Missy Higgins facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Missy Higgins
Higgins performing at Bluesfest 2022
Background information
Birth name	Melissa Morrison Higgins
Born	(1983-08-19) 19 August 1983 (age 41) Melbourne, Australia
Genres	Pop rock indie acoustic
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals piano synthesiser guitar melodica xylophone cowbell ukulele
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Eleven Reprise Warner Bros.

Missy Higgins, whose real name is Melissa Morrison Higgins, was born on August 19, 1983. She is a famous Australian singer and songwriter. Missy is known for her popular songs like "Scar", "Steer", and "Where I Stood". Many of her albums, including The Sound of White (2004), On a Clear Night (2007), and The Ol' Razzle Dazzle (2012), have reached number one in Australia. Her fourth album, Oz, came out in 2014. In 2018, she released a collection of her best songs called The Special Ones. Her latest album, The Second Act, was released in September 2024.

Missy Higgins has won many awards for her music. In 2004, she was nominated for five ARIA Music Awards and won 'Best Pop Release' for "Scar". The next year, she won five more ARIA awards, including 'Album of the Year'. She continued to win awards, including 'Best Adult Contemporary Album' in 2012 for The Ol' Razzle Dazzle.

Besides her music, Missy Higgins cares a lot about animal rights and the environment. She tries to make her concert tours carbon neutral, which means they don't add to climate change. In 2009, she also tried acting in the movie Bran Nue Dae and sang on its soundtrack.

Missy Higgins' Early Life and School

Melissa Morrison Higgins was born in Melbourne, Australia, on August 19, 1983. Her father, Christopher, was a doctor, and her mother, Margaret, ran a childcare center. Missy has an older sister, Nicola, and an older brother, David.

Missy started learning to play classical piano when she was six. Her father and brother also played. But when she was about 12, she realized she wanted to be a singer. This happened after she performed in a school play called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She found piano practice boring then and stopped playing for a while.

She wanted more freedom, so she asked her parents to send her to Geelong Grammar School. This was a boarding school where her siblings also went. At Geelong, Missy started playing the piano again. This time, she played jazz and performed with her brother David's band on weekends. Missy was naturally shy, and playing the piano helped her feel better about living at boarding school.

When she was 15, while at Geelong Grammar's Timbertop campus, she wrote a song called "All for Believing." She wrote it for a school music assignment, finishing it just hours before it was due. She got a top grade for the song and performed it for her classmates. Later, she contacted a record company in Melbourne. They told her they wanted more than one song. So, she wrote more and worked with a project called Kool Skools, which helps students record their music.

In 2001, Missy's sister Nicola secretly entered "All for Believing" into a competition. It was called Unearthed, run by radio station Triple J for new artists. Missy's song won the competition and started playing on the radio.

Missy Higgins' Music Journey

Starting Her Career

After winning the competition, two record companies were interested in Missy Higgins: Sony and Eleven. She chose to sign with Eleven. One reason was that they promised not to try and "make her into a pop star." Another reason was that they were happy for her to take time off for a backpacking trip.

Missy's manager is John Watson, who also managed the rock band Silverchair. Watson later said that he knew he wanted to sign Missy after just 90 seconds of hearing her. Missy had planned her backpacking trip with a friend for years. They spent most of 2002 traveling in Europe. While she was away, "All for Believing" started playing on a radio station in Los Angeles. This radio play got the attention of American record labels. By the end of the year, Missy had a deal with Warner Bros. to release her music internationally.

2003–2005: The Sound of White Album

Missy Higgins performing in 2005. She is seated, singing into a microphone and playing a keyboard.

In 2003, Missy Higgins opened for the bands The Waifs and george on their tours in Australia. She then went to the US to work with John Porter. He helped produce her first short album, called The Missy Higgins EP, which came out in November. It entered the top 50 on the Australian music charts in August 2004.

She toured Australia, opening for Pete Murray and John Butler Trio. Her song "Scar" was released in July 2004 and immediately went to number one in Australia. Her first full album, The Sound of White, came out in September and also went to number one. John Porter also produced this album, which sold over 500,000 copies.

Missy was nominated for five ARIA Music Awards of 2004 for "Scar." She won the award for 'Best Pop Release' at the ceremony. After this, she went on her first national tour as the main performer. Her second song, "Ten Days", was inspired by her breakup with her boyfriend before her 2002 trip to Europe. It came out in November and reached number 12 on the charts.

In January 2005, Missy performed at the WaveAid concert in Sydney. This concert raised money for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In March, Missy performed at the MTV Australia Awards and won 'Breakthrough Artist of the Year'. The next month, she released her third song, "The Special Two." It was very popular on the radio and reached number two. This song was on an EP that also included her cover of the Skyhooks song, "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good in Bed."

In May, Missy won 'Song of the Year' and 'Breakthrough' awards for "Scar" from the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). She continued touring in mid-2005. Her fourth song, "The Sound of White," was released in August. In September, she played a sold-out show in Sydney, with all the money going to charity. She was nominated for seven more ARIA awards. In October, she won 'Album of the Year', 'Best Pop Release', 'Breakthrough Artist – Album', and 'Highest Selling Album' for The Sound of White. She also won 'Best Female Artist' for "Scar." Later in 2005, she toured with fellow ARIA winner Ben Lee.

2006–2009: On a Clear Night Album

Missy Higgins performing at the Live Earth concert in Sydney, 2007. She is playing an acoustic guitar and singing into a microphone.

In 2006, Missy Higgins lived in Broome, Western Australia for six months. This time away from the music industry helped her write new songs. The beautiful landscape there made a big impression on her. She said it was the first time she felt truly connected to her country's land. This inspired her to write "Going North." She then toured the United States and South Africa, writing more songs while traveling. In September, she moved to Los Angeles to record her second album, On a Clear Night, with producer Mitchell Froom.

The song "Steer" was released as a short album (EP), and the full album followed two weeks later on April 28, 2007. Both "Steer" and On a Clear Night went to number one on their charts.

In February, Missy contributed a song to a tribute album for the famous Indigenous singer Kev Carmody. She sang "Droving Woman" with musician Paul Kelly. On July 7, she performed at the Live Earth concert in Sydney. She sang her own songs and then joined Carmody, Kelly, and John Butler for the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow." Many people said this song could have been the anthem for the whole event.

Missy returned to Los Angeles to focus on the US music market, where she was still not very well known. She toured there in September and October. On October 26, she performed with the Sydney Youth Orchestra at the Legs 11 concert. This was a benefit concert for breast cancer research. Two days later, Missy performed at the 2007 ARIAs. She won 'Best Female Artist' for On a Clear Night, which was her seventh ARIA Music Award. She spent November and December on her "For One Night Only Tour" across Australia.

On a Clear Night was released in the US on February 26, 2008, followed by a tour in March. Missy stayed in Los Angeles for ten months in 2008 to promote her songs for films and TV shows. Her first US song, "Where I Stood", was featured in popular TV series like Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill. In 2008, Missy also opened for the Indigo Girls and Ben Folds on their US tours. In early 2009, she toured the US with Canadian singer Justin Nozuka. On March 31, she released a short album in Australia called More Than This. It included her versions of songs by other artists, like "More Than This" by Roxy Music and "Moses" by Patty Griffin.

2010–2013: The Ol' Razzle Dazzle Album

Missy Higgins performing in 2012.

Missy Higgins started writing music for her third album in 2009. After about seven years of touring and recording, she took a break from the music industry to explore other interests. In 2010, she took a course in Indigenous studies at the University of Melbourne. She also made her acting debut as Annie in the 2010 film Bran Nue Dae. This movie was based on a 1990 musical, which was Australia's first Aboriginal musical. Missy said she might act again in the future, but it's not her main career goal.

In July and August 2010, Missy played several shows on Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair tour in the US. There, she met Australian musician Butterfly Boucher and they decided to work together. In 2011, Missy went to Nashville, where Boucher lived, to record her third album. Boucher and Brad Jones helped produce it. The album, called The Ol' Razzle Dazzle, was released on June 1, 2012. Its first song, "Unashamed Desire", was co-written with Boucher and came out on April 23. In November 2011, at the ARIA Music Awards, Missy performed a song called "Warwu" with Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.

The Ol' Razzle Dazzle album went straight to number one on the Australian charts in June 2012. This was Missy Higgins' third album in a row to reach number one. As of January 2019, Missy Higgins is tied with Olivia Newton-John for having the third-highest number of Australian Number One albums by an Australian female artist. Only Delta Goodrem, Kylie Minogue, and Kasey Chambers have achieved more.

2014: Oz Album

In September 2014, Missy Higgins released her fourth studio album, Oz. This album features her versions of songs by other Australian artists, like The Angels, Slim Dusty, and Paul Kelly. The album also came with a book of essays. In these essays, Missy used each song to share her thoughts on topics like music and love. She worked with Dan Sultan to record the Slim Dusty song "The Biggest Disappointment".

Missy explained in an interview that she had a hard time writing new songs after her second album. Someone suggested she record an album of cover songs back then, but she only came back to the idea when she was planning Oz.

The album was produced by Jherek Bischoff, who had worked with famous musicians like David Byrne (from Talking Heads) and Amanda Palmer.

Oz debuted at number 3 on the Australian album charts and stayed in the top five for several weeks.

Missy Higgins went on a national tour in Australia to support Oz. The tour started on September 20, 2014, in Cairns, Queensland, and ended in Melbourne in October 2014. Jherek Bischoff joined her on stage, and Australian artist Dustin Tebbutt was a special guest.

2015–2023: Solastalgia, The Special Ones and Total Control

Missy Higgins performing in 2016.

On February 19, 2016, Missy Higgins released a new song called "Oh Canada." She wrote it in response to the sad death of Alan Kurdi, a young refugee boy.

In May 2017, Missy released "Torchlight" for the Australian movie Don't Tell.

In October 2017, Missy appeared in a new version of the 1996 musical Miracle City at the Sydney Opera House. She played the role of Bonnie Mae.

In February 2018, Missy Higgins released "Futon Couch." This was the first song from her fifth studio album, Solastalgia, which came out in May 2018.

It was also announced in February 2018 that Missy Higgins would open for Ed Sheeran's tour around Australia.

In November 2018, Missy released her first album of greatest hits, called The Special Ones. She released a new song, "When the Machine Starts," in November 2020. Another song, "Edge of Something," came out in October 2021.

In October 2019, Missy Higgins' new music was featured in the Australian TV series Total Control. This music later became a mini-album, also called Total Control, which Missy announced in February 2022. It was released on March 4, 2022.

2024: The Second Act Album

On February 23, 2024, Missy Higgins released "You Should Run." This was the first song from her upcoming sixth studio album.

Missy Higgins' sixth studio album, The Second Act, is planned to be released in September 2024.

Missy Higgins' Musical Style and Influences

Missy Higgins grew up in the 1980s and 1990s listening to music her older siblings liked. Her sister listened to Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, while her brother liked Queen and Kiss. When she went to boarding school at age 13, she discovered alternative rock artists like Nirvana and Hole. She started teaching herself guitar and writing her own songs. She also began singing with her brother David's jazz band on weekends.

As an adult, she prefers artists like Nina Simone and Ray Charles over "poppy dance music." She has said that Patty Griffin, Ron Sexsmith, Rufus Wainwright, Paul Kelly, and Sarah McLachlan have influenced her music. Songs from her third album were inspired by ambient music from bands like Low and Sigur Rós.

Missy's songwriting started because she wanted to express her feelings when she was at school. Her lyrics often describe her emotions about her own life and relationships. The piano was the first instrument she learned, and she still uses it a lot. She also uses guitars often, especially when touring, because they are easy to carry. Sometimes, she plays the keytar, xylophone, and melodica during her performances.

On September 7, 2012, Missy Higgins recorded her version of Gotye's "Heart's A Mess" for a radio show. She said on the air that it was her favorite Gotye song. Missy had traveled with Gotye before and called him "an incredible singer."

In the 2020 Australian documentary film Slim and I, Missy Higgins talked about how much Australian country music legends Slim Dusty and Joy McKean influenced her. The film includes interviews and other artists covering McKean's songs, like Missy's version of The Biggest Disappointment.

Missy Higgins' Activism and Charity Work

Missy Higgins has always been very active and outspoken about many important issues. These include climate change, protecting the environment, animal welfare, supporting women, helping refugees, and Indigenous issues. These topics have often influenced her music throughout her career.

Caring for Climate and Environment

Missy Higgins has been a strong supporter of the environment for a long time. She has taken part in many environmental projects and events to raise awareness about climate change. She is currently a supporter of Green Music Australia, which uses the power of music to help create a greener planet.

From her early tours, like her On A Clear Night tour, Missy has aimed for her tours to be carbon neutral. This means trying to have no negative impact on the environment. In 2007, Billboard magazine named her one of the 'Top 10 Green Artists'. She also helped create a guide for musicians to tour in a more environmentally friendly way.

Missy has also helped with many environmental fundraising campaigns. In 2009, she made her song "Where I Stood" available for free to people who promised to reduce their carbon footprint. Missy also donated money from her 2009 song "More Than This" to the Save the Kimberley organization. This group works to protect the Kimberley Region in Western Australia from industrial development. In October 2012, Missy performed at two "Save the Kimberley" events to protest against a proposed gas refinery.

Missy was one of 21 artists who wrote music for the album 'Sounds for the Reef'. This album raised money for legal action against plans to build a large coal port near the Great Barrier Reef.

Missy also spoke out against the Adani coal mine in 2017. She wrote an open letter to politicians and helped narrate campaign videos to stop the mine.

Climate change played a big part in her 2018 album Solostalgia. The album's name comes from a feeling of sadness or distress caused by environmental changes close to home. The album also explores feelings of climate grief and anxiety.

Helping Animals

Missy Higgins has been a vegetarian for many years. She decided to do more for animal rights after reading a book about eating animals. She helped promote a 2005 advertising campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and supports their stance against fur.

In 2012, Missy voiced radio ads for Animals Australia. This campaign aimed to end the use of battery cages for egg-laying hens in Australia. Missy was also a well-known supporter of the 'Oscar's Law' campaign. This campaign, started in 2010, protests against "puppy factories" where animals are bred in poor conditions.

Missy has also performed at concerts to raise money and awareness for animal welfare. This includes starting Animal Australia's 2013 event 'Animal Matters' and performing at Melbourne Zoo's Twilights concert several times. Money from these concerts goes to conservation efforts to save threatened species.

Supporting Refugees

In 2016, Missy Higgins released "Oh Canada." She wrote it from the point of view of the father of Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old Syrian boy who drowned while his family was trying to escape to Europe. All the money from the song went to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC). Missy performed the song during an ASRC fundraising event on World Refugee Day. In 2017, Missy became an ASRC Ambassador. In 2018, she spoke on a TV show about her views on how the Australian Government treats asylum seekers.

Missy also appeared in the 2022 documentary 'Scattered People: A Song Can Take You Home'. This film featured other Australian musicians and was presented by the ASRC.

Empowering Women

Missy Higgins' album Total Control was partly about women taking charge of their lives. Songs like 'I Take It Back' were about women reclaiming their own stories and power.

In 2021, Missy appeared on an ABC TV show called Q&A. She discussed her views on how women are treated in Australian Parliament. She also gave advice to young women who want to work in the music industry.

Missy also headlined the all-female festival tour Wildflower in 2022. She performed alongside other great artists like Kate Miller-Heidke and Kasey Chambers. The festival celebrated women and the return of live music.

Missy also wants to be a strong role model for her daughter. She wants to show her how to be a strong, independent woman.

Indigenous Issues

Missy Higgins took a course in Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne. She has been a strong supporter of Indigenous Australian peoples for many years. In 2007, she joined the Oxfam Australia 'Close the Gap' campaign. She also recorded a cover of 'Droving Woman' for a tribute album to Kev Carmody, an Aboriginal Australian singer-songwriter. In 2008, Missy helped re-release the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow." The song starts with a recording from the 2008 Formal Apology to the Stolen Generations by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

When talking about the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Missy Higgins said that First Nations people have never been treated as equals. She said they have been oppressed in their own country.

Missy mentioned that her album Total Control was partly inspired by strong First Nations women she knew. She said in an interview that "Australian First Nations people have to cope with so much every day and they're still surviving in a country that refuses to acknowledge our history."

Other Charity Work

Missy Higgins has also been involved in other charity work throughout her career.

All the money from her 2015 charity show in Sydney went to the One In Five Foundation. This charity supports research into mental health.

In 2020, Missy worked with Tim Minchin on the song "Carry You" to support the Fred Hollows Foundation. This song was used in the foundation's campaign to encourage people to continue Fred Hollows's work of ending preventable blindness. She also performed the song with Minchin at a streamed charity concert. Money from the album of the same name went to Support Act, a charity for musicians in need.

In 2022, Missy Higgins was the main performer at a telethon concert for the Children's Hospital Foundation. This event raised money for medical research, equipment, and support for young patients and their families. Missy also joined the Australian Red Cross event Australia Unites: Red Cross Flood Appeal to raise money for victims of the 2022 eastern Australia floods.

Missy Higgins' Personal Life

Missy Higgins during the Second Act tour. Melbourne, December 2024.

Missy Higgins has supported several mental health charities since 2003. She has described herself as shy when she was younger. She also said she had "experienced various degrees of depression" since childhood. When she was in high school, she was given medication for depression. She learned to use her low moods to write songs, calling music her "emotional outlet." In a 2006 interview, she said her songs were "coming from more of a happier place." While recording her second album, she found a love for rock climbing, which she called a "meditative pursuit."

In 2013, Missy Higgins started a relationship with playwright and comedian Dan Lee. Missy gave birth to their son in 2015. Missy and Dan got married in March 2016, and she gave birth to their daughter in August 2018.

In early 2022, Missy Higgins and Dan Lee separated. The songs on her 2024 album The Second Act were written during and after their breakup. She talked about her career and relationships on the TV show Australian Story in August 2024.

Missy Higgins' Albums

• The Sound of White (2004)
• On a Clear Night (2007)
• The Ol' Razzle Dazzle (2012)
• Oz (2014)
• Solastalgia (2018)
• The Second Act (2024)

Missy Higgins' Film Appearances

• 2010: Bran Nue Dae as Annie
• 2014: Unity – Narrator (Documentary)

Awards and Nominations for Missy Higgins

Missy Higgins at the ARIA Awards ceremony in December 2013.

Missy Higgins has won many awards for her music. Here are some of the main ones:

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are given out every year by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Missy Higgins has won two awards.

ARIA Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are given out every year by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Missy Higgins has won eleven awards, including being added to the Hall of Fame.

EG Awards / Music Victoria Awards

The EG Awards (now called Music Victoria Awards) celebrate music from Victoria, Australia. They started in 2006.

Helpmann Awards

The Helpmann Awards celebrate live entertainment and performing arts in Australia.

J Awards

The J Awards are Australian music awards created by the radio station Triple J. They started in 2005.

MTV Australia Video Music Award

The MTV Australia Video Music Awards were given out by MTV Australia from 2005 to 2009.

Melbourne Prize for Music

The Melbourne Prize for Music is an award given to music every three years.

See also

In Spanish: Missy Higgins para niños