Dan Sultan facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Dan Sultan
Southbound Festival, Busselton, January 2011
Background information
Birth name	Daniel Leo Sultan
Born	December 1983 (age 41) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar vocals drums piano mandolin organ bass guitar percussion boomerangs
Years active	1996–present
Labels	MGM Distribution Liberation ABC Music

Daniel Leo Sultan is an Australian singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is also an actor and author. Dan Sultan has won several important music awards. For example, at the ARIA Music Awards of 2010, he won Best Male Artist. He also won Best Blues & Roots Album for his second album, Get Out While You Can.

In 2014, his album Blackbird won Best Rock Album at the ARIA Awards. This album reached number four on the Australian music charts. Later, in 2019, his first children's music album, Nali & Friends, was named Best Children's Album at the ARIA Music Awards.

Early life and musical beginnings

Dan Sultan is an Arrente and Gurindji man. He started playing guitar when he was four years old. By the age of ten, he had already written his first song. When he lived in Fitzroy, he began singing in local pubs.

In 2000, he met Scott Wilson, another guitarist. They started writing songs together. Scott Wilson was impressed by Dan's ability to play piano and guitar. He was also amazed by Dan's powerful singing voice.

Music career highlights

First album: Homemade Biscuits (2006)

Dan Sultan released his first solo album, Homemade Biscuits, in 2006. Many of the songs were written by Scott Wilson or co-written by Dan and Scott. The album received support from John Butler's Seed program.

In 2007, Dan won the Single Release of the Year award at the Deadly Awards for his song "Your Love Is Like a Song." He also performed his song "Roslyn" at the National Sorry Day concert. This song is about his mother, who was taken from her family as a child.

Dan and Scott Wilson were asked by Paul Kelly to record a song called "This Land Is Mine." This song was for a special album honoring the musician Kev Carmody. Dan Sultan and his band have performed at many Australian music festivals.

Success with Get Out While You Can (2009)

In 2009, Dan Sultan released his second album, Get Out While You Can. This album became very popular and reached the top 100 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was also a featured album on the radio station Triple J. Dan describes his music as "country soul rock'n'roll."

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010, Dan won two major awards for this album: Best Male Artist and Best Blues & Roots Album. He also won Best Independent Artist at the Australian Independent Record Awards.

Blackbird, Dirty Ground, and Killer (2014-2018)

In 2014, Dan Sultan released his third album, Blackbird. This album was a big hit, reaching number four on the ARIA Albums Chart. It stayed in the Top 50 for thirteen weeks. Later that year, Blackbird won Best Rock Album at the ARIA Awards.

He also released his first short album, called an extended play (EP), Dirty Ground, in 2014. In 2015, he released Open Live, which was a live recording of one of his concerts.

In 2017, Dan Sultan released his fourth studio album, Killer. This album reached number five on the ARIA charts. In 2018, he released a special EP called Killer Under a Blood Moon. On this EP, he re-recorded songs from his Killer album with other Australian artists.

Aviary Takes and Nali & Friends (2019-2022)

In 2019, Dan Sultan released his fifth studio album, Aviary Takes. He also released his first children's album, Nali & Friends, in April 2019. This album was produced by Jan Skubiszewski and released by ABC Music. Nali & Friends quickly became number one on the Australian iTunes Children's charts. It also won Best Children's Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2019.

Dan Sultan also wrote his first children's book, Nali, in December 2019. He co-wrote it with Rhys Graham.

New music (2023)

In 2023, Dan Sultan signed with Unified Management. He released a new song called "Story" in February 2023. In May 2023, he announced his seventh studio album, which is self-titled Dan Sultan. This album was released on August 18, 2023, and reached number 15 on the ARIA charts.

Other creative projects

Dan Sultan has also acted in films. He made his movie debut in the 2009 film Bran Nue Dae. He appeared alongside famous actors like Geoffrey Rush and singers like Missy Higgins and Jessica Mauboy.

He is also sometimes a member of the Black Arm Band, which is a group of different Indigenous musicians. Dan Sultan was also part of Paul Kelly's The Merri Soul Sessions music project.

Personal life

Dan Sultan is married to Bronnie Jane Lee, and they have two children.

Discography

Dan Sultan has released several studio albums:

Homemade Biscuits (2006)
Get Out While You Can (2009)
Blackbird (2014)
Killer (2017)
Aviary Takes (2019)
Nali & Friends (2019) - his first children's album
Dan Sultan (2023)

He has also released live albums and extended plays (EPs).

Awards and achievements

Dan Sultan has won many awards for his music. Here are some of his notable achievements:

AIR Awards

The AIR Awards celebrate independent Australian music.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2010	himself	Best Independent Artist	Won
2010	Get Out While You Can	Best Independent Blues and Roots Album	Won
2014	Blackbird	Best Independent Blues and Roots Album	Won
2017	"January 26" (with A.B. Original)	Best Independent Single/EP	Won
2024	Dan Sultan	Best Independent Blues and Roots Album or EP	Won

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards honor songwriters and composers.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2019	"Every Day My Mother's Voice" (with Paul Kelly)	Best Original Song Composed for the Screen	Won
2021	"Gadigal Land" by Midnight Oil featuring Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs & Bunna Lawrie	Song of the Year	Won

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are Australia's biggest music awards.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2010	Get Out While You Can	Best Male Artist	Won
2010	Get Out While You Can	Best Blues & Roots Album	Won
2014	Blackbird	Best Rock Album	Won
2019	Nali & Friends	Best Children's Album	Won
2023	Dan Sultan	Best Adult Contemporary Album	Won

The Deadly Awards

The Deadly Awards celebrated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievements.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2006	himself	Most Promising New Talent	Won
2007	"Your Love is Like a Song"	Single of the Year	Won
2010	himself	Artist of the Year	Won
2010	"Letter"	Single of the Year	Won

Music Victoria Awards

These awards celebrate music from Victoria, Australia.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2014	Blackbird	Best Album	Won
2014	Blackbird	Best Male Artist	Won

National Indigenous Music Awards

These awards recognize Indigenous musicians in Australia.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2014	Blackbird	Album of the Year	Won
2014	Blackbird	Cover Art of the Year	Won
2014	"The Same Man"	Song of the Year	Won
2015	himself	Artist of the Year	Won
2017	"January 26" (with A.B. Original)	Film Clip of the Year	Won
2017	"January 26" (with A.B. Original)	Song of the Year	Won
2024	Dan Sultan	Album of the Year	Won

National Live Music Awards

These awards celebrate live music in Australia.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2017	Dan Sultan	Live Blues and Roots Act of the Year	Won

Screen Music Awards

These awards recognize music created for films and TV.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2019	"Every Day My Mother's Voice" (with Paul Kelly)	Best Original Song Composed for the Screen	Won

South Australian Music Awards

These awards celebrate music in South Australia.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2017	"January 26" (A.B. Original featuring Dan Sultan)	Best Song	Won
2017	"January 26" (A.B. Original featuring Dan Sultan)	Best Video	Won

Images for kids

Dan Sultan performing in Melbourne in 2024.