Casey Barnes

Casey Barnes is an Australian country rock singer-songwriter from Tasmania, Australia, who is best known as a contestant on the seventh season of Australian Idol in 2009. Barnes won the ARIA Award for Best Country Album in 2022. Barnes has played alongside Bryan Adams, Diesel, Mariah Carey and Lady A. Barnes was born in Tasmania and spent the early years of his life there before moving to the Gold Coast as a teenager. Along with music, he developed a passion for Australian rules football in his younger years and played in the 1999 QAFL reserves premiership winning team for the Southport Sharks alongside future AFL superstar Nick Riewoldt. He decided to quit football in his early twenties to focus on music and began performing in local venues around the Gold Coast in the early 2000s. Two of his cousins, Lachie Weller and Maverick Weller, are professional footballers who played for the Gold Coast Suns. In 2004, Barnes, who had been performing around the country for a few years, recorded his first album, titled Say What You Feel. Barnes was selected to open for Bryan Adams on his 2005 tour for A Day On the Green. Following his set, the demand for his independently released album at the merchandising tent was overwhelming, with over 200 copies selling out. In April 2006, Barnes released "What The Hell Are You Waiting for?", the lead single from his self-titled album, Casey Barnes, which was released in August 2007.