Troye Sivan, Dean Lewis, Teskey Brothers Win Big at 2024 APRAs

Troye Sivan scooped song of the year at the 2024 APRA Music Awards, held Wednesday, May 1 at ICC Sydney.

The Australian pop artist nabbed the peer-voted category, the top honor at the APRAs, for “Rush,” co-written with Styalz Fuego, and lifted from Sivan’s third studio album Something to Give Each Other, which bowed at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart in 2023.

Fuego was on hand to receive the ring-shaped award, the final presented on the night.

“As a creative when I work with an artist that I’m already a fan of, I think like ‘don’t f— this us.’ It’s always like, I imagine this song could ruin their career. I’m so happy that with Troye we did something that people ended up loving.”

Sivan has been in sparkling form at awards ceremonies, dominating the 2023 ARIAs with four wins, and landing a Grammy nomination. Sivan (2017) and Fuego (2013) are both former recipients of the APRA breakthrough songwriter of the year category.

Meanwhile, blues act The Teskey Brothers snagged songwriter of the year, following the release of their ARIA No. 1 album The Winding Way, adding to a collection that includes ARIA Awards and a Rolling Stone Australia Award, won earlier this year for best recording. The coveted prize is decided by the APRA board of writer and publisher directors.

Singer and songwriter Dean Lewis doubled up with APRAs for “How Do I Say Goodbye,” a tear-jerker that captures his shock after learning of his dad’s cancer diagnosis. “Goodbye” won for most performed Australian work and most performed pop work, lifting his all-time APRAs tally to six. During his taped acceptance speeches, Lewis gave a shoutout to the “great Mike Taylor,” the former chief of Island Records Australia who died in January following a battle with cancer, aged 54. “Goodbye” was the last song they worked on together, Lewis explained.

Other winners on the night included grentperez, the inaugural recipient of the emerging songwriter of the year award; Parkway Drive for the inaugural most performed hard rock/heavy metal work category; ONEFOUR for most performed hip hop / rap work; Sia, landing most performed Australian work overseas for the fifth time; and Taylor Swift for international work of the year.

One of the highlights of the night was the presentation of the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music to Bart Willoughby, singer, songwriter and drummer with No Fixed Address.
Long-time friends Stephen Pigram and Don Walker of Cold Chisel did the honors.

The 2024 edition of the APRAs “was a memorable night where we honoured several first-time winners as well as established national treasures, including the extraordinary Bart Willoughby,” comments APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston.

“In recognizing the incredible talent in Australia’s music landscape, it’s important to acknowledge that as an organisation that champions gender diversity through advocacy, funding and creative opportunities, there’s more to do to address the disparity in the industry of male to women, non-binary and gender diverse award winners.” He continues, “We must continually question the absence of diversity in every facet of the industry—whether in rooms, executive offices, on stages, or across airwaves and streaming platforms—and commit to amplifying the entirety of Australia’s musical brilliance.”

Established in 1982, the Australasian Performing Right Association’s annual songwriters’ ceremony is one of the Australian music industry’s most treasured events, a worthy counterpart to Britain’s Ivor Novello Awards.