Jimmy Barnes

Jimmy Barnes (AO born James Dixon Swan; 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. His career both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time.[1] The combination of 14 Australian Top 40 albums for Cold Chisel and 13 charting solo albums, including 17 No. 1s, gives Barnes the highest number of hit albums of any Australian or international artist in the Australian market.[2]

Barnes was born James Dixon Swan in the Cowcaddens area of Glasgow on 28 April 1956, the son of Dorothy and Jim Swan. His father was a prizefighter. His maternal grandmother was Jewish,[3] but he was raised Protestant. He called his childhood environment a “slum” of alcohol and violence, stating that his mother had him and his four siblings (John, Dorothy, Linda, and Alan)[4] before she was 21.[5] His older brother, John, would also later become known as a singer under the name Swanee. John encouraged and taught Barnes how to sing, as he was not initially interested. He and his family arrived in Australia when he was five years old on 21 January 1962, originally in Adelaide, though they eventually settled in nearby Elizabeth.[6] Another sister, Lisa, was born later that year.[7] Shortly afterward, their parents divorced. Dorothy soon remarried to a clerk named Reg Barnes, who died on 3 September 2013.[citation needed]