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Darren Stanley Hayes (born 8 May , 1972 in Brisbane , Queensland , Australia ) is a Singer-songwriter . He is perhaps best known for his part in the hugely popular duo Savage Garden , whose international hit singles included the songs "I Want You," "To The Moon And Back," " I Knew I Loved You ," and " Truly Madly Deeply ." He has also released two solo albums since 2002 which have enjoyed limited success. EARLY LIFE AND CAREER Hayes was born in Brisbane in 1972, the youngest of three children. He started performing for his mother in his lounge room from an early age. At Mabel Park High School, Hayes appeared in school plays and sang at school concerts before graduating in 1989. Hayes declined an opportunity to attend a performance academy in favour of studying at the University Of Queensland . He ended up deferring a degree to pursue a musical career. Hayes also met makeup artist Colby Taylor with the pair marrying in 1994. In 1993, he answered an advertisement in a magazine placed by Daniel Jones for a lead singer for a band called "Red Edge." Hayes was successful despite his voice breaking in the audition. The group splintered apart in 1994 after failing to win a recording contract. Hayes formed a partnership with Jones which was initially going to be called Crush. However, there was another band in the UK which had the rights to the name so the pair called themselves ''Savage Garden'' after a phrase used by Anne Rice to describe the lairs of vampires in her novel '' The Vampire Lestat ''. SAVAGE GARDEN Savage Garden started recording their debut album in 1995 with producer Charles Fisher . Their first single "I Want You" released in 1996 was the best selling single by an Australian artist that year. The second single "To the Moon & Back" topped the Australian charts at the end of 1996. The third single "Truly Madly Deeply" was their second number one and was the best-selling Australian single of 1997. Their debut album, '' Savage Garden '', was the best selling album in Australia during 1997 and the duo won ten Australian Recording Industry Association awards. Hayes and his wife moved to the United States in 1997 so he could promote Savage Garden internationally while Daniel Jones stayed in Brisbane. The move proved to be successful with "Truly Madly Deeply" going to the top of the American charts in 1998. The ''Savage Garden'' album sold seven million copies in the US on the back of this success. However, Hayes and Taylor separated in 1998 and were divorced in 1999. Hayes stayed in New York City where he wrote '' Affirmation ''. Parts of the album reflected the pain from the end of the relationship. Hayes told ''Billboard'', "I just wanted to sing." ''Affirmation'' was released in 1999 and proved to be another hit with lead single "I Knew I Loved You" going to number one in both Australia and the US and the album selling six million copies by the end of 2000. The pair played the title track of the album at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics . Hayes moved to Sausalito in 2000. He and Jones had drifted apart as a result of living in different countries. Furthermore, he had become the public face of the duo doing most of the media. Hayes announced that Savage Garden had broken up in October 2001 during an ''off the record'' chat with an Australian journalist. Jones was supposedly unaware of the announcement, yet it was he who took a back seat in all promotional activities for ''Affirmation''. ''Savage Garden'' had sold over 20 million albums by that stage. SOLO CAREER Hayes recorded his first solo album, ''Spin'', which was released in 2002 . "Spin" carried on in the same musical vein as Savage Garden, with a less soft rock sound and more edgey R&B vibe, although the first single "Insatiable" was a Ballad , reaching Number 3 in Australia. Other singles "Strange Relationship," "Crush (1980 Me)" and "I Miss You" also performed well in charts. Hayes spent two years working on his second solo album, ''The Tension And The Spark''. Other than the track "I Forgive You" which was produced with Madonna collaborator Marius De Vries , the entire album was produced by Darren himself and Robert Conley (with whom he had previously toured and recorded "Crush (1980 Me)" for ''Spin''). The album marked a bold change of direction from Hayes. Conley's production was almost entirely electronic, with acoustic instruments buried under walls of sequenced sounds. Although artistically this was a huge step forward and earned Hayes the strongest praise of his career, it seemed to alienate a large portion of his audience who were expecting another album of radio friendly pop songs. The first single "Pop!ular" was released on July 12 , 2004 . This single reached Number One on the US Dance Charts, and fared well in the UK. One of his out-takes from the "Spin" sessions, "When You Say You Love Me," was an Australian top 20 single in April 2004 for Human Nature off their '' Walk The Tightrope '' album, and was also covered by American Idol Season Two runner-up Clay Aiken for his '' Measure Of A Man '' album. His follow up single, "Darkness," failed to chart, leaving "Dublin Sky" - the planned third release - in limbo. Ironically, "Dublin Sky" was considered by many to be one of the strongest and most accessible songs on the album and the most likely to be a hit. Darren Hayes is currently renovating a house in '', also includes a second new track by Darren entitled "California." Both of these tracks hark back to Hayes' early sound, although still retaining some of the electronic flourishes from "The Tension and the Spark." SOLO DISCOGRAPHY (See Savage Garden Discography for his releases as part of Savage Garden) Albums #'' Spin '' ( 2002 ) #35 US, #2 UK, #3 Australia #'' The Tension And The Spark '' ( 2004 ) #13 UK, #8 Australia Singles From ''Spin'':
From ''The Tension And The Spark'':
From ''Truly Madly Completely: The Best Of Savage Garden'' (Savage Garden album) SEE ALSO
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