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Savage Garden Information
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'Savage Garden' were an Australian pop duo that enjoyed tremendous international success over the course of several years. The band comprised Darren Hayes (vocals) and Daniel Jones (keyboards, sequencing, guitar).
Formation
In 1993, multi-instrumentalist and producer Daniel Jones placed an advertisement in the local Time Off newspaper in Brisbane, Australia seeking a vocalist for his five-piece band "Red Edge". Darren Hayes, who previously had been a kindergarten teacher, responded and was immediately asked to join.
In June 1994, Darren and Daniel left Red Edge to pursue a career together. The new duo was named Savage Garden - a name taken from The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice (The mind of each man is a Savage Garden) of which Darren is a fan.
By the end of that year, the pair had penned enough songs for a demo tape, which they sent to various record companies around the world. In 1995 they entered the studio to work on their eponymous debut album.
Debut
In July of 1996, under Roadshow Music, the duo released their debut single I Want You. The single was a enormous hit in Australia and become the highest selling single of the year. The success of the single garnered much interest from many US record labels, and in September, Columbia Records won the bidding war to sign the band. In November, a second single, To The Moon And Back was released and again was a huge chart hit, reaching #1 in January of the following year.
I Want You was released in the US in February 1997, where it peaked at #4 and quickly achieved gold status. Truly, Madly, Deeply, the bands third Australian single was released in March and skyrocketed to #1 just before I Want You was released across Europe in April while at the same time the duos debut album "Savage Garden" debuted at #1 in Australia and remained at the peak for 17 weeks, 2 weeks later it was released around the world. At the end of May, To The Moon And Back was the most played song on US radio.
In June a fourth single, Break Me, Shake Me was released in Australia as the band's debut album sat at #3 on the US charts and was certified Gold by the RIAA. By the end of August the album was 7x Platinum in Australia, 3x in Canada and 2x in New Zealand and Singapore. At the end of August, Savage Garden were nominated for a record 13 ARIA Awards of which they won 10 in September. A fifth single, Universe was released at the same time.
In November, Truly, Madly, Deeply was released in the US and knocked Elton Johns "Candle In The Wind 1997" from its 14 week run at the #1 spot. By the end of 1997, Darren and Daniel became international stars.
As of 2005, the bands debut has been certified 12x Platinum in Australia, 6x Platinum in the USA and 2x Platinum in the UK.
Affirmation
In January 1998 All Around Me, a sixth single, was released just as the band kicked off their worldwide tour in Cairns, Australia. By the end of the year Truly, Madly, Deeply became the most played song on US radio and the only one-sided single to spend a full year in the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100.
In February 1999 the first single, The Animal Song from the sophomore album was released and became a hit in Australia and the US. A second single, I Knew I Loved You was released in September where it rapidly went platinum and hit #4 on the charts.
In November of that year, the duos second album "Affirmation" was released around the world. It took but a month for it to go platinum in the US, largely due to the success of the single I Knew I Loved You which was the most played single on US radio for the year.
The group finished the year by winning the Billboard Music Award for Adult Contemporary Single of the Year and for Hot 100 Singles Airplay of the Year.
In February 2000 the third single from their second album, Crash And Burn was released as "Truly, Madly, Deeply" broke the record for length of time for any single on the Monitor/Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay Chart. (it finally dropped off the chart after an incredible 123 weeks).
In June, Darren Hayes performed O Sole Mio with Italian tenor Luciano Pavarottis annual charitable benefit concert "Pavarotti and Friends". The band had great success once again at the Billboard Music Awards, winning Best AC Video and #1 AC Song of the Year for I Knew I Loved You" and #1 AC Artist of the Year.
The single I Knew I Loved You stayed on the Monitor/Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay Chart for an unbelievable 124 weeks overtaking the duos own record previous set by the single Truly, Madly Deeply.
The Split
In October 2001, Savage Garden officially announced their break up and the duo went their separate ways. Darren began work on his first solo album, the first single "Insatiable was released in 2002 and the album, entitled "Spin" was released the same year.
Darrens second solo album "The Tension And The Spark", was released in 2004 with the first single "Pop!ular" becoming a dance hit.
In September 2005 the announcement was made that the greatest hits package, "Truly Madly Completely: The Best Of Savage Garden" was to be released November 7th. The collection contains the hits from both studio albums, alongside 5 B-Sides and 2 new songs by Darren Hayes.
Although the two were together for a short span of time, Darren and Daniel sold over 23 million records around the world together and cemented Savage Garden as one of the most successful music duos in popular music history.
Discography
Albums
* Savage Garden (1997) #3 US, #2 UK, '#1' Australia
* Savage Garden + The Future Of Earthly Delites Bonus Remix Disc (2 CD) (1998)
* Affirmation (1999) #6 US, #7 UK, '#1' Australia
* Truly Madly Completely: The Best Of Savage Garden (2005)
Singles
* "I Want You" (1996) #4 US, #11 UK, #4 Australia
* "To the Moon and Back" (1996) #24 US, #3 UK, #1 Australia
* "Truly Madly Deeply" (1997) '#1' (2 weeks) US, #4 UK, #1 Australia
* "Break Me Shake Me" (1997) #7 Australia
* "Universe" (1997) #26 Australia
* "I Want You '98" (1998) #12 UK
* "The Animal Song" (1999) #19 US, #16 UK, #3 Australia
* "I Knew I Loved You" (1999) '#1' (4 weeks) US, #10 UK, #4 Australia
* "Affirmation" (2000) #8 UK, #16 Australia
* "Crash & Burn" (2000) #24 US, #14 UK, #16 Australia
* "Chained To You" (2000) #21 Australia
* "Hold Me" (2000) #51 Australia #16 UK
* "The Best Thing" (2001) #35 UK
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