43 Facts About Marcia Hines

Marcia Elaine Hines AM was born on July 20,1953 and is an American-born Australian singer and TV personality.

Marcia Hines was voted "Queen of Pop" by TV Week's readers for three consecutive years from 1976.

Marcia Hines stopped recording in the early 1980s until she returned with Right Here and Now in 1994, the same year she became an Australian citizen.

Marcia Hines was the subject of the 2001 biography Diva: the life of Marcia Hines, which coincided with the release of the compilation album Diva.

Marcia Hines was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on July 18,2007.

Marcia Hines has sold 2.6 million albums and was the first Australian female artist to have a platinum-selling album, as well as the first female to have seven consecutive top 20 album releases.

Marcia Hines was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Jamaican parents, Eugene and Esmeralda Marcia Hines.

Eugene died when Marcia Hines was six months old due to an operation to remove shrapnel from a war wound.

Marcia Hines was raised with her older brother Dwight by their mother and began singing as a nine-year-old in her church choir.

At 14, Marcia Hines won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music but left after three months.

In 1970, at age 16, Marcia Hines moved to Australia after landing a role in the Australian stage production of Hair.

At the age of 16, Hines was discovered by Australian entrepreneur Harry M Miller and director Jim Sharman who were visiting the US to audition African-American singers in preparation for the new season of the Australian stage production of Hair, which had already premiered in Sydney on 6 June 1969.

When she made her debut in April 1970, Marcia Hines became the youngest person in the world to play a featured role in any production of Hair.

Miller and Sharman approached her to play Mary Magdalene in the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar and Marcia Hines assumed the role from Michele Fawdon in the summer of 1973 with Marcia Hines's tenure in the role until February 1974 making her a major star in Australia.

Marcia Hines's biggest hit was with Tom Snow's "You", which reached number 2 in the singles charts in Australia in October 1977.

Marcia Hines's albums have sold close to a million copies and Hines was the first Australian female performer to attain a Platinum record.

Marcia Hines was voted "Queen of Pop", the country's most popular female performer, each year from 1976 to 1978, by the readers of TV Week.

Marcia Hines's success had been boosted by appearances on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's popular TV music show Countdown.

Marcia Hines was married to Kennedy during the late-1970s; he designed and made an elaborate and colourful stage costume for her.

Marcia Hines returned to theatre for a Jesus Christ Superstar revival in late 1983, and she then decided to devote more time to raising her daughter.

Marcia Hines performed the closing act of the 1990 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Marcia Hines returned to the stage with a performance in The Masters of Rhythm and Taste in 1993.

In March 1994, Marcia Hines toured nationally for the first time in seven years.

Marcia Hines's career was gradually revived with concert and TV appearances.

Marcia Hines recorded "Rise", an official song for the Australian team at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

In May 2003, Marcia Hines endured the illness and death of her mother Esme; she returned to the public eye with her role as a judge on the television show Australian Idol from July 27,2003.

In 2005, Marcia Hines released a remixed version of her earlier hit "You", followed in 2006 by Discotheque, an album containing her versions of disco classics, which peaked at number 6.

Marcia Hines made a cameo appearance on Neighbours in early 2007; on 18 July, she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

In November 2007, Marcia Hines released a new album, Life, and during December she toured in support of Lionel Richie.

From August 31,2008, the sixth season of Australian Idol was broadcast, with Marcia Hines continuing as a judge, and she is the only judge to appear in every season of Australian Idol.

In 2015, Marcia Hines starred on stage in the disco musical Velvet, with performances at the Adelaide Fringe, Brisbane and Edinburgh.

In early 2015, Marcia Hines covered the song "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", specifically for the trailer of season two of The Real Housewives of Melbourne.

In January 2023, Marcia Hines returned to the Channel 7 reboot of Australian Idol, after the show's fourteen-year hiatus, as a judge in the top 50 rounds for three episodes while regular judge Meghan Trainor was in New York due to other commitments.

In 2024, Marcia Hines will be rejoining Australian Idol as a main judge alongside returning judges Kyle Sandilands and Amy Shark, permanently replacing Trainor.

Later in 2023, Marcia Hines released two songs under the same singles package, which was titled Last One Standing.

On 25 August 2023, Marcia Hines released a cover of Bill Withers' "Lean On Me", which featured as the lead single for her forthcoming fifteenth studio album.

The album, which was titled The Gospel According to Marcia Hines, was officially released on 3 November 2023.

The Gospel According to Marcia Hines did not reach the ARIA top 50, but peaked at number 15 on the ARIA Australian Artist chart and at number 2 on the Australian Independent Label Albums chart.

Marcia Hines has a daughter, Deni Marcia Hines, who was born in Australia on September 4,1970.

Marcia Hines had been performing in Hair since she was 16 years old.

Marcia Hines has been married four times: French businessman Andre DeCarpentry, keyboard player Jamie McKinley, businessman Ghassan Bayni, and, in April 2005, she married Christopher Morrissey, whom she divorced in 2014.

Marcia Hines grew up with asthma, missing months of schooling as a result of life-threatening attacks, and was diagnosed with diabetes after collapsing at her home in 1986.

On January 26,2009, Marcia Hines was appointed as Member, Order of Australia "for service to the entertainment industry as a performer, judge and mentor, and to the community through a range of charitable organisations".