Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician, who made his mark during the 1980s as lead vocalist of the Australian band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist.

Early life and Men at Work

In 1978, Hay met Ron Strykert and the men began playing acoustic music as a duo. Hay and Strykert formed the band Men at Work, adding Jerry Speiser (drums), John Rees (bassist) and Greg Ham (flautist/saxophonist). The group released their debut album Business as Usual in 1981.

Hay joined as guest vocalist with The Incredible Penguins in 1985, for a cover of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", a charity project for research on Fairy penguins, which peaked at #10 on the Australian Kent Music Report in December.

Later career

In addition to recording, Hay also established his own recording label, Lazy Eye Records, named for his own strabismus (lazy eye) condition, and has made appearances in cult movies such as Cosi and television shows, such as The Larry Sanders Show, JAG, and The Mick Molloy Show. Hay also appeared on television in the ABC show Scrubs, which along with episodes of ABC's What About Brian, NBC's The Black Donnellys, CBS's Cane, and the BBC hospital drama Casualty, have included performances of some of his previous songs.

In December 2005, Hay and Heather Mills digitally re-released "My Brilliant Feat" as a charity single as a tribute to the late football (soccer) player George Best, who died on 25 November of that year. Proceeds were forwarded to the Donor Family Network, supporting organ donor families and promoting organ and tissue donation. The single is available on iTunes with a bonus music video tribute to Best.

In 2006 he provided his voice for one of the characters in animated movie The Wild. Hay has also been a member of Ringo Starr's eighth and tenth All-Starr Bands. He continues to perform regularly, including playing some folk venues.

On 13 February 2009, former Men at Work band member, Ron Strykert, was arrested for allegedly making death threats against Hay.

On 6 May 2009, Hay made a cameo in the season 8 finale of Scrubs, "My Finale", in a non-speaking role as J.D. walks out of the hospital for the last time, seeing faces of those he's been with at the hospital over the years. Hay contributed music to the series, in the course of a number of episodes, including on-camera performances in "Overkill" and "My Hard Labor".

Hay released his 10th album, "American Sunshine", on 18 August 2009 by Compass Records.

In 2009, Colin Hay's former group, Men at Work, were named in a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement by Larrikin Music, who owns the rights to the Kookaburra song. Larrikin Music claims that part of a flute riff from the band's 1981 single "Down Under" was copied from "Kookaburra" originally written by music teacher, Marion Sinclair, who died in 1988. In February 2010, a court ruled in favor of Larrikin Music. Although the petition from Larrikin Music requested 40 to 60% of royalties dating back to 1981 and future royalties, in July 2010 a judge awarded the plaintiff only 5% of royalties dating back to 2002 and the same amount of future royalties.

Personal life

Solo discography

References

External links

Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:Australian musicians Category:Australian pop singers Category:Australian television actors Category:Australian people of Scottish descent Category:People from Kilwinning Category:Scottish expatriates in Australia