Alongside her music career, Missy Higgins pursues interests in animal rights and the environment, endeavouring to make her tours carbon neutral.
65 Facts About Missy Higgins
2.
Missy Higgins was born in Melbourne, to Christopher Missy Higgins, an English-Australian general practitioner, and Margaret, an Australian childcare centre operator.
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Missy Higgins learned to play classical piano from age six, following in the footsteps of Christopher and David, but realised she wanted to be a singer at about 12, when she appeared in an Armadale Primary School production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
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At Geelong, Missy Higgins took up the piano again, this time playing jazz and performing with her brother David's group on weekends.
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Introverted by nature, Missy Higgins found that piano practice helped her cope with living at boarding school.
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Missy Higgins approached a Melbourne record company and was told that they wanted more than one song.
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Missy Higgins wrote more songs and worked with the Kool Skools project, which enables students to record music.
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Missy Higgins signed with Eleven, partly because they agreed that she would not be "made into a pop star" and partly because they were happy for her to take time off for a backpacking holiday.
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Missy Higgins' manager is Eleven's John Watson, who managed rock band Silverchair.
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Missy Higgins was the support act on a 2003 Australian tour by folk rock band The Waifs and rock band george.
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Missy Higgins travelled to the US to work with John Porter, who produced her first EP, The Missy Higgins EP, which was released in November and entered the Australian Recording Industry Association Singles Chart Top 50 in August 2004.
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Missy Higgins toured Australia, supporting Pete Murray and John Butler Trio.
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On 29 January 2005, Missy Higgins performed with other local musicians including Nick Cave and Powderfinger at the WaveAid fundraising concert in the Sydney Cricket Ground.
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Missy Higgins continued touring in mid-2005 and released her fourth single, "The Sound of White", in August.
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Missy Higgins teamed up with fellow ARIA award-winning singer Ben Lee in late 2005 for a national tour.
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Missy Higgins then toured the United States and South Africa, writing more material on the road.
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Missy Higgins sang headline act Powderfinger's "Sunsets" with front man Bernard Fanning and joined in with the encore of "These Days".
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Missy Higgins's ten-month stay in Los Angeles during 2008 promoted her songs for films and television shows.
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Missy Higgins started writing music for her third album in 2009.
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Missy Higgins's acting debut was as Annie in 2010 film Bran Nue Dae directed by Rachel Perkins.
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In July and August 2010, Missy Higgins played several dates of Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair tour in the US.
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In 2011, Missy Higgins travelled to where Boucher was living in Nashville to record her third album, which is co-produced by Boucher and Brad Jones.
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In November 2011, at the ARIA Music Awards, Missy Higgins performed a duet of "Warwu"with Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, from his Rrakala album.
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In September 2014, Missy Higgins released her fourth studio album, Oz, which features cover versions of Australian composers, including The Angels, Slim Dusty, Something For Kate, Warumpi Band, Paul Kelly and The Drones.
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The album is accompanied by a book of related essays, in which Missy Higgins uses each of the recordings to reflect upon subjects such as music and love.
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Missy Higgins collaborated with Dan Sultan for the recording of the Slim Dusty song "The Biggest Disappointment".
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Missy Higgins explained in an October 2014 interview that she experienced a significant bout of writer's block following the completion of her second album and someone suggested an album of cover versions at the time, but she only revisited the idea during the conception of Oz.
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Missy Higgins was accompanied by Bischoff, and Australian artist Dustin Tebbutt appeared as a special guest.
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On 19 February 2016, Missy Higgins released a new single titled, "Oh Canada", in her response to the death of Alan Kurdi.
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In May 2017, Missy Higgins released "Torchlight", for the Australian drama film, Don't Tell.
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In October 2017, Missy Higgins appeared in a revival of the 1996 musical Miracle City by Nick Enright and Max Lambert at the Sydney Opera House, playing the role of Bonnie Mae.
32.
In February 2018, Missy Higgins released the single "Futon Couch", the first single from her fifth studio album, called Solastalgia, released in May 2018.
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In November 2018, Missy Higgins released her first greatest hits album titled The Special Ones.
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In October 2019, new music by Missy Higgins featured in the Australian television series Total Control.
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Missy Higgins began singing with David's jazz group on weekends.
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Missy Higgins' song writing grew out of a desire to express her emotions when she was at school and her lyrics describe her feelings about her own life and relationships.
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Missy Higgins uses guitars extensively in her music particularly when touring, due to their portable nature and favours the Australian brand, Maton.
38.
On 7 September 2012, Missy Higgins recorded a cover version of Gotye's "Heart's A Mess" for the "Like a Version" segment on Australian radio station Triple J, explaining on-air that the song is her favourite Gotye composition.
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Missy Higgins had travelled with Gotye previously and referred to him as "an incredible singer" in the interview prior to the rendition.
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Missy Higgins has been active and vocal about many issues including climate and environmental issues, animal welfare, female empowerment, refugees and Indigenous issues.
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Missy Higgins has been a longtime advocate for the environment and has actively participated in many environmental initiatives and events aimed at raising awareness on climate change and environmental issues.
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Missy Higgins is currently a patron of Green Music Australia, which aims to harness the cultural power of music to create a greener and safer planet.
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From her early tours such as her 'On A Clear Night' tour, Missy Higgins has aimed for her tours to be carbon neutral, and she was named one of Billboard magazine's 2007 Top 10 Green Artists.
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Missy Higgins contributed to Green Music Australia and Creative Victoria's 2022 initiative 'Sound Country: A Green Artist Guide' which aims to provide a practical framework for touring musicians to implement sustainable solutions.
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Missy Higgins donated royalties from her 2009 digital EP More Than This to the Save the Kimberley organisation focused on conservation of Western Australia's Kimberley Region; an area which Missy Higgins is passionate about protecting from industrialisation.
46.
In October 2012, Missy Higgins performed at two "Save the Kimberley" events held at Federation Square in Melbourne and The Esplanade in Fremantle, Western Australia; march to protest against the proposed gas refinery construction at James Price Point accompanied the free concert and campaign supporters were photographed with banners and placards.
47.
Missy Higgins was among 21 artists to write and record music for the album 'Sounds for the Reef' which raised funds for legal action against plans to turn Queensland's Abbot Point into one of the world's largest coal ports and the decision to allow dredging near the Great Barrier Reef.
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Missy Higgins has been a vegetarian for many years after being introduced to the idea by an ex-boyfriend and wanted to do something for animals rights after reading 'Eating Animals' by Jonathan Safran Foer.
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Missy Higgins helped promote the 2005 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals advertising campaign and has supported their anti-fur stance.
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In 2012, Missy Higgins voiced a series of radio advertisements organised by the group Animals Australia in a campaign to put an end to battery-hen egg production in Australia.
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Missy Higgins was one of numerous publicly known advocates for the 'Oscar's Law' campaign.
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Missy Higgins has performed at animal welfare and conservation related fundraising and awareness concerts.
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All of the song's net profits went to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, and Missy Higgins performed the song during the ASRC telethon held on World Refugee Day.
54.
Missy Higgins featured in the 2022 documentary 'Scattered People: A Song Can Take You Home' presented by the ASRC and Being Reel Films, along with other Australian Musicians.
55.
Missy Higgins headlined the all-female festival tour 'Wildflower' in 2022 alongside Kate Miller-Heidke, Kasey Chambers, Sarah Blasko, Deborah Conway, Thornbird and Alice Skye in order to celebrate women and the return of the live scene.
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Generational strength has been a motivator for Missy Higgins, wanting to show her daughter how to be a strong, independent woman.
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Missy Higgins undertook an Indigenous Studies course at the University of Melbourne and has been a vocal supporter of Indigenous Australian peoples for years.
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When discussing the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Missy Higgins stated that First Nations people have never been treated as equals and have been oppressed as a people.
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Missy Higgins has been involved in other charitable works throughout her career.
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In 2020, along with Tim Minchin, Missy Higgins gave her support to the Fred Hollows Foundation with the collaborative song "Carry You" which was adapted to the foundation's 2020 campaign to encourage people to carry on Fred Hollows's legacy of ending avoidable blindness.
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Missy Higgins performed the song with Minchin at the streamed charity concert Music from the Home Front which paid tribute to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and workers on the frontline of COVID-19 pandemic responses.
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In 2022, Missy Higgins headlined the Nine Network telethon concert in support of the Children's Hospital Foundation, raising funds for medical research, equipment and support services for young patients and their families.
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Missy Higgins joined the Australian Red Cross event Australia Unites: Red Cross Flood Appeal along with other Australian artists in order to raise funds for victims of the 2022 eastern Australia floods.
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Missy Higgins has been a patron of multiple mental health charities since 2003.
65.
In 2013, Missy Higgins began a relationship with Broome playwright and comedian Dan Lee.