the Bush” (2007), recorded with fellow country music luminaries Adam Brand and Steve Forde, won the best single, best vocal collaboration, and best video awards. Kernaghan’s memoir, Boy from the Bush, appeared in 2015.