Darren Hayes born 8 May 1972Darren Hayes is an Australian singer-songwriter.
Hayes was born in Brisbane, Australia, the youngest of three children. He started performing for his mother at home from an early age. At Mabel Park High School, Hayes appeared in school musicals and school concerts before graduating in 1989.
Hayes declined an opportunity to attend a performance academy in favour of studying at the University of Queensland. He ended up deferring a degree to pursue a musical career. Hayes also met make-up artist Colby Taylor while studying at university, and the pair eventually married. They split up around 1998 and divorced in 1999.
Hayes debuted in 1996 as the frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden, whose 1997 album Savage Garden propelled them to stardom. It spawned the international hit singles I Want You, To the Moon and Back, and Truly Madly Deeply. The duo followed the success of their debut album with album Affirmation (1999), which also produced several hits such as I Knew I Loved You and The Animal Song. Savage Garden sold more than 23 million albums worldwide before parting ways in 2001.Hayes released his first solo album Spin in 2002. The album was supposed to continue the success of Savage Garden and make Hayes an even bigger star, but it failed to meet the expectations of Hayes' record company at the time, although it did sell a couple of million copies worldwide. Hayes' second solo album The Tension and the Spark marked a big change of direction for the singer-songwriter, showing him experimenting with electronica and dark, depressing lyrics. This ultimately became the reason why Hayes' record company let him go in 2006. Hayes then started his own independent record label Powdered Sugar, from which he would release his third solo album This Delicate Thing We've Made (2007). Including his work with Savage Garden, Hayes has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide
Hayes has been based in London for the past few years.
Darren Hayes entered into a civil partnership with his boyfriend of three years, Richard Cullen, on June 19, 2006 in London. In keeping with his usual practice of not talking about his sexual orientation, he did not announce the civil partnership until July 17, when the information appeared on his official website. While visiting Australia in August 2007, Darren was enraged when Richard was not recognised as his partner and was forced to enter the country under a tourist visa.He has since become an unofficial spokesman on the subject of gay marriage, still resisted by the leading Australian political parties. He also makes regular appearances on Pride stages around the world.
Darren Hayes