Kate Ceberano

After the demise of hit pop group I'm Talking, Kate Ceberano revealed herself as one of the most versatile and durable female singers in Australian music.

She was born in 1967, the youngest of four children of a Filipino father and an Australian mother. She sees herself as the arch typical Australian, a creature of many cultures. Part of that background was music - growing up, the Ceberanos were encouraged to sing and play instruments - but for Kate the turning point would be a Commodores concert in Melbourne, when the young girl was pulled up on stage. From that moment on she wanted to get back up on that strage.

Kate gave her first professional performance at 14, on TV's 'Search For The Star'. It was her aunt's idea. Kate lied and said she was 16 to get on the show and won. Problem was that her prize was a two week residency at a hotel she was too young to be allowed in. At 15 she fronted her first band, Expose, with a group of local Balwyn boys. They entered and won a Battle Of The Bands contest. From Expose she went to The Hoagie Cats. They kicked her out when she got a Mohican haircut, so she went solo. While performing on Melbourne's club circuit an ex-boyfriend introduced her one of the musicians with whom she would form the funk pop group I'm Talking in 1983.

After I'm Talking folded in 1987, Kate didn't go straight back to pop. Her first 'solo' album, was a live jazz flavoured record performed by Kate Ceberano And Her Septet. That same year she shared with Wendy Matthews the soundtrack to the ABC-TV drama series, 'Stringer' with the album 'You've Always Got The Blues', a combination of classic torch songs and new songs in the same style. And only then, having shown her versatility, did Kate Ceberano return to 'pop'.

The 'Brave' album had a difficult birth. After attempting to record the album in London, Kate scrapped the sessions and returned to Australia to start over. It was worth the trouble. 'Brave' gave rise to four hit singles, went three times platinum, was the first album by an Australian female to reach the national No.1 spot, and won Kate Best Female Artist at the ARIA Awards. 'Brave' was released in the UK and US. The follow-up album 'Like Now' perversely returned her to sophisticated jazz, the group now, minus one member, the Sextet instead of the Septet.

In 1991 Kate moved to New York to record her fourth album, 'Think About It' with celebrated hip hop remixer Arthur Baker. On her return to Australia she took the role of Mary Magdelene alongside John Farnham in the concert version of Jesus Christ Superstar in a sell-out run which ended up playing in front of a million Australians and resulted in another No.1 album. Kate was offered her own ABC-TV show, performances from which comprised her next album 'Kate Ceberano And Friends'. At the end of 1993 she returned to New York to record a cutting edge pop record with Scitti Politti member Fred Maher producing. A week after the album's planned release in the US she was dropped by her American record company. The album was remixed and partly re-recorded and was released in Australia under the title 'Blue Box'. Originally it was called 'Globe'.

In February 1996 Kate married film producer/director Lee Rogers. took the lead role in his film 'Dust Off The Wings' and then took time out to enjoy her new married life before returning as a brassy pop diva with the single and album 'Pash'.

The years that followed were representative of a performer of diverse talents as Kate's - appearances in film, a brief stint with Los Angeles improv group group the Really Spontaneous Theatre, and television as a judge in the Australian version of X-Factor and winning Dancing With The Stars. The latter propelled Kate's covers album 'Nine Lime Avenue' into the top ten. He susequent tour saw her feature her Dancin g With The Stars dance partner.