Baker Boy was the big winner at the 2022 ARIA Awards, taking home five trophies including Album of the Year for his debut album Gela. The Arnhem Land musician also won Best Solo Artist, Best Hip Hop/Rap Release, Best Mixed Album and Best Cover Art.
Amyl And The Sniffers took home two awards for their latest album Comfort to Me, beating the likes of Midnight Oil and Gang Of Youths in the Best Group category and triumphing over Spacey Jane, Ball Park Music and more to win Best Rock Album. The quintuply nominated King Stingray won the Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist Award and RÜFÜS DU SOL took home Best Produced Album; their only win out of eight nominations.
Baker Boy – ‘Meditijin’ (Live At The 2022 ARIA Awards)
In the genre awards, Casey Barnes won Best Country Album, William Crighton won Best Blues & Roots Album and The Wiggles took out Best Children’s Album. Julia Jacklin’s Pre Pleasure was named Best Adult Contemporary Album, Luude’s rework of ‘Down Under’ the Best Dance/Electronic Release, and Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album went to The Chats’ Get Fucked.
For the second year in a row, the ARIA Awards ceremony did not feature Hall Of Fame inductees, instead staging tributes for some of the Australian music personalities who passed away in the course of the last 12 months.
Natalie Imbruglia, Kye, Peking Duk, and Tones And I performed a medley of hits in tribute to Olivia Newton-John, while Budjerah, Jessica Mauboy, and Thelma Plum honoured the late Archie Roach through ‘One Song’. The Seekers’ Judith Durham was honoured by way of renditions of ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’ and ‘The Carnival Is Over’ by Casey Donovan and Dami Im.
2022 ARIA Award Winners
Album of the Year
- Gela — Baker Boy
- Comfort To Me — Amyl And The Sniffers
- Angel In Realtime. — Gang Of Youths
- King Stingray — King Stingray
- Surrender — RÜFÜS DU SOL
Song of the Year
- Cloudy Day — Tones And I
- I Guess I’m In Love — Clinton Kane
- Hurtless — Dean Lewis
- Say Nothing (ft MAY-A) — Flume
- Glimpse of Us — Joji
- Dreams — Jolyon Petch (ft Reigan)
- Down Under — Luude (ft Colin Hay)
- On My Knees — RÜFÜS DU SOL
- Thousand Miles — The Kid LAROI
- Clarity — Vance Joy
Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist
- King Stingray
- Beddy Rays
- Bella Taylor Smith
- Harvey Sutherland
- Luude
Best Solo Artist
- Baker Boy
- Budjerah
- Courtney Barnett
- Daniel Johns
- Flume
- Julia Jacklin
- Ruel
- The Kid LAROI
- Thelma Plum
- Vance Joy
Best Group
- Amyl And The Sniffers
- Gang Of Youths
- King Stingray
- Midnight Oil
- RÜFÜS DU SOL
Best Australian Live Act
- The Wiggles
- Amy Shark
- Amyl And The Sniffers
- Baker Boy
- Budjerah
- Gang Of Youths
- Genesis Owusu
- Midnight Oil
- The Kid LAROI
- Thelma Plum
ARIA Music Teacher Award
- Matt Orchard — Apollo Bay P-12 College, Gadubanud Territory, VIC
- David Collins-White — Haberfield Public School, Eora Nation, NSW
- Jane Nicholas — Willandra Primary School, Noongar Land, WA
- Kath Dunn — Wollondilly Public School, Gundungurra Land, NSW
Best Independent Release
- One Song — Archie Roach
- Weirder & Weirder — Ball Park Music
- Things Take Time, Take Time — Courtney Barnett
- GTFO — Genesis Owusu
- PRE PLEASURE — Julia Jacklin
Best Soul/R&B Release
- Conversations — Budjerah
- Under These Streets — Emma Donovan & The Putbacks
- SHINE — KIAN
- City Of Angels — Vanessa Amorosi
Best Hip Hop/Rap Release
- Gela — Baker Boy
- Blak Matriarchy — Barkaa
- Family Ties — Chillinit
- MBAPPÉ (ft KAHUKX) — Day1
- Fivio Foreign & The Kid LAROI – Tokyo to Paris — The Kid LAROI
Best Pop Release
- Thousand Miles — The Kid LAROI
- Say Nothing (ft MAY-A) — Flume
- On My Knees — RÜFÜS DU SOL
- Meanjin — Thelma Plum
- Clarity — Vance Joy
Best Dance/Electronic Release
- Down Under (ft Colin Hay) — Luude
- Palaces — Flume
- Tilt — Confidence Man
- Boy — Harvey Sutherland
- Surrender — RÜFÜS DU SOL
Best Cover Art
- Gela – Baker Boy — Adnate
- How To Grow A Sunflower Underwater – Alex the Astronaut — Giulia Giannini McGauran
- Palaces – Flume — Jonathan Zawada
- King Stingray – King Stingray — Kayla Flett, Gabi Coulthurst & Dimathaya Burarrwanga
- A Colour Undone – Tasman Keith — Seshanka Samarajiwa, Zain Ayub & Tasman Keith
Best Children’s Album
- ReWiggled — The Wiggles
- Benny and Friends — Benny Time
- How to be Creative — Teeny Tiny Stevies
- Let’s Go! — The Beanies
- The Princess And The Piano — Van-Anh Nguyen
Best Adult Contemporary Album
- Pre Pleasure — Julia Jacklin
- How To Grow A Sunflower Underwater — Alex the Astronaut
- Total Control — Missy Higgins
- In Our Own Sweet Time — Vance Joy
- The Wait — Vika & Linda
Best Country Album
- Light It Up — Casey Barnes
- All Or Nothing — Adam Brand
- Living for the Highlights — Amber Lawrence
- Strength of a Queen — Andy Golledge
- In Colour — Georgia State Line
Best Blues & Roots Album
- Water and Dust — William Crighton
- Undone — Charlie Collins
- Hard Up — The Bamboos
- Live At Hamer Hall — The Teskey Brothers with Orchestra Victoria
- Thornbird — Thornbird
Best Rock Album
- Comfort To Me — Amyl And The Sniffers
- Weirder & Weirder — Ball Park Music
- Angel In Realtime. — Gang Of Youths
- King Stingray — King Stingray
- Here Comes Everybody — Spacey Jane
Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album
- Get Fucked — The Chats
- Real Rare Whale — Dune Rats
- Obsidian — Northlane
- Old Gods — Shihad
- Heroine — Thornhill
Best Classical Album
- WINNER: The Enchanted Loom: Orchestral works by Carl Vine — Melbourne Symphony Orchestra & Sir Andrew Davis
- Ross Edwards: Frog and Star Cycle/Symphonies 2 & 3 — Amy Dickson, Colin Currie, Lothar Koenigs, Yvonne Kenny, David Zinman, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Markus Stenz & Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
- Chamber Works, Vol. 2 — Lachlan Skipworth
- All of Us — Luke Howard
- Duet — Tamara-Anna Cislowska & Guests
Best Jazz Album
- Live From South Channel Island — Mildlife
- Precious Energy — Barney McAll
- Another Dance — Mike Nock, Hamish Stuart, Julien Wilson & Jonathan Zwartz
- Oaatchapai — Sam Anning
- Springtime — Springtime
Best World Music Album
- History Has A Heartbeat — Joseph Tawadros with William Barton
- Hand to Earth — Australian Art Orchestra, Daniel Wilfred, Sunny Kim, Peter Knight & Aviva Endean
- Havana Meets Kingston Part 2 — Mista Savona
- Sa — Parvyn
- Heartland — William Barton & Véronique Serret
Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album
- River (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) — Australian Chamber Orchestra & Richard Tognetti
- No Mercy, No Remorse (Original Score) — Brett Aplin
- Green Is The New Black — In Hearts Wake
- Akoni (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) — Maria Alfonsine with Itunu Pepper
- A Fire Inside (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) — Matteo Zingales
Best Video
- Every Side Of You — Vance Joy
- Apple Crumble — Lime Cordiale
- Blak Matriarchy — Barkaa
- Down Under (ft Colin Hay) — Luude
- GTFO — Genesis Owusu
- Hertz — Amyl and The Sniffers
- I Don’t Wanna Leave — RÜFÜS DU SOL
- Lydia Wears A Cross — Julia Jacklin
- Say Nothing (ft MAY-A) — Flume
- Wish You Well (ft Bernard Fanning) — Baker Boy
Most Popular International Artist
- Harry Styles
- ABBA
- Adele
- Billie Eilish
- Drake
- Ed Sheeran
- Jack Harlow
- Lil Nas X
- Post Malone
- Taylor Swift
Mix Engineer – Best Mixed Album
- Gela – Baker Boy — Pip Norman, Andrei Eremin, Dave Hammer & Michael O’Connell
- Surrender – RÜFÜS DU SOL — Cassian
- Conversations – Budjerah — Dann Hume & Eric J Dubowsky
- Palaces – Flume — Eric J Dubowsky
- Weirder & Weirder – Ball Park Music — Paul McKercher
Producer – Best Produced Album
- Surrender – RÜFÜS DU SOL — RÜFÜS DU SOL
- Comfort To Me – Amyl And The Sniffers — Amyl and the Sniffers & Dan Luscombe
- Gela – Baker Boy — Pip Norman, Rob Amoruso, Morgan Jones, Carl Dimataga, Willie Tafa, Jerome Farah & Michael O’Connell
- Things Take Time, Take Time – Courtney Barnett — Courtney Barnett & Stella Mozgawa
- Palaces – Flume — Flume
Further Reading
ARIA Responds To Gender Inequality In 2022 Awards Nominees
Darwin’s Bassinthegrass Festival Announces 2023 Lineup – The Presets, Tones and I and More
By The Pier Festival Announces 2023 Lineup: Thelma Plum, Safia, Holy Holy + More