ARIA Award for Single of the Year
The ARIA Music Award for Single of the Year/Song of the Year, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association, an organisation whose aim is "to advance the interests of the Australian record industry."
Initially, the award was given to an Australian group or solo artist who have had a single or an extended play appear in the ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart between the eligibility period, and was voted for by a judging academy, which consists of 1000 members from different areas of the music industry. Artists which have won the award twice are Silverchair, Kylie Minogue, and Powderfinger.
From 2012, onwards the winner has instead been determined by the general public. The nominees are chosen based on the top ten highest selling Australian single releases, based on ARIA chart sales statistics, during the eligibility period. The song can be an album track which has subsequently been released as a single. The artist can only receive one nomination in this category, even if the artist has multiple songs in the ARIA top ten. The public votes are tallied by ARIA, with the winner announced at the awards ceremony.
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the winner is highlighted in a separate colour, and in boldface; the nominees are those that are not highlighted or in boldface.Single of the Year
Year | Winner | Single Title |
1987 | - | - |
1987 | John Farnham | "You're the Voice" |
1987 | Crowded House | "Don't Dream It's Over" |
1987 | Hunters & Collectors | "Everything's On Fire" |
1987 | INXS & Jimmy Barnes | "Good Times" |
1987 | Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls | "Before Too Long" |
1988 | Midnight Oil | "Beds Are Burning" |
1989 | - | - |
1989 | The Church | "Under the Milky Way" |
1989 | 1927 | "That's When I Think of You" |
1989 | Crowded House | "Better Be Home Soon" |
1989 | John Farnham | "Age of Reason" |
1989 | INXS | "Never Tear Us Apart" |
1990 | - | - |
1990 | Peter Blakeley | "Crying in the Chapel" |
1990 | Hunters & Collectors | "When The River Runs Dry" |
1990 | Ian Moss | "Tucker's Daughter" |
1990 | Max Q | "Way Of The World" |
1990 | The Black Sorrows | "Chained to the Wheel" |
1991 | - | - |
1991 | Absent Friends | "I Don't Wanna Be With Nobody But You" |
1991 | Divinyls | "I Touch Myself" |
1991 | John Farnham | "That's Freedom" |
1991 | Hunters and Collectors | "Throw Your Arms Around Me" |
1991 | Midnight Oil | "Blue Sky Mine" |
1992 | - | - |
1992 | Yothu Yindi | "Treaty " |
1992 | Baby Animals | "Early Warning" |
1992 | Daryl Braithwaite | "The Horses" |
1992 | Deborah Conway | "It's Only the Beginning" |
1992 | Jimmy Barnes and John Farnham | "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" |
1993 | - | - |
1993 | Wendy Matthews | "The Day You Went Away" |
1993 | Baby Animals | "One Word" |
1993 | Crowded House | "Weather with You" |
1993 | Diesel | "Tip of My Tongue" |
1993 | Weddings Parties Anything | "Fathers Day" |
1994 | - | - |
1994 | The Cruel Sea | "The Honeymoon Is Over" |
1994 | The Badloves | "Lost" |
1994 | Crowded House | "Distant Sun" |
1994 | Diesel | "Never Miss Your Water" |
1994 | Jimmy Barnes | "Stone Cold" |
1995 | - | - |
1995 | Silverchair | "Tomorrow" |
1995 | Tina Arena | "Chains" |
1995 | Max Sharam | "Coma" |
1995 | Merril Bainbridge | "Mouth" |
1995 | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | "Do You Love Me?" |
1996 | - | - |
1996 | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Kylie Minogue | "Where the Wild Roses Grow" |
1996 | Ammonia | "Drugs" |
1996 | Powderfinger | "Pick You Up" |
1996 | Tina Arena | "Wasn't It Good" |
1996 | You Am I | "Mr. Milk" |
1997 | - | - |
1997 | Savage Garden | "Truly Madly Deeply" |
1997 | Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds | "Into My Arms" |
1997 | Leonardo's Bride | "Even When I'm Sleeping" |
1997 | Powderfinger | "D.A.F." |
1997 | Spiderbait | "Buy Me a Pony" |
1998 | - | - |
1998 | Natalie Imbruglia | "Torn" |
1998 | Kylie Minogue | "Did It Again" |
1998 | The Living End | "Second Solution / Prisoner of Society" |
1998 | The Mavis's | "Cry" |
1998 | The Whitlams | "No Aphrodisiac" |
1999 | - | - |
1999 | Powderfinger | "The Day You Come" |
1999 | Ben Lee | "Cigarettes Will Kill You" |
1999 | Josh Abrahams | "Addicted to Bass" |
1999 | Silverchair | "Ana's Song " |
1999 | Regurgitator | "! " |
2000 | - | - |
2000 | Madison Avenue | "Don't Call Me Baby" |
2000 | 28 Days | "Rip It Up" |
2000 | Kasey Chambers | "The Captain" |
2000 | Killing Heidi | "Mascara" |
2000 | Powderfinger | "Passenger" |
2001 | - | - |
2001 | Powderfinger | "My Happiness" |
2001 | The Avalanches | "Frontier Psychiatrist" |
2001 | Kylie Minogue | "On a Night Like This" |
2001 | Something for Kate | "Monsters" |
2001 | You Am I | "Damage" |
2002 | - | - |
2002 | Kylie Minogue | "Can't Get You Out of My Head" |
2002 | Alex Lloyd | "Amazing" |
2002 | Grinspoon | "Chemical Heart" |
2002 | Kasey Chambers | "Not Pretty Enough" |
2002 | The Vines | "Get Free" |
2003 | - | - |
2003 | Delta Goodrem | "Born to Try" |
2003 | Amiel | "Lovesong" |
2003 | Powderfinger | " On My Mind" |
2003 | Silverchair | "Luv Your Life" |
2003 | The Waifs | "Lighthouse" |
2004 | - | - |
2004 | Jet | "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" |
2004 | Missy Higgins | "Scar" |
2004 | Eskimo Joe | "From the Sea" |
2004 | Pete Murray | "So Beautiful" |
2004 | The John Butler Trio | "Zebra" |
2005 | - | - |
2005 | Ben Lee | "Catch My Disease" |
2005 | Evermore | "For One Day" |
2005 | Missy Higgins | "The Special Two" |
2005 | Thirsty Merc | "Someday, Someday" |
2005 | Wolfmother | "Woman" |
2006 | - | - |
2006 | Eskimo Joe | "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" |
2006 | Augie March | "One Crowded Hour" |
2006 | Bernard Fanning | "Watch Over Me" |
2006 | Wolfmother | "Mind's Eye" |
2006 | Youth Group | "Forever Young" |
2007 | - | - |
2007 | Silverchair | "Straight Lines" |
2007 | Architecture In Helsinki | "Heart It Races" |
2007 | The John Butler Trio | "Funky Tonight" |
2007 | Powderfinger | "Lost and Running" |
2007 | Sneaky Sound System | "UFO" |
2007 | Wolfmother | "Joker & the Thief" |
2008 | - | - |
2008 | Gabriella Cilmi | "Sweet About Me" |
2008 | Faker | "This Heart Attack" |
2008 | The Presets | "My People" |
2008 | The Living End | "White Noise" |
2008 | Sam Sparro | "Black and Gold" |
2009 | - | - |
2009 | Empire of the Sun | "Walking on a Dream" |
2009 | Hilltop Hoods | "Chase That Feeling" |
2009 | Kate Miller-Heidke | "The Last Day on Earth" |
2009 | Ladyhawke | "My Delirium" |
2009 | The Temper Trap | "Sweet Disposition" |
2010 | - | - |
2010 | Angus & Julia Stone | "Big Jet Plane" |
2010 | Birds of Tokyo | "Plans" |
2010 | Sia | "Clap Your Hands" |
2010 | The Temper Trap | "Love Lost" |
2010 | Washington | "How to Tame Lions" |
2011 | - | - |
2011 | Gotye featuring Kimbra | "Somebody That I Used to Know" |
2011 | Birds of Tokyo | "Wild at Heart" |
2011 | Boy & Bear | "Feeding Line" |
2011 | Drapht | "Rapunzel" |
2011 | Guy Sebastian featuring Eve | "Who's That Girl" |
2011 | The Jezabels | "Dark Storm" |
Song of the Year
Year | Winner | Song title |
2012 | - | - |
2012 | Matt Corby | "Brother" |
2012 | 360 featuring Gossling | "Boys like You" |
2012 | Delta Goodrem | "Sitting on Top of the World" |
2012 | Guy Sebastian | "Don't Worry Be Happy" |
2012 | Hilltop Hoods featuring Sia | "I Love It" |
2012 | Jessica Mauboy featuring Stan Walker | "Galaxy" |
2012 | Justice Crew | "Boom Boom" |
2012 | Reece Mastin | "Good Night" |
2012 | Ricki-Lee | "Do It Like That" |
2012 | Timomatic | "Set It Off" |
2013 | - | - |
2013 | Matt Corby | "Resolution" |
2013 | Birds of Tokyo | "Lanterns" |
2013 | Bombs Away featuring The Twins | "Party Bass" |
2013 | Flume | "Holdin On" |
2013 | Guy Sebastian | "Get Along" |
2013 | Justice Crew | "Best Night" |
2013 | Samantha Jade | "What You've Done to Me" |
2013 | Stafford Brothers | "Hello" |
2013 | Timomatic | "Parachute" |
2013 | Vance Joy | "Riptide" |
2014 | - | - |
2014 | 5 Seconds of Summer | "She Looks So Perfect" |
2014 | Guy Sebastian | "Like a Drum" |
2014 | Havana Brown | "Warrior" |
2014 | Iggy Azalea | "Fancy" |
2014 | Joel Fletcher | "Swing" |
2014 | Justice Crew | "Que Sera" |
2014 | Nathaniel | "You" |
2014 | Sheppard | "Geronimo" |
2014 | Sia | "Chandelier" |
2014 | Taylor Henderson | "Borrow My Heart" |
2015 | - | - |
2015 | Conrad Sewell | "Start Again" |
2015 | Grace | "You Don't Own Me" |
2015 | Iggy Azalea | "Trouble" |
2015 | Jarryd James | "Do You Remember" |
2015 | Marlisa | "Stand by You" |
2015 | Nathaniel | "Live Louder" |
2015 | Peking Duk | "Take Me Over" |
2015 | Sia | "Elastic Heart" |
2015 | The Veronicas | "You Ruin Me" |
2015 | Vance Joy | "Georgia" |
2016 | - | - |
2016 | Troye Sivan | "Youth" |
2016 | Flume | "Never Be Like You" |
2016 | Hilltop Hoods | "1955" |
2016 | Illy | "Papercuts" |
2016 | Kungs vs. Cookin' on 3 Burners | "This Girl" |
2016 | Keith Urban | "This Fighter" |
2016 | L D R U | "Keeping Score" |
2016 | Marcus Marr & Chet Faker | "The Trouble with Us" |
2016 | Sia | "Cheap Thrills" |
2016 | The Veronicas | "In My Blood" |
2017 | - | - |
2017 | Peking Duk | "Stranger" |
2017 | Amy Shark | "Adore" |
2017 | Bliss n Eso | "Moments" |
2017 | Dean Lewis | "Waves" |
2017 | Guy Sebastian | "Set in Stone" |
2017 | Illy | "Catch 22" |
2017 | Jessica Mauboy | "Fallin’" |
2017 | Pnau | "Chameleon" |
2017 | Sia | "The Greatest" |
2017 | Starley | "Call on Me" |
2018 | - | - |
2018 | 5 Seconds of Summer | "Youngblood" |
2018 | Amy Shark | "I Said Hi" |
2018 | Angus & Julia Stone | "Chateau" |
2018 | Conrad Sewell | "Healing Hands" |
2018 | Dean Lewis | "Be Alright" |
2018 | Peking Duk | "Fire/Reprisal" |
2018 | Pnau | "Go Bang" |
2018 | Sheppard | "Coming Home" |
2018 | Troye Sivan | "My My My!" |
2018 | Vance Joy | "Lay It on Me" |
2019 | - | - |
2019 | Guy Sebastian | "Choir" |
2019 | 5 Seconds of Summer | "Easier" |
2019 | Amy Shark | "Mess Her Up" |
2019 | Birds of Tokyo | "Good Lord" |
2019 | Dean Lewis | "7 Minutes" |
2019 | Hilltop Hoods | "Leave Me Lonely" |
2019 | Kian | "Waiting" |
2019 | Morgan Evans | "Day Drunk" |
2019 | Ocean Alley | "Confidence" |
2019 | Tones and I | "Dance Monkey" |