2021 ARIA Music Awards

The 2021 ARIA Music Awards are the 35th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) and consist of a series of awards, including the 2021 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Fine Arts Awards and the ARIA Awards. The ARIA Awards ceremony occurred on 24 November 2021 in partnership with YouTube Music and streamed live on YouTube,^[1] and broadcast via 9Now.^[2][3] The main ceremony was hosted by Linda Marigliano at the Taronga Zoo.^[4]

2021 ARIA Music Awards
Date	24 November 2021
Venue	Taronga Zoo, Sydney, New South Wales
Hosted by	Linda Marigliano
Most awards	Genesis Owusu (4)
Most nominations	The Avalanches (8) Budjerah (8)
Website	ariaawards.com.au
Television/radio coverage
Network	YouTube 9Now
← 2020 · ARIA Music Awards · 2022 →

The 2021 ARIA Awards inaugurated a new category, ARIA Award for Best Artist, which replaced the categories of Best Female Artist and Best Male Artist.^[2] This change is designed to ensure that the ARIA Awards reflect and embrace equality and the true diversity of the music industry in 2021. In making this change the number of nominees for Best Artist were ten.^[5] Nominations were announced on ARIA's YouTube channel on 20 October, in a livestream hosted by Brooke Boney.^[6] Both the Avalanches and Budjerah had eight nominations, while Genesis Owusu received seven,^[7] and Amy Shark had six.^[8] Owusu won four categories.^[9] No ARIA Hall of Fame inductee was announced.^[9] At the split ceremony Boney presented a total of 18 trophies, starting with Music Teacher of the Year on Today in the morning, 16 categories at the Pre-Show (which she hosted at Taronga Zoo),^[10] and the inaugural Best Artist at the main ceremony.^[4]

Performers

Performers for the ARIA Awards ceremony:

Artist(s)	Song(s)	Ref.
The Kid Laroi	"Stay"	^[3]^[11]
Amy Shark	"Love Songs Ain't for Us"	^[12]
Rüfüs Du Sol	"Alive"	^[3]
Genesis Owusu	"Waitin' on Ya", "The Other Black Dog", "Don't Need You"	^[4]^[13]
Budjerah	"Missing You"	^[3]
Gretta Ray	"Love Me Right"	^[3]

Presenters

Presenters for the ARIA Awards ceremony:

Artist(s)	Award(s)	Ref.
Brooke Boney	Best Group Best Rock Album Best Blues & Roots Album Best Children's Album Best Classical Album Best Country Album Best Dance Release Best Jazz Album Best Adult Contemporary Album Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album Best World Music Album Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album Best Cover Art Engineer of the Year Producer of the Year Best International Artist Music Teacher of the Year Best Artist	^[4]
Linda Marigliano & Masked Wolf	Best Soul/R&B Release
Lime Cordiale	Best Independent Release
Charli XCX	Best Pop Release
Bryce Mills & Ebony Boadu	Best Hip Hop Release
Baker Boy & Peach PRC	Best Video
Troye Sivan	Song of the Year
Ed Sheeran	Breakthrough Artist
The Wiggles	Best Live Act
Vera Blue & Ruel	Album of the Year

ARIA Hall of Fame inductee

There were no inductees

Nominees and winners

The nominees were announced on 20 October 2021 with winners presented on 24 November 2021.^[7][8]

ARIA Awards

Winners indicated in boldface, with other nominees in plain.^[2][14]

Full list of nominees

Album of the Year	Best Artist
Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth Amy Shark – Cry Forever Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators – The Makarrata Project The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You Tones and I – Welcome to the Madhouse	The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber – "Stay" Amy Shark – Cry Forever Budjerah – Budjerah Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth Keith Urban – The Speed of Now Part 1 Kylie Minogue – Disco Masked Wolf – "Astronaut in the Ocean" Ngaiire – 3 Tones and I – Welcome to the Madhouse Vance Joy – "Missing Piece"
Best Group	Breakthrough Artist
Rüfüs Du Sol – "Alive" AC/DC – Power Up Gang of Youths – "The Angel of 8th Ave." Midnight Oil – The Makarrata Project The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You	Budjerah – Budjerah Gretta Ray – Begin to Look Around Masked Wolf – "Astronaut in the Ocean" May-a – Don't Kiss Ur Friends Ngaiire – 3
Best Adult Contemporary Album	Best Blues & Roots Album
Crowded House – Dreamers Are Waiting Big Scary – Daisy Kylie Minogue – Disco Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Carnage Odette – Herald	Archie Roach – The Songs of Charcoal Lane Emma Donovan & The Pushbacks – Crossover Josh Teskey & Ash Grunwald – Push the Blues Away Martha Marlow – Medicine Man Ziggy Alberts – Searching for Freedom
Best Children's Album	Best Country Album
Bluey – Bluey: The Album Amber Lawrence – The Kid's Gone Country 2: Fun for All the Family Diver City – Dance Silly The Wiggles – Lullabies With Love Various Artists – The Moon, The Mouse & The Frog: Lullabies from Northern Australia	Troy Cassar-Daley – The World Today Brad Cox – My Mind's Projection Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham – The Song Club Shane Nicholson – Living in Colour The Wolfe Brothers – Kids on Cassette
Best Dance Release	Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album
Rüfüs Du Sol – "Alive" Cosmo's Midnight – Yesteryear Dom Dolla – "Pump the Brakes" Jolyon Petch – "Dreams" KLP & Stace Cadet – "People Happy"	Tropical Fuck Storm – Deep States A. Swayze & the Ghosts – Paid Salvation Alpha Wolf – A Quiet Place to Die Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – Shyga! The Sunlight Mound Yours Truly – Self Care
Best Hip Hop Release	Best Independent Release
Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth B Wise – jamie Masked Wolf – "Astronaut in the Ocean" The Kid Laroi – "Without You" Youngn Lipz – Area Baby	Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth Archie Roach – The Songs of Charcoal Lane Ball Park Music – Ball Park Music Emma Donovan & The Pushbacks – Crossover Vance Joy – "Missing Piece"
Best Pop Release	Best Rock Album
The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber – "Stay" Amy Shark – Cry Forever The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You Tones and I – "Fly Away" Vance Joy – "Missing Piece"	Middle Kids – Today We're the Greatest AC/DC – Power Up Ball Park Music – Ball Park Music Holy Holy – Hello My Beautiful World Midnight Oil – The Makarrata Project
Best Soul/R&B Release
Tkay Maidza – Last Year Was Weird (Vol. 3) Budjerah – Budjerah Hiatus Kaiyote – Mood Valiant Jack Britten & Ngaiire – 3 Tash Sultana – Terra Firma

Public voted

Winners indicated in boldface, with other nominees in plain.^[2][14]

Song of the Year	Best Video
Spacey Jane – "Booster Seat" Amy Shark feat. Keith Urban – "Love Songs Ain't for Us" Dean Lewis – "Falling Up" Hooligan Hefs – "Send It!" Keith Urban & Pink – "One Too Many" Masked Wolf – "Astronaut in the Ocean" Sam Fischer & Demi Lovato – "What Other People Say" The Kid Laroi with Miley Cyrus – "Without You" Tones and I – "Fly Away" Vance Joy – "Missing Piece"	Annelise Hickey for Vance Joy – "Missing Piece" Nicholas Muecke for Tkay Maidza – "24k" Daniele Cernera for Masked Wolf – "Astronaut in the Ocean" Troye Sivan & Jesse Gohier-Fleet for Troye Sivan – "Could Cry Just Thinkin About You" Jesse Hill for Julia Stone – "Dance" Robert Hambling for Midnight Oil – "First Nation" Mike Soiza for Budjerah – "Higher" James Chappell for Amy Shark – "Love Songs Ain't for Us" Johnathan Zawada for The Avalanches – "The Devine Chord" Nick Kozakis, Liam Kelly, Tones and I for Tones and I – "Won't Sleep"
Best Australian Live Act	Best International Artist
Lime Cordiale – Relapse Tour Amy Shark – Cry Forever Tour 2021 Ball Park Music – Ball Park Music - The Residency Budjerah – Budjerah 2021 Aus Tour Genesis Owusu – Smiling With No Teeth Album Tour King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Micro Tour Midnight Oil – Makarrata Live The Avalanches – The Avalanches Live The Teskey Brothers – The Teskey Brothers (Headline Shows + Festivals) Thelma Plum – Homecoming Queen Tour	Taylor Swift – Evermore Ariana Grande – Positions Doja Cat – Planet Her Justin Bieber – Justice Kanye West – Donda Luke Combs – What You See Ain't Always What You Get Machine Gun Kelly – Tickets to My Downfall Miley Cyrus – Plastic Hearts Olivia Rodrigo – Sour Pop Smoke – Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
Music Teacher of the Year
Zoë Barry (Sacred Heart School, Melbourne VIC) Ashley Baxter (Pimlico State High School, Townsville QLD) Aaron Silver (Wodonga Primary School, Regional VIC) Daniel Wilson (Star Struck, Newcastle NSW)

Fine Arts Awards

Winners indicated in boldface, with other nominees in plain.^[2][14]

Best Classical Album
Genevieve Lacey & Marshall McGuire – Bower Christian Li – Vivaldi: The Four Seasons Emily Sun & Andrea Lam – Nocturnes Grigoryan Brothers – This Is Us (A Musical Reflection of Australia) Nat Bartsch – Hope
Best Jazz Album
Mildlife – Automatic Australian Art Orchestra, Reuben Lewis, Tariro Mavondo & Peter Knight – Closed Beginnings Kristen Beradi, Sean Foran & Rafael Karlen – Haven Petra Haden and the Nick Haywood Quintet – Songs from my Father Vazesh – The Sacred Key
Best World Music Album
Joseph Tawadros – Hope in an Empty City Bob Weatherall & Halfway, with William Barton – Restless Dream Bukhchuluun Ganburged – The Journey Eishan Ensemble – Project Masnavi Kuya James – ISA
Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album
Angus & Julia Stone – Life Is Strange Antony Partos – Rams (Original Motion Picture Score) Caitlin Yeo, Maria Alfonsine, Damian de Boos-Smith – Wakefield (Season One Official Soundtrack) Sia – Music – Songs from and Inspired by the Motion Picture Yve Blake – Fangirls

Artisan Awards

Winners indicated in boldface, with other nominees in plain.^[2][14]

Producer of the Year
Konstantin Kersting and The Rubens for The Rubens – 0202 and "Masterpiece" Andrew Klippel, Dave Hammer for Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth M-Phazes for Amy Shark – Cry Forever, Illy – The Space Between and Guy Sebastian – T.R.U.T.H. Matt Corby for Budjerah – Budjerah Robert Chater for The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You
Engineer of the Year
Konstantin Kersting for The Jungle Giants – Love Signs, The Rubens – 0202 and "Masterpiece" Chris Collins for Budjerah – Budjerah, Skegss – Rehearsal and Tyne-James Organ – Necessary Evil Eric J Dubowsky for The Rubens – 0202 Matt Corby for Budjerah – Budjerah Tony Espie for Kate Miller-Heidke – Child in Reverse and The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You
Best Cover Art
Kofi Ansah & Bailey Howard for Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth Ngaiire Joseph & Dan Segal for Ngaiire – 3 Eben Ejdne for Odette – Herald Jonathan Zawada for The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You Giulia Giannini McGauran & Mitchell Eaton for Tones and I – Welcome to the Madhouse

References

1. Kelly, Vivienne (15 September 2021). "2021 ARIA Awards move online as organisation promises "innovative digital show"". The Music Network. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
2. Moran, Robert (24 November 2021). "ARIA Awards 2021 winners: Genesis Owusu and the Kid Laroi break the hip-hop ceiling at Australia's top music awards". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
3. "2021 ARIA Awards: Full list of winners". MediaWeek. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
4. ARIA (24 November 2021). "2021 ARIA Awards in partnership with YouTube Music". YouTube. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
5. "2021 ARIA Awards to partner with YouTube Music for a digital show". Media Week. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
6. "2021 ARIA Awards Nominations Event in Partnership with YouTube Music Next Week". ARIA. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
7. Fowler, Bella (24 November 2021). "ARIAs 2021: Hip Hop star Genesis Owusu scoops awards after 7 nominations". news.com.au. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
8. Kelly, Vivienne (20 October 2021). "ARIA Awards nominees revealed: Amy Shark & Genesis Owusu lead the charge". The Music Network. from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021. Note: This source has Genesis Owusu and Amy Shark both receiving six nominations. Later sources have Owusu receiving seven nominations.
9. "Genesis Owusu, The Kid Laroi, Spacey Jane, RÜFÜS DU SOL big winners at the 2021 ARIA Awards in partnership with YouTube Music". Australian Recording Industry Association. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
10. McMahon, Neil (24 November 2021). "ARIAs 2021: Genesis Owusu, Budjerah, The Kid Laroi embraced as awards show displays lack of energy". The Sydney Morning Herald. from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
11. "ARIA Reveals Wild Lineup For 2021 Awards In Partnership With YouTube Music At Taronga Zoo". www.aria.com.au.
12. Bourke, Kelly (24 November 2021). "Arias 2021: Genesis Owusu, the Kid Laroi and Budjerah dominate Australia's biggest music awards | Aria awards". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
13. Gbogbo, Mawunyo (24 November 2021). "You could dub this year's awards the Hip Hop and R'n'B ARIAs". ABC News. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
14. Billy, August (24 November 2021). "2021 ARIA Awards Winners: Live Updates". MusicFeeds. Retrieved 24 November 2021.

External links

• Official website