Dan Sultan

Sultan is a Arrente/Gurindji man.^[1]

Sultan started playing guitar at four and wrote his first song at ten.^[2] His mother's friend gave him an "old, clapped-out electric guitar" and, when living in Fitzroy, he began singing at local pubs.^[3] In 2000 he met Scott Wilson, a guitarist, at a Williamstown pub's karaoke night and the pair began writing tracks together.^[3] Wilson later recalled "What struck me at first was that he could play piano and guitar and he was a great foil for what I was doing... After a while playing together he said, 'Can I sing this one?' I said, 'Do you know the words?'... [he had a] mighty voice. A lot of people can play guitar... Not many can sing like that."^[4]

Sultan released his debut solo album, Homemade Biscuits on 13 March 2006, with most tracks written by Scott Wilson or co-written by Sultan and Scott Wilson.^[5] It was produced by Scott Wilson at Flowerpress Studios, Newport, and True Form Services, Spotswood.^[6] Other performers on the album were Lazare Agnekis, Neil Gray, Elijah Maiyah, Lochile McKlean and Ben Wicks.^[6] He received the financial assistance of John Butler's Seed program.^[3]

At the 2007 Deadly Awards, Sultan won the Single Release of the Year for "Your Love Is Like a Song",^[7] which was co-written with Wilson.^[5] He performed his self-written track, "Roslyn",^[5] at the National Sorry Day concert in May 2007, which describes his mother, a member of the stolen generation, removed from her family when she was six or seven.^[2][8][7]

Sultan and Wilson were invited by Paul Kelly to record a cover version of "This Land Is Mine", originally by singer-songwriter Kev Carmody, for a various artists tribute album of Carmody's work, Cannot Buy My Soul which was released in February 2007.^[9] They also performed at two concerts of the same name: the Sydney Festival in January 2008 and Queensland Music Festival in August 2009.^[10][11] In January 2008 Sultan's backing band consisted of Eugene Ball on trumpet, Ben Gillespie on trombone, Joshua Jones on bass guitar, Peter Marin on drums, Ash Naylor on guitar and Gina Woods on keyboards.^[12] Sultan and his band have performed at Australian music festivals.

In November 2009, Sultan released his second studio album, Get Out While You Can, which peaked in the ARIA Albums Chart top 100 in late May 2010 – six months after it was issued.^[13] It reached No. 1 on the independent Australian charts^[14] and was a Triple J feature album.^[15] Sultan describes his music as "country soul rock'n'roll".^[16] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 he won Best Male Artist and Best Blues & Roots Album for Get Out While You Can.^[17] In October that year, he also won Best Independent Artist and Best Independent Blues & Roots Album at the Australian Independent Record Awards (AIR Awards).^[18]

In February 2014 Sultan supported Bruce Springsteen's Melbourne and Hunter Valley gigs on his Australian tour.^[19][20]

In April 2014, Sultan released his third studio album Blackbird, which reached No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart and spent thirteen weeks in the Top 50.^[13] At the ARIA Awards in November that year Blackbird won Best Rock Album.^[17] Also in November he released his first extended play, Dirty Ground, which reached the ARIA Albums top 100.^[13] On 13 November 2015, Sultan released Open Live, a live album recorded at his sold-out National Theatre show of his Blackbird tour.

On 28 July 2017, Sultan's released his fourth studio album Killer, which was produced by Jan Skubiszewski. The album peaked at number 5 on the ARIA charts was nominated for three ARIA awards.

On 19 May 2018, Sultan released his collaborative EP titled Killer Under a Blood Moon which saw Sultan re-record songs from this Killer album with other Australian artists.^[21]

In June 2018, Sultan postponed the balance of a national tour after criticism of a live performance and issues with alcohol abuse.^[22]

In March 2019, Sultan released his fifth studio album Aviary Takes, which was preluded with the lead single "Love & Hate" released on 22 February 2019.^[23]

In April 2019, Sultan released his sixth studio and first children's album Nali & Friends.^[24] Produced by Jan Skubiszewski and released by ABC Music, Nali & Friends debuted at #1 on the Australian iTunes Children's charts, and was named Best Children's Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2019.

Sultan published his first children's book, Nali (co-written with Rhys Graham), in December 2019.

On 16 February 2023, it was confirmed that Sultan had signed with Unified Management, ahead of his single "Story", which was released on 23 February 2023.^[25]

In May 2023, Sultan announced the release of his self-titled seventh studio album, released on 18 August 2023.^[26]

Sultan made his screen debut in the 2009 feature film Bran Nue Dae,^[27] alongside Geoffrey Rush, Missy Higgins and Jessica Mauboy.^[28]

Sultan is a sometime member of Black Arm Band, a loose collection of various indigenous musicians. He was also involved in Paul Kelly's The Merri Soul Sessions project.^[29]

Sultan married Bronnie Jane Lee and has two children.^[1]

On 28 February 2020, Sultan was charged with indecent assault by Victoria Police over a September 2008 incident in Melbourne.^[30] The charges led Sultan to withdraw from performing at the Perth Festival (which he was headlining), the Port Fairy Folk Festival (both scheduled to take place the following week), and the Parrtjima Festival in Alice Springs in April 2020.^[30] The charges were dropped by Victorian police and struck out during a hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court in November 2020.^[31][1]

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".^[73]

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Sultan has won 4 awards from 18 nominations.

The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The ran from 1995 to 2013.

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.

The Music Victoria Awards, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005 (although nominee and winners are unknown from 2005 to 2012).

The National Indigenous Music Awards recognise excellence, innovation and leadership among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians from throughout Australia. They commenced in 2004.

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.

The South Australian Music Awards (previously known as the Fowler's Live Music Awards) are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary music industry. They commenced in 2012.^[100]

• Official website
• The Black Arm Band bio Archived 7 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine