 
Savage Garden is a two-man band hailing from
Brisbane, Australia. Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones
have already conquered their homeland with their
music, and in 1997, the duo found success all over
the world with their #1 hit, "I Want You."
While many Americans may have mistaken their sound
with the likes of Roxette,
Duran Duran or just another
British-techno-import with no face, the U.S. began to
recognize Savage Garden in 1997 as a talented
Euro-pop Australian duo prepared to save pop radio
from the likes of Hanson or the Spice Girls. Daniel and Darren met when
Daniel placed an ad in a newspaper looking for a
singer - for which Darren answered. The two musicians
played music together with other bands in Australia
when they decided to break off on their own (yet,
together) in 1994. The duo focused on songwriting and
creating a demo, and named themselves Savage Garden
from one of Anne Rice's novels (of which Darren is a
fan). Darren Hayes (born May 8, 1972 in Brisbane,
Australia) provides the lead vocals for the duo.
Daniel Jone's (born July 22, 1973 in Essex, England)
main contribution to the band is his talent for
programming and arranging the music, keyboard
playing, additional guitar and backing vocals.
Savage Garden first found success in Australia with
their hits "I Want You" and "To The
Moon And Back" from their debut LP, Savage
Garden.
"I Want You" became the biggest selling
single in Australia for the year. The song also hit
#1 (on The ARC Weekly Top 40) and hit the top spot in
Canada, Israel, and Turkey. Their second single
"To The Moon And Back" went to #1 in
Australia and was also a world-wide hit. Savage
Garden's third single "Truly Madly Deeply"
also hit #1 in Australia where it spent 8 weeks on
top, and became a Top 10 hit in the U.S. at the end
of 1997. Their LP, Savage
Garden,
spent 19 weeks at #1 in Australia.
 # 4
Singles Artist of the Year
Savage Garden hit the Top 40 with "I Want You" and the Top 10 by the end of the month.
 Savage
Garden
was released in the U.S. and the single "I Want You" was certified gold.
Savage Garden hit #1
with "I Want You" for 2 weeks.
"I Want You" gained a great deal of
additional exposure in the U.S. when Rosie O'Donnell
started playing snippets from the track on her talk
show. Savage Garden appeared on the show and sang an
acoustic version of "I Want You." The appearance introduced the
band to a larger American audience and showed that
the duo was not just another one-hit wonder, but
actually displayed some talent and personality.
 Savage
Garden
was certified gold.
Savage Garden hit the Top 40 with "To The Moon And Back."
Savage Garden hit the Top 10 with "To The Moon And Back."
The duo won 8 ARIA Awards including Best Album, Best
Debut Album, and Best Independent Release (Savage
Garden),
Best Pop Release and Highest Selling Single ("To The Moon And Back"), Band Single of the
Year and Song of the Year ("Truly Madly Deeply"), and Best Group.
Savage Garden hit the Top 40 with "Truly Madly Deeply."
Savage
Garden
was certified platinum and the single "Truly Madly Deeply" was certified gold.
Savage Garden hit the Top 10 with "Truly Madly Deeply."
 # 26
Singles Artist of the Year
Savage Garden had their first #1 on Billboard with
"Truly Madly Deeply" (which had the
unenviable distinction of knocking Elton John's "Candle In The Wind
1997" off the top) - and the song hit #1 on The ARC Weekly Top 40 by the end of
the month.
Savage
Garden
was certified 2x platinum.
Savage
Garden
was certified 3x platinum.
"Truly Madly Deeply" topped the Billboard Hot
100 Singles Airplay chart for 5 weeks and the Adult
Contemporary chart for 11 weeks.
Savage
Garden
was certified 4x platinum.
Savage Garden hit the Top 40 for a 2nd time with
"To The Moon And Back."
Savage
Garden
was certified 5x platinum.
Savage Garden's LP was the 9th biggest-selling LP in
1998 with 3.2 million copies sold in the U.S. The duo
won 2 Billboard Music Awards for Top Hot 100 Airplay
Single and Top Adult Contemporary Single ("Truly Madly Deeply"), and a World Music
Award for Best-Selling Australian Artist/Group.
Savage Garden were nominated for a Brit Award for
Best International Newcomer and a European Music
Award for Best Song ("Truly Madly Deeply").
Savage Garden topped the Billboard Year-End Charts as the Top Pop Artist -
Duo/Group (singles & albums), and with the Top
Hot 100 Airplay Track and Top Hot Adult Contemporary
Track ("Truly Madly Deeply").
 # 31
Singles Artist of the Year
Savage Garden hit the Top 40 with "The Animal Song."
Savage Garden hit the Top 10 with the hit "The Animal Song" from the film The
Other Sister.
Savage Garden were nominated for 2 Australian Music
Industry Awards (ARIAs) for Best Pop Release (which
they won) and Highest Selling Australian Single
("The
Animal Song").
Savage Garden hit the Top 40 with "I Knew I Loved You."
Savage Garden's next LP, Affirmation, was released.
Savage Garden hit the Top 10 with "I Knew I Loved You."
Affirmation was certified platinum.
"I Knew I
Loved You"
hit #1 and topped the Billboard Adult
Contemporary chart for 17 weeks.
 # 29
Singles Artist of the Year
The single "I Knew I Loved You" was certified gold and
topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks.
Savage
Garden
was certified 6x platinum and Affirmation was certified 2x platinum.
Savage Garden hit the Top 40 with "Crash & Burn."
Savage Garden appeared on the weekend version of the Today
Show concert series.
Savage Garden began a North American tour for the
summer.
Savage
Garden
was certified 7x platinum.
The video for "I Knew I Loved You" was nominated for a
Billboard Music Video Award for Best Jazz/Adult
Contemporary Clip of the Year.
Savage Garden hit the Top 40 with "Affirmation."
Savage Garden won a Billboard Music Video Award for
Best Jazz/Adult Contemporary Clip of the Year ("I Knew I Loved You").
Savage Garden topped the Billboard Year-End Charts as the Top Hot Adult
Contemporary Artist and Top Hot Adult Contemporary
Track ("I Knew I Loved You").
Savage Garden were nominated for a Brit Award for
Best International Group.
Savage Garden were nominated for a Blockbuster
Entertainment Award for Favorite Group - Pop.
Affirmation was certified 3x platinum.
Hayes could be heard on the All-Star Tribute
benefit single "What's
Going On"
(with proceeds going to AIDS and 9/11 charities).
Savage Garden officially split up after Hayes
confirmed the decision to a journalist. Apparently,
Jones was unaware of the decision until hearing the
media report himself. Hayes was promoting his
upcoming solo LP, Spin.
 Darren Hayes: # 79
Singles Artist of the Year
Hayes hit the Top 40 solo with "Insatiable."
Hayes released Spin.
Hayes could be heard on the soundtrack for Ella Enchanted on the track "Strange
Magic."
(available for download at  )
Hayes released The
Tension And The Spark overseas with the club hit
"Pop!Ular."
Savage Garden came in at # 120 on
the Top Pop Artists of the
Past 25 Years chart.
Hayes topped the Billboard Hot Dance Music Club Play
chart with "Pop!Ular."
The hits package Truly
Madly Completely: The Best Of Savage Garden was released overseas.
Hayes married his partner in a civil ceremony in
London.
Hayes released This
Delicate Thing We've Made.
June 19: Hayes married his boyfriend
in London.
| LPs |
| Savage Garden |
|
Savage
Garden
Released: April, 1997
US:
7x Platinum
Billboard peak: # 3
Tracks: "To The Moon And Back" - "I Want You" - "Truly Madly Deeply" - "Tears Of
Pearls" - "Universe" - "Carry
On Dancing" - "Violet" -
"Break Me Shake Me" - "Thousand
Words" - "Promises" - "Santa
Monica" |
|
Affirmation
Released: November, 1999
US:
3x Platinum
Billboard peak: # 6
Rolling Stone review: 
Tracks: "Affirmation" - "Hold
Me" - "I Knew I Loved You" - "The Best
Thing" - "Crash & Burn" - "Chained To
You" - "The Animal Song" - "The Lover
After Me" - "Two Beds And A Coffee
Machine" - "You Can Still Be Free"
- "Gunning Down Romance" - "I
Don't Know You Anymore" |
| Darren Hayes |
|
Spin
Released: March, 2002
Billboard peak: # 35
Tracks: "Strange Relationship" -
"Insatiable" - "Heart
Attack" - "I Miss You" -
"Creepin' Up On You" -
"Dirty" - "Crush (1980 ME)" -
"Good Enough" - "I Can't Ever Get
Enough Of You" - "Like It Or Not"
- "What You Like" - "Spin" |
| Note: Song title and position
links lead you to the song's Top 40 chart run
(from the ARC Weekly Top 40) and LP links take you to Amazon.com for that LP (often
including track listings and sound samples). |
|
|
