The accolade will be presented at the 2016 APRA Music Awards at Carriageworks in Sydney, the industry’s annual songwriting and publishing celebration.
Ted Albert was the man who drove the Alberts label and recording studio which dominated the Australian music scene in the 1960s and ‘70s, and continues to have an impact today.
Although never on that same label, Cold Chisel grew up, formed and then began to rule themselves on the live scene and then the charts during the Alberts’ heyday.
Some seven million albums later, Cold Chisel remain as much a by-word for Australian pub rock as anything Ted Albert signed and released.
With a history that spans 40 years, a reputation forged through blistering live shows and a catalogue of much loved songs and albums, Cold Chisel – Jimmy Barnes, Ian Moss, Don Walker, Phil Small and Steve Prestwich – are part of the fabric of the nation’s psyche.
Their story is colourful, volatile and proud and their music continues to be ingrained in the hearts of generations of Australians.
Bona fide Australian classics like East, Breakfast at Sweethearts, Cheap Wine, Choir Girl, When the War Is Over, Flame Trees, Bow River, Saturday Night, and Khe Sanh remain the staple of radio playlists, pubs, jukeboxes, concert halls and karaoke bars across every part of the country.
Australia’s love of Cold Chisel has only grown over the years.
The band’s 2011 Light The Nitro tour was the biggest-ever by an Australian-based band, with over 300,000 tickets sold, and their 2015 One Night Stand tour included a number of firsts for the band, including being the first-ever Australian artist to headline the iconic Hanging Rock to a sold out audience of 18,000.