Kate Ceberano is an Australian singer and songwriter from Melbourne, born in 1966. She works across soul, jazz and pop, and first comes to prominence as the frontwoman of the funk band I’m Talking.

Career

I’m Talking is managed by Ken West, who later co-founds the Big Day Out with Vivien Lees. The group’s album yields three top ten singles, goes Platinum, and wins Best New Talent at the Countdown Awards in 1984. Ceberano also wins Best Female Vocalist at the Countdown Awards in 1985 and Best Female Singer at the ARIA Awards the same year. After one album, the band splits and she begins a solo career.

Her first solo release is the live album Kate Ceberano and Her Septet in 1987. You’ve Always Got The Blues follows in 1988 and earns her an ARIA Award for Best Female Artist. In 1989 she wins the same award again, along with Highest Selling Single for “Bedroom Eyes” from the triple-platinum album Brave. By the end of 1990 she receives three MO Awards: Jazz Performer, Female Rock Performer and Contemporary Concert Performer of the Year.

In 1992 she performs Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar, a national touring production that also features John Farnham. The associated album becomes the biggest hit of the year and is certified four-times Platinum. She later presents the ABC TV cabaret-style series Kate Ceberano And Friends from 1993 to 1994.

Ceberano releases Blue Box in 1996, which goes Gold and brings another ARIA nomination for Best Female Artist. In 1997 she writes and releases Pash, which goes Gold and becomes one of her best-known songs. Other albums mentioned include 19 Days In New York, a set of jazz favourites recorded while she lives in New York, and LIVE with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in 2005, which she regards as a career highlight.

Later releases and collaborations

In 2007 she releases Nine Lime Avenue, an album named after her childhood street and recorded in Melbourne. It reaches number five in the ARIA charts and goes Platinum. The same year she appears on the sixth season of Dancing With the Stars and is crowned champion. She later tours the album nationally with her dance partner John-Paul Collins.

In 2008 she releases So Much Beauty. Another album, Bittersweet, is recorded live over one month with Mark Isham, Alan Pasqua, Tom Warrington and Peter Erskine. It draws on songs from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, especially bittersweet love songs, and continues her work in jazz-leaning material.

Recognition and media work

Ceberano is described as a multiple ARIA Award winner and a Grammy Award winner. She has five Platinum albums, four Gold albums and more than one million album sales in Australia, and the biography also states that she has released 17 albums. She is nominated for ARIA Awards seven times in total.

Outside music, she appears on television in Dancing with the Stars, It Takes Two and Who Do You Think You Are, hosts Kate & Friends, acts in feature films, and serves as Victorian Ambassador for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. She also balances her career with motherhood.

Related projects

Other listed projects under her name include Kate Ceberano & Her Septet, Kate Ceberano and Her Sextet, and Kate Ceberano and the Ministry of Fun.