Who is Vance Joy?
Vance Joy is the stage name of Australian singer-songwriter James Keogh from Melbourne, best known for the 2013 ukulele-driven hit Riptide, one of the most-streamed Australian songs ever.
Keogh played Australian rules football in the Victorian Football League before focusing on music. He took his stage name from a character in Peter Carey's novel Bliss.
Riptide was released in 2013 and topped triple j's Hottest 100 that year. It became a slow-burning international hit and has been certified many times platinum.
Touring and albums
His debut album, Dream Your Life Away, released in 2014, included Mess Is Mine and Fire and the Flood. He toured as a support act for Taylor Swift on her 1989 World Tour.
Later albums include Nation of Two, which reached number one in Australia in 2018, and In Our Own Sweet Time, released in 2022.
His gentle, upbeat songs are popular at weddings, on road trips and in advertising, and Riptide is a favourite for people learning to play the ukulele. Vance Joy has won several ARIA Awards and toured widely in North America and Europe.
Did You Know?
Riptide spent years on the ARIA singles chart, an unusually long run for any song.