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After an unprecedented two years for the Aussie music industry, last night’s ARIAS was proof that things are finally on the mend…

The hotly anticipated ARIA Awards took place last night, the Aussie equivalent of the Grammy’s charging full steam ahead as countless musos across the country and world tuned in to see who had copped those sharp as fuck trophies.

Luckily, 2021’s version of the awards wasn’t as virtual as last year’s, with artists in Sydney and the respective states able to get together in person, and judging by all the IG stories we’re seeing this morning, it looks like it totally went off.

In terms of awards, Canberra MC Genesis Owusu cleaned up, copping ‘Album Of The Year,’ ‘Best Hip Hop Release’ and ‘Best Independent Release’ for his critically acclaimed LP Smiling With No Teeth. Of course, international export The Kid LAROI made his presence known as well, winning ‘Best Artist’ and ‘Best Pop Release’ for ‘Stay’ with Justin Bieber.

Performance-wise however fans were treated to an overflow of appearances, with Melbourne muso Gretta Ray, ‘Breakthrough Artist’ Budjerah and even U.S. residing RÜFÜS DU SOL all taking to the stage for renditions of their biggest hits.

It was definitely an all-star affair, contrary to how these things usually go, it was a night that properly celebrated Aussie music. Check out the full list of winners for the 2021 ARIAS below.

Best Artist

WINNER: The Kid LAROI — Stay (with Justin Bieber) (Columbia/Sony Music)

Amy Shark — Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)

Budjerah — Budjerah (EP) (Warner Music Australia)

Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)

Keith Urban — The Speed Of Now Part 1 (CAPITOL – NASHVILLE / EMI Music Australia)

Kylie Minogue — Disco (Liberator Music/Mushroom)

Masked Wolf  — Astronaut In The Ocean (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)

Ngaiire — 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)

Tones and I — Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)

Vance Joy — Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

Album Of The Year

WINNER: Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)

Amy Shark — Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)

Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators — The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)

The Avalanches — We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)

Tones and I — Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)

Best Australian Live Act

WINNER: Lime Cordiale — Relapse Tour (Chugg Music Pty Ltd)

Amy Shark — Cry Forever Tour 2021 (Wonderlick Recording Company)

Ball Park Music — The Residency (Prawn Records/ Inertia Music)

Budjerah — Budjerah 2021 Aus Tour (Warner Music Australia)

Genesis Owusu — Smiling With No Teeth Album Tour (OURNESS / AWAL)

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — Micro Tour (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard/Virgin Music)

Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators — Makarrata Live (Sony Music)

The Avalanches — The Avalanches Live (Modular / EMI Music Australia)

The Teskey Brothers — The Teskey Brothers (Headline Shows + Festivals) (IVY LEAGUE/MUSHROOM)

Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist

WINNER: Budjerah — Budjerah EP (Warner Music Australia)

Gretta Ray — Begin To Look Around (EMI Music Australia)

Masked Wolf — Astronaut In The Ocean (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)

MAY-A — Don’t Kiss Ur Friends (Arcadia Music / Sony Music)

Ngaiire — 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)

Song of the Year

WINNER: Spacey Jane — ‘Booster Seat’ (AWAL Recordings)

Amy Shark feat. Keith Urban — ‘Love Songs Ain’t For Us’ (Wonderlick Recording Company)

Dean Lewis — ‘Falling Up’ (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia)

Hooligan Hefs — ‘Send It!’ (db Music / Warner Music Australia)

Keith Urban & Pink — ‘One Too Many’ (CAPITOL – NASHVILLE / EMI Music Australia)

Masked Wolf — ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)

Sam Fischer & Demi Lovato — ‘What Other People Say’ (Sony Music)

The Kid LAROI with Miley Cyrus — ‘Without You’ (Columbia/Sony Music)

Tones and I — ‘Fly Away’ (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)

Vance Joy — ‘Missing Piece’ (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

Most Popular International Artist

WINNER: Taylor Swift — Evermore (Universal Music Australia)

Ariana Grande — Positions (Universal Records USA / Universal Music Australia)

Doja Cat — Planet Her (RCA Records / Sony Music)

Justin Bieber — Justice (Def Jam / Universal Music Australia)

Kanye West — Donda (Def Jam / Universal Music Australia)

Luke Combs — What You See Ain’t Always What You Get (Columbia Nashville / Sony Music)

Machine Gun Kelly — Tickets To My Downfall (Interscope / Universal Music Australia)

Miley Cyrus — Plastic Hearts (RCA Records / Sony Music)

Olivia Rodrigo — Sour (Geffen / Universal Music Australia)

Pop Smoke — Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon (Universal Records USA / Universal Music Australia)

Best Video

WINNER: ‘Missing Piece’ — Vance Joy, Annelise Hickey (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

’24k’ — Tkay Maidza, Nicholas Muecke (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia)

‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ — Masked Wolf, Daniele Cernera (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)

‘could cry just thinkin about you’ (Full Version) — Troye Sivan & Jesse Gohier-Fleet (EMI Music Australia)

‘Dance’ — Julia Stone, Jessie Hill (BMG/WMG)

‘First Nation’ — Midnight Oil (featuring Jessica Mauboy & Tasman Keith), Robert Hambling (Sony Music)

‘Higher’ — Budjerah, Mick Soiza (Warner Music Australia)

‘Love Songs Ain’t for Us’ — Amy Shark, James Chappell (Wonderlick Recording Company)

‘The Divine Chord’ — The Avalanches, Jonathan Zawada (Modular / EMI Music Australia)

‘Won’t Sleep’ — Tones and I, Nick Kozakis, Liam Kelly (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)

Best Dance Release

WINNER: RÜFÜS DU SOL — Alive (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music)

Cosmo’s Midnight — Yesteryear (Nite High/Sony Music)

Dom Dolla — Pump The Brakes (Sweat It Out/Warner)

Jolyon Petch — Dreams (TMRW Music)

KLP & Stace Cadet — People Happy (Medium Rare Recordings / Sony Music)

Best Hip Hop Release

WINNER: Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)

B Wise — jamie (Semi Pro Sound)

Masked Wolf — Astronaut In The Ocean (Teamwrk Records/ADA/Warner Music)

The Kid LAROI — WITHOUT YOU (Columbia/Sony Music)

Youngn Lipz — Area Baby (Biordi Music/Virgin Music)

Best Pop Release

WINNER: The Kid LAROI — Stay (with Justin Bieber) (Columbia/Sony Music)

Amy Shark — Cry Forever (Wonderlick Recording Company)

The Avalanches — We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)

Tones and I — Fly Away (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)

Vance Joy — Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group)

Best Soul/R&B Release

WINNER: Tkay Maidza — Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 3 (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia)

Budjerah — Budjerah (EP) (Warner Music Australia)

Hiatus Kaiyote — Mood Valiant (Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune)

Ngaiire — 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)

Tash Sultana — Terra Firma (Lonely Lands Records/Sony Music

Best Independent Release

WINNER: Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)

Archie Roach — The Songs Of Charcoal Lane (Bloodlines/Mushroom)

Ball Park Music — Ball Park Music (Prawn Records/ Inertia Music)

Emma Donovan & The Putbacks — Crossover (Hopestreet Recordings/The Planet Company)

Vance Joy — Missing Piece (Liberation Records/Mushroom Group

Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album

WINNER: Tropical F–k Storm — Deep States (TFS Records/Virgin Music)

Alpha Wolf — A Quiet Place To Die (Greyscale Records / Cooking Vinyl Australia)

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets — SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound What Reality? (TFS Records/Virgin Music)

Yours Truly — Self Care (UNFD/The Orchard)

A. Swayze & the Ghosts — Paid Salvation (IVY LEAGUE/MUSHROOM)

Best Rock Album

WINNER: Middle Kids — Today We’re The Greatest (EMI Music Australia)

AC/DC — Power Up (Leidseplein Presse / Sony Music)

Ball Park Music — Ball Park Music (Prawn Records/ Inertia Music)

Holy Holy — Hello My Beautiful World (Wonderlick Recording Company)

Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators — The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)

Best Blues & Roots Album

WINNER: Archie Roach — The Songs Of Charcoal Lane(Bloodlines/Mushroom)

Emma Donovan & The Putbacks — Crossover (Hopestreet Recordings/The Planet Company)

Josh Teskey & Ash Grunwald — Push The Blues Away (Ivy League/Mushroom)

Martha Marlow — Medicine Man (Independent/The Planet Company)

Ziggy Alberts  — Searching For Freedom (Commonfolk Records / The Orchard)

Best Country Album

WINNER: Troy Cassar-Daley — The World Today (Tarampa Music / Sony Music)

Brad Cox — My Mind’s Projection (Sony Music)

Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham — The Song Club (ABC Music)

Shane Nicholson — Living In Colour (Lost Highway Australia/Universal Music Australia)

The Wolfe Brothers — Kids On Cassette (BMG/WMG)

Best Adult Contemporary Album

WINNER: Crowded House — Dreamers Are Waiting (EMI Music Australia)

Big Scary — Daisy (Pieater/Inertia)

Kylie Minogue — Disco (Liberator Music/Mushroom)

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis — Carnage (Goliath / AWAL)

Odette — Herald (EMI Music Australia)

Best Jazz Album

WINNER: Mildlife — Automatic (Inertia Music / [PIAS])

Australian Art Orchestra, Reuben Lewis, Tariro Mavondo & Peter Knight — Closed Beginnings (AAO Recordings/The Planet Company)

Kristen Beradi, Sean Foran & Rafael Karlen — Haven (Earshift Music / The Planet Company)

Petra Haden & The Nick Haywood Quintet — Songs from my Father (ABC Jazz / Universal)

Vazesh — The Sacred Key (Earshift Music / The Planet Company)

Best Group

WINNER: RÜFÜS DU SOL — ‘Alive’ (Rose Avenue Records/Reprise/Warner Music)

AC/DC — Power Up (Leidseplein Presse / Sony Music)

Gang Of Youths — ‘The Angel of 8th Ave.’ (Mosy Recordings / Sony Music)

Midnight Oil & First Nations Collaborators — The Makarrata Project (Sony Music)

The Avalanches — We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)

Producer Of The Year

WINNER: Konstantin Kersting & The Rubens

Andrew Klippel, Dave Hammer

M-Phazes

Matt Corby

Robert Chater

Engineer Of The Year

WINNER: Konstantin Kersting

Chris Collins

Eric J Dubowsky

Matt Corby

Tony Espie

Best Cover Art

WINNER: Kofi Ansah & Bailey Howard for Genesis Owusu — Smiling with No Teeth (OURNESS / AWAL)

Ngaiire Joseph & Dan Segal for Ngaiire — 3 (Dot Dash Recordings / Remote Control Records)

Eben Ejdne for Odette — Herald (EMI Music Australia)

Jonathan Zawada for The Avalanches — We Will Always Love You (Modular / EMI Music Australia)

Giulia Giannini McGauran & Mitchell Eaton for Tones and I — Welcome to the Madhouse (Bad Batch Records / Sony Music)

Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album

WINNER: Angus & Julia Stone — Life Is Strange (BMG/WMG)

Antony Partos — Rams (Original Motion Picture Score) (ABC Music)

Caitlin Yeo, Maria Alfonsine, Damian de Boos-Smith — Wakefield Season One Official Soundtrack (MADBS Composing Palace)

Sia — Music Songs From And Inspired By The Motion Picture (Atlantic Records / Warner Music

Yve Blake — Fangirls (ADA/Warner Music)

Best World Music Album

WINNER: Joseph Tawadros  — Hope In An Empty City (Independent / The Planet Company)

Bob Weatherall & Halfway, with William Barton — Restless Dream (ABC Music)

Bukhu – Bukhchuluun Ganburged — The Journey (Bukhu/Distrokid)

Eishan Ensemble — Project Masnavi (Earshift Music / The Planet Company)

Kuya James — ISA (Settle Down Records / MGM Distribution)

ARIA Music Teacher Award

WINNER: Zoë Barry — Sacred Heart School, Melbourne, Victoria

Aaron Silver — Wodonga Primary School, Regional Victoria

Ashley Baxter — Pimlico State High School, Townsville, Queendsland

Daniel Wilson — Star Struck, Newcastle, NSW

Best Classical Album

WINNER: Genevieve Lacey and Marshall McGuire — Bower (ABC Classic / Universal)

Christian Li — Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Decca Records Australia/Universal Music Australia

Emily Sun & Andrea Lam — Nocturnes (ABC Classic)

Grigoryan Brothers — This is Us: A Musical Reflection of Australia (ABC Classic / Universal)

Nat Bartsch — Hope (ABC Classic / Universal)