Triple J Hottest 100: Never Tear Us Apart by INXS voted greatest Australian tune ever | Triple J

Never Tear Us Apart by INXS has been named the most effective Australian tune of all time in Triple J’s ballot of the nation’s favorite homegrown hits.

The 1987 tune topped the Hottest 100 of Australian Songs, a spin-off of Triple J’s annual ballot of the yr’s hottest tracks. The ballot, which aired on Saturday, was open to Australian releases from any time in historical past.

Never Tear Us Apart was a worldwide hit for INXS, charting within the US, UK and Europe in addition to at house in Australia. The ballad, written by the band’s frontman, Michael Hutchence, for his then-girlfriend, reigns in a crowded discography because the group’s most unforgettable anthem, made wondrous by Hutchence’s determined, stirring vocals. INXS additionally had their observe Need You Tonight function in Saturday’s ballot, at No 59.

The Hilltop Hoods got here second within the ballot with their 2013 single The Nosebleed Section. The hip-hop observe was a ten instances platinum-selling hit in Australia and continues to be one of many highest-selling homegrown singles of all time.

The prime 5 was rounded out by The Veronica’s Untouched in third, Missy Higgins’s breakthrough hit Scar in fourth and Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over in fifth. The latter was one in all three appearances within the ballot from the band, which shaped in Melbourne however whose frontman, Neil Finn, was born and raised in New Zealand, a heritage that has sparked a decades-long debate about which nation will get to say the rock group.

While the highest 10 spanned tracks from the Nineteen Seventies, 80s and 90s, the 2000s had extra songs total within the ballot than every other decade. The prime 10 additionally included two tracks from Cold Chisel – Flame Trees and Khe Sanh – in addition to Powderfinger’s My Happiness, Paul Kelly’s Christmas basic, How To Make Gravy, and Gotye and Kimbra’s chart-topping collaboration Somebody That I Used to Know.

Double J introduced The Hottest 100 of Australian songs within the wake of January’s Hottest 100, which featured simply 29 songs from Australian acts. That’s a poor displaying in contrast with earlier years, when homegrown acts have sometimes made up greater than 50% of the songs within the countdown – and an uncomfortable end result for a station that’s government-mandated to help Australian music.

Lachlan Macara, the top of Triple J, promised on the time that the station had “some big things cooking on how we can remind people about the unique cultural worth of Australian music”. He attributed the 2025 ballot’s lack of native acts partly to a altering music trade, through which social media and streaming platforms are more and more vital for music discovery, however might be powerful to crack.

“What I hear from Australian artists is that it can be a real challenge to cut through the algorithm,” he stated. “But we’ll keep playing our part in supporting Australian artists and try to give them a chance to reach the wide audiences they deserve … I think there’s a chance to have a wider conversation about how we can all support Australian music.”

The Hottest 100 of Australian Songs has confirmed a giant success for the station. Triple J counted greater than 2.65m votes for the ballot, greater than any of the final 4 years of the annual tune ballot obtained. According to Triple J, it’s the fourth-biggest Hottest 100 they’ve run. While it was a social media hit with millennial and Gen X Australians – with many posting their votes on Instagram – Double J revealed that 18 to 29-year-olds had been nonetheless the most well-liked voters.

One Australian artist not placated by the particular version ballot was Ben Lee, who posted on Instagram that yearly of the Hottest 100 ought to be local-only.

“I can’t help but feel that this initiative — the Hottest 100 of Australian songs — is a bit of a band-aid for a deeper conversation we need to be having about what role Triple J need to be playing in Australian music culture, and fostering new Australian talent,” he stated in a video submit.

“I reckon in the Hottest 100 every year, it should only be eligible to vote for Australian songs. There’s enough platforms around the world for international music.”

Lee’s 1999 observe Cigarettes Will Kill You positioned at No 83 in Saturday’s ballot.

One of the numerous Australians to publicly reveal their votes was the nation’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, whose listing included Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning, a 1986 protest observe about Aboriginal land rights, and songs from Spiderbait, You Am I and The Go-Betweens.

Albanese ought to be happy to listen to that Beds Are Burning landed at No 18. How To Make Gravy was additionally amongst his picks, whereas one other of his favorite tracks, The Angels’ Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, positioned at No 12.