The Black Sorrows

The Black Sorrows continue to be one of Australia’s most successful touring bands and 2014 is shaping up to be a very busy year. After two powerful performances at Bluesfest in Byron over Easter, the band flew to Norway to play at the legendary Rockerfeller Music Hall in Oslo and then by special invitation at the Nidaros Blues Festival in Trondheim.

Scandinavia embraced Joe and The Black Sorrows in the late eighties / early nineties, where their albums, Hold On To Me and Harley & Rose were Top Ten hits. Membership in The Black Sorrows has always been loose and fluid with Camilleri being the only constant. The Sorrows ‘elastic line-up’ and has been home to over 40 talented Australian musicians at different times and acted as a launch pad for the careers of some of Australia’s most successful musicians.

In keeping with Joe’s penchant for continually moving forward, the newest version of The Black Sorrows is a formidable one – Claude Carranza (guitar/vocals), Mark Gray (bass/vocals), John McAll (keyboards/vocals) and Angus Burchall (drums).

Writer of milestone Australian songs such as So Young, Hit And Run, Shape I’m In, Hold On To Me, Harley and Rose, Chained To The Wheel, Never Let Me Go and the Chosen Ones, Camilleri has dedicated his life to making music. Leader of two of Australia’s most successful bands, Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons and The Black Sorrows, Joe’s music has become part of Australian music culture. Joe was inducted along with other members of the Falcons, into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 2007.

Over the years other greats have admired Camilleri’s songwriting. Elvis Costello and John Denver are just two who have recorded cover versions of Joe’s music.

In the mid-80s, following the success of Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons, Joe Camilleri gathered together a group of musician friends and dubbed them The Black Sorrows. The band began playing for the fun of it, recording independent albums and selling them a venues. When radio picked up the classic track, Mystified, The Black Sorrows really took flight. The band signed a worldwide deal with CBS/Sony and proceeded to release some of Australia’s most successful albums, including the multi-platinum sellers Hold On To Me, Harley & Rose and The Chosen Ones.

Since 1984, The Black Sorrows have toured Australia more times than anyone can remember, played sell out shows across Europe, won the ARIA for Best Band‚ and sold more two million albums worldwide. Joe Camilleri has shown fans and critics alike that he is a performer with an undeniable energy and love of it all.