Australian music icon Daryl Braithwaite rose to fame and scored countless hits with his iconic band Sherbet.
But after the popular ’70s band split up in 1984, Daryl, 75, decided to turn his back on music and has now revealed why he briefly decided to avoid the spotlight.
After first trying to launch his solo music career, the singer went unemployed and found a day job as a municipal highway worker.
He revealed that he found it daunting trying to get club gigs without his former bandmates Tony Mitchell, Garth Porter, Alan Sandow and Clive Shakespeare.
“When the hiatus came, it was pretty much like I didn’t want to prostitute myself doing clubs and stuff with other musicians, so I backed out,” Daryl told the courier mail.
He said he only rediscovered his motivation for music after stepping away from fame and working in his municipal position, which prompted him to pick up the microphone again.
“And I guess the motivation (to return to playing music) came from not singing and being unemployed, and working manual jobs,” he explained.
“And then finally I probably started thinking, ‘This is really fucked up.’
Australian music icon Daryl Braithwaite rose to widespread fame and scored countless hits with his iconic band Sherbet, but he has revealed why he briefly decided to turn his back on fame.
Daryl finally made his big return to music in 1988 with his first album Edge.
In 1991, he scored another hit with the single The Horses, a cover of the Rickie-Lee Jones song that was first recorded in 1989.
Now, the veteran performer has no plans to retire anytime soon and still loves to sing a song.
‘It’s the same as when I started. You hear something that moves you and attracts you. “I remember it explicitly when I was 10, 12, 15,” he recently told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The same applies now. If you’re not passionate about it, you wouldn’t do it.”
After his popular band broke up in 1984, the singer went on unemployment and found a day job as a council road worker, saying he found it daunting trying to get club gigs.
While recording has never been his favorite part of the process, live performances still excite Daryl.
‘I love the live aspect. You relate to people instantly. It either works or it doesn’t, and that excitement never gets old,” he gushed.
As for his iconic hit The Horses, Daryl said he still enjoys performing it, even after more than thirty years.
‘No, I never get tired of singing it. “It’s been very popular over the years and still connects with people in a way that surprises me,” he said.
‘We played it last weekend in Parkes to about 7,000 people and they sang it like there was no tomorrow. This isn’t over yet, that’s for sure.’
Daryl added that performing the hit with Global pop superstar Harry Styles during his The tour of Australia in 2023 was the highest of his career.
‘It was incredible. I couldn’t believe it when I got the call,’ he recalled.
“Harry is a huge star and to be asked to sing with him was just surreal. Before that, I kept thinking, “Is this really going to happen?” And then we went out and it was great,” he gushed.
He said he only rediscovered his motivation for music after stepping away from fame and working on his council job, which prompted him to pick up the microphone again and had a big hit with his cover of The Horses.
Daryl first rose to fame in the 1970s as the frontman of the popular Australian pop group Sherbet.
Formed in 1969, the band produced the Australian number one hits Summer Love (1975) and Howzat (1976).
By the 1980s, the band had morphed into Sherbs after a series of line-up changes and scored another hit, I Have the Skill, in 1981.
Daryl also launched a solo career during his time with Sherbet and had several number one hits including You’re My World (1973) and Calvary (1975), Old Sid (1976).
In 2017, Daryl was honored by the music industry when he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.