There are plenty of motivational stories out there about how it's never too late to pursue your dreams – pointing to people like Harrison Ford, Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson coming to prominence in later adulthood.
Believe it or not, Pete Murray – who, let's face it, has Paul Rudd syndrome: Looking basically the same age for 20 years – is one of those very people. The 53 year old, who is currently gearing up for a greatest hits album and accompanying tour, originally had career ambitions in rugby union and sports medicine.Eventually, he began moving over to the music world and making a go of it at the age of 30. Not that old in the grand scheme of things, but the music industry has largely been a young person's game – as TISM once sang, after all: 'If you're not famous at 14, you're finished.'
"I honestly think it was the drive that came from having that sporting background," Murray says about the early stages of his music career.
"I didn't want to be working for an hourly rate – to have all my hard work to ultimately just be for someone else. I was also really drawn to the lifestyle – having that time to yourself to really create and work towards something independently.
"I was so independent, I was going to reject Sony when they made the offer to sign me. I was nervous about what they might do, and what power they'd have, but eventually I came to the conclusion that they'd be able to take my music as far as it would go."
Even with that ambition encompassing his work, not even Murray himself could have anticipated just how far that was. His first three albums through Sony all went to #1, with 5 Top 40 singles and a whopping 16 platinum certifications from ARIA to boot.
The 2000s saw Murray become one of the most popular artists in the country, routinely selling out theatres while being absolutely thrashed on commercial radio. "I was really passionate about what I was writing," Murray recalls.
"I spent a lot of time on the lyrics, trying to make them count and having them mean something to not only me, but something that would mean something to those listening as well.
"I really wanted to have that connection, and I'm really glad I got it."
Perhaps the biggest song of this era was 'So Beautiful', Murray's only Top 10 hit and one that has reached similar levels of 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' insofar as being a song wholly misinterpreted as one of love and affection.
"One journalist called it the best 'f... you' song he'd ever heard, and I wear that to this day," Pete grins.
"I was really taken aback when people were telling me they were playing this song at their weddings. I get that, on the surface, it's a very pretty song, but lyrically the whole thing boils down to 'go f... yourself'.
"It was never meant to be a single – it was an album track, and nearly five minutes long at that.
"The label were insistent about it, and I said to them 'if you want to try and get that thing on radio, go for your life'.
"It ended up getting played so much that when [second album] 'See The Sun' came out, the label had to call up stations and ask them to stop playing it and start playing the new singles instead."
This May will see the release of the succinctly titled 'Best Of', with a tour in support of it to follow in July.
After returning to Australian stages over the last couple of years, Pete is excited about revisiting his classics with an audience that has largely been there since 2003's 'Feeler'.
"You can sense their passion when they're singing along," he says of his fan base. "The big roar goes up from the first few notes, and no matter how many times you've played a song. . . that just never gets old.
"You get that buzz, that vibe, and that allows you to really enjoy your time onstage. People will pick up on that, too. It's really infectious."
'Best Of' is released 17 May.
Pete Murray 2023 Tour Dates
Fri 19 May - Street Beats @ Tropic Fiesta (Townsville)Sat 8 Jul - Forum Melbourne
Thu 13 Jul - Anita's Theatre (Wollongong)
Fri 14 Jul - Canberra Theatre
Sat 15 Jul - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 22 Jul - The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane)
Thu 27 Jul - Darwin Ski Club
Sat 29 Jul - Astor Theatre (Perth)
Sat 5 Aug - AEC Theatre (Adelaide)
