This article is about the Australian singer/songwriter. For the Move and Electric Light Orchestra bassist, see Rick Price

Rick Price (born July 6 1961) is an Australian singer and songwriter.

Early life

Price was born in Beaudesert, a small country town near Brisbane, Queensland. He began playing music at the age of nine appearing with his family band "Union Beau". "It was kinda weird I guess. Up there with your Aunties and Uncles, brother and sister playing country music mixed with psychedelic rock covers!"At eighteen Price escaped to Sydney and continued working as a musician, playing bass with various inner city outfits and landing the occasional bit of studio and touring work. During the mid 80s Rick turned his focus more towards his singing. His distinctive vocals were soon in demand and in 1988 he was invited to sing "Celebration of a Nation", the theme song for Australia's Bicentennial. This opportunity helped lay the foundations for his solo career.

Price began writing his own material in the late 80s "I started getting into my own writing and my own songs and "Not A Day Goes By" (with Pam Reswick and Steve Werfel) was pretty much the first one I came up with". This single released in February 1992 received saturation radio and video play, climbing to number 5 on the national charts where it spent 20 weeks in the Australian top 100. It was the beginning of a lifelong ambition for Price, in the space of less than 12 months, he went from relative obscurity to become one of the biggest names in Australian music.

1992-1993: Release of Heaven Knows

In March 1992 the second single Heaven Knows was released in Australia. It was another top 10 hit going gold and marking Price as a singer with a truly remarkable voice. The song would go on to launch his international career. In May Price was asked to join the "Wizard of Oz" show-case in Los Angeles where he performed alongside Tina Arena amongst many other of the country's leading artists. In June, his debut album "Heaven Knows" entered the charts at number 3 and stayed in the top 100 for most of the remainder of the year.

In August 1992 Heaven Knows was released in Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Israel, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Portugal and Finland; in most of these countries the album charted. In September he toured Australia. The tour was a success with comments like "His voice was clear and as strong as on the album - in fact the sound was near perfect" - West Australian and "Rick's performance showed what a talented performer he is and that his name will be around for a long time". - Beat

Following the tour was a month long promotional trip to Europe and the UK which involved over 100 interviews and 20 TV appearances. In October he was invited back to Europe for further TV appearances and then a 3 week promotional trip to South East Asia.

In November 1992 Price returned to Australia where he won the prestigious Song of the Year Award for "Heaven Knows" at the APRA (Australian Performing Rights Association) Awards. This award recognised Rick's songwriting abilities.

In December 1992 Price was invited to Germany to perform on their biggest variety show there. He then made a 36 hour stopover in Manila where he managed six TV appearances, two radio interviews and a handful of press.

"Heaven Knows" held the top spot in Malaysia for four consecutive weeks while "Not A Day Goes By" sat just behind it in the Top 5. In The Philippines, "Heaven Knows" sat at number 1 for all of November and December. During this time the album sold over 250,000 units alone in South-East Asia. "It was an exhausting experience" says Price, "but it was stimulating at the same time. It was all new to me, going to places I'd never been and doing stuff I'd never done, so I certainly didn't get tired of it."

History: 1993-1995

In January and February 1993 Price once again toured Australia to sell-out venues. In April he was nominated for 3 ARIA Awards and on the night performed a tribute to Peter Allen "Tenterfield Saddler". Later in May he was asked to perform the song on Good Morning America who were in Australia for 2 weeks. The performance was aired to 5 million people. Later that month "Heaven Knows" was re-released and included the bonus CD "Rarities". Rick spent 2 weeks travelling the country and promoting the re-release performing in acoustic mode.

In July 1993 Heaven Knows was released in America and Canada. Back home, Price continued his touring this time in the Northern Territory and northern Queensland area which he had not previously performed in. The tour was extremely successful, with all shows being theatres and all sold out.

During October 1993 Rick performed more concerts in South East Asia which incorporated 7 shows in 9 days. They were all sell outs. The Sentosa Music Festival in Singapore saw Rick perform in front of 15,000 people. Before returning to Australia Rick visited Korea for a short promotional and concert tour.

Price once again joined the 'Wizards of Oz' show cases in Japan where the album was launched. Whilst in Japan Rick won 'Song of the Year' for "Walk Away Renee' and 'Album of the Year' for "Heaven Knows at the Australian Music Awards. On his return form Japan Rick was awarded with the 1993 Australian Export Award for recognition of his international success. During the month a new single "Where Is The Love" a duet with Australia's Margaret Urlich was released.

In December 1993 Price was invited to the Singapore Music Awards as a special guest. He picked up 'Song of the Year' for "Heaven Knows", then came back home to Australia for more touring before being invited to perform on the numerous 'Carols by Candlelight' shows around the country. The year was topped off when Rick was presented with an Advance Australia Foundation award (in recognition of making an outstanding contribution to the growth and enhancement of Australia and its people).

During 1994 Price spent the majority of time writing material for his anticipated follow up album. From September to December Rick recorded his second album in Melbourne with a host of Australia's leading musicians.

History: 1995-1997

In April 1995 the long awaited single "River of Love" was released, the first from Price's album "Tamborine Mountain" which was later released in July. "It was quite difficult", Price reveals "because I knew it was going to be a different album to "Heaven Knows". I made that album as pop as I could make it, I wanted to be certain of airplay and all those kind of things. After the first album was released, I went out and played a lot of acoustic gigs. My audience tripled and people really liked it, which surprised me because I thought it would be a bit too internal, a bit too self conscious. But it worked, which gave me a lot of encouragement and the confidence to write more like that, just simple little stories. And that's the kind of music I've always been drawn to - people like James Taylor and Carol King, great songwriters who have the ability to say something really simple".

Rawer musically then "Heaven Knows", "Tamborine Mountain" is an exploration of simple things: love, family and relationships.

"At first my songs came in the shape of love songs, but I really feel like there is another perspective. Not just sadness or happiness, but exploring lots of different kinds of emotions and relationships".

The album was produced by Price and American Ben Wisch, who Price was drawn to as a result of his production of Marc Cohn's "Walking In Memphis". "I didn't want the whole load of producing it myself, I wanted a partner to work with and Ben, being a musician as well, was the perfect choice." Special guests on the album include Tommy Emmanuel on guitar and Tina Arena on backing vocals and the duet "Trust Me This is Love".

After the success of the first single "River of Love" a second single "Bridge Building Man" was released. The song is a standout track for Rick, written for his father and grandfather. The album title itself is a reference to a small town near Beaudesert where Rick grew up. "We would go and play gigs in Tamborine, at the hotel. It was a beautiful place, a lush rainforest. It seemed an appropriate title for the album because there are a lot of stories on the album about that area and its people".

In November and December 1995 following the release of the album Price then toured with Australia's legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. The tour "Rick Price & Tommy Emmanuel - Together & Alone" was a sell-out. It received rave reviews from critics and the public alike.

In conjunction with the tour a third single "To Be With You" was released in Australia. Price performed at several Carols by Candlelight shows around the country and continued to tour during early 1996. In "You're Never Alone" a song Rick wrote for his son was released in Australia while he travelled the country on further promotional tours throughout the remainder of the year.

History: 1997-1999

In January and February 1997 Price played several shows alongside another accomplished Australian singer/songwriter Jack Jones. The shows were a huge success with the pair performing their best hits together and alone, proving yet again their abilities as live performers.

For the majority of the year Price spent his time in Los Angeles and Nashville writing material for his next album. Some of the collaborators Price worked with included Steve Werfel and Pam Reswick - Not A Day Goes By, Chains (Tina Arena); John Llynd - Simple Life (John Farnham), Crazy For You (Madonna) and Randy Goodrum, a well respected writer from Nashville. He has also written with Australia's Heather Field who co-wrote "Heaven Knows" and "River of Love" and once again has worked with Phil Buckle who co-wrote "What's Wrong With That Girl" from Rick's "Heaven Knows" album.

In November and December 1997 Price played a couple of showcases to the public with some of the new material he had been working on. During the later months of 1997 and early 1998 Price recorded his new album in Los Angeles. The album was released in Australia in 1999.

History: 2000-Present

In 2003 Price released another solo album, "A Million Miles", released on his own label "Clarice". Going back to his musical roots, he plays every instrument heard on the album.Rick has spent much of his time writing with, recording and producing for other artists such as Tamara Stewart], Lisa Chappell and David Franj.

In 2004 a Best Of CD and DVD was released, containing all of Price's bigger hits, as well as notable performances such as "Tenterfield Saddler" live at the ARIAs.

Most recently Price has been writing and recording with Mitch Grainger, who performs the opening song for the upcoming movie December Boys, "Nobody Knows My Name" which Price wrote."Revisited", an album of his greatest hits recorded in an "intimate acoustic style" was released in July 2008.

Toured Tasmania with up and coming band Invisible Boy during December 2008.

Discography

• Heaven Knows (1992)
• Heaven Knows (US Release) (1992)
• Songs From The Heart (1993)
• If You Were My Baby (Japanese Release) (1993)
• Tamborine Mountain (1995)
• Another Place (1999)
• A Million Miles (2003)
• 2 Up (With Mitch Grainger) (2007)
• Revisited (2008)

External links

• Official website
• Sony BMG listing