Katie Anne Noonan (born 2 May 1977) is an Australian singer and songwriter. In addition to a successful solo career encompassing opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance, she was the singer in the bands George and Elixir; she has also performed with her mother Maggie Noonan and her band the Captains. Noonan was the musical director of and performed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games' opening and closing ceremonies.
Noonan's 30th career album (24 solo, 2 with George and 6 with Elixir) Alone But All One is scheduled for release in June 2026
Early life Noonan grew up with a strong background in classical music, with her mother Maggie being a well-known opera singer. She studied opera and jazz at the Queensland Conservatorium.
Career
George
After graduation, Noonan began fronting the pop-rock group George, along with her brother Tyrone Noonan. Noonan founded George with her brother, with whom she shared lead vocals, in 1996 to enter a university music competition. After a series of successful independently released EPs, they signed to Festival Mushroom Records and released the debut album Polyserena in 2002. It debuted at the number 1 position on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) albums chart. George won the Breakthrough Artist ARIA award in 2002 and performed the song "Breathe in Now" at the award ceremony.
Elixir
Noonan founded the jazz trio Elixir in 1997, which released their debut self-titled album in 2003. Elixir's second album, First Seed Ripening, was released on 5 August 2011. It won the 2011 ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album.
2004: Two of a Kind Noonan released an album of jazz and operatic duets with her mother in 2004. Entitled Two of a Kind, the album was released by the ABC Classics label.
In 2004, Noonan guest appeared at the Lord Of The Rings Symphony performances. The reviewer Murray Black said that "The undoubted highlight of the evening was guest vocalist Katie Noonan. Here is a rare talent with a voice of extraordinary beauty and versatility. In most of her solos, she sounded like a classical soprano as she soared over the orchestra with a spine-tingling, vibrato-less angelic purity. Then, in Gollum's Song and the Oscar-winning Into the West, she revealed her pop diva credentials with her strong, clear voice projecting effortlessly out in the audience."
2005: Before Time Could Change Us and the Broad Festival Paul Grabowsky and Noonan teamed up for the jazz cycle Before Time Could Change Us. Consisting of words written by Dorothy Porter, the album tracks "the mysterious shifts and changes of a relationship". The album won the 2005 ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album.
Later in 2005, Noonan was invited by Deborah Conway to take part in the Broad Festival project—together with three other Australian female artists they performed their own and each other's songs. Sara Storer, Ruby Hunter and Clare Bowditch were the other female artists.
2007: Skin and Second Skin Noonan recorded a solo album entitled Skin at Sydney's Linear Recording in 2006. Produced by Andrew Klippel, Skin was released on 11 August 2007 and debuted at number 6 on the ARIA Top 50 album charts and number 1 on the Australian ARIA Top 20 album chart. The debut single, "Time To Begin", debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Top 50.
Following the success of the remix of "Time To Begin", Noonan collaborated with John Course and Mr Timothy. The collaboration involved the re-recording of Noonan's vocal tracks and a dance version of her solo album was released under the title Second Skin.
On 22 February 2008, Noonan was a support act for Cyndi Lauper at King's Park Botanic Gardens, Perth, Western Australia, and was invited on stage by Lauper to sing along to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Also in 2008, Noonan was featured as the vocalist in Telstra's "I Am Australian" series of advertisements.
2008: Blackbird: The Music of Lennon and McCartney Noonan released a jazz album of Lennon and McCartney cover versions in 2008 entitled Blackbird: The Music of Lennon and McCartney.
2010: Emperor's Box The Katie Noonan and the Captains' album Emperor's Box was created over a three-year period and is Noonan's second release for Sony Music. She wrote all of the songs and collaborated with the following artists during the recording of the album: Tim Finn (Split Enz), Sia, Don Walker (Cold Chisel), Josh Pyke and Australian writer/poet Tom Shapcott. The album was co-produced by Noonan and Nick DiDia (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Stone Temple Pilots, Powderfinger). It was preceded by the single "Page One" released in February.
2011–2012: Songs from the British Isles and Songs of the Southern Skies In 2011, Noonan collaborated with Karin Schaupp and toured Songs from the British Isles. An EP was released available only from Noonan's website. In 2012, the two recorded Songs of the Southern Skies. The album was nominated for two ARIA Awards at the 2012 ceremony.
2013: Songbook and Fierce Hearts
In 2013, Noonan released Songbook, an album that saw her re-recording songs from her time in George and Elixir. She also worked with the Sydney Dance Company on the production Les Illuminations.
2014: Fierce Hearts In 2014, she released Fierce Hearts which was nominated for an ARIA Award at the 2014 ceremony. It was music alongside a contemporary circus show by Circa.
2015: Transmutant In 2015, Noonan released Transmutant through Universal Music Australia. The album peaked at number 33 on the ARIA Charts.
2016: With Love and Fury In 2016, Noonan collaborated with the Brodsky Quartet and released With Love and Fury in April. They toured Australia throughout April and May.
2017: Songs of the Latin Skies In December 2016, Noonan announced the release Songs of the Latin Skies with Karin Schaupp. The album was released in February 2017 and saw the duo embark on a musical journey through the South American songbook, exploring the sounds and beats of the bossa nova, salsa, tango and samba. The duo played live shows across the country throughout 2017.
2018: Gratitude and Grief In 2018, Noonan reunited with Elixir and released Gratitude and Grief in August 2018. The album was nominated for Best Jazz album at the 2018 ARIA Awards.
2019: The Little Green Road to Fairyland and The Glad Tomorrow In April 2019, Noonan released The Little Green Road to Fairyland with Camerata and the Queensland Chamber Orchestra. In August, Noonan collaborated with the Australian String Quartet for The Glad Tomorrow. The new album sees Noonan perform uniquely Australian poetry of Queenslander and First Nations icon Oodgeroo Noonuccal to music.
2020: Late Night Tunes with Noons and The Sweetest Taboo In January 2020, Noonan confirmed the release of a mini-album titled Late Night Tunes with Noons. The album featured Noonan covering a range of Australian songs, with the inclusion of one original track.
In May 2020, Noonan released her twentieth album, The Sweetest Taboo, a jazz album covering 1980s pop songs.
2021: AVÉ
In May 2021, Noonan launched the Australian Vocal Ensemble (AVÉ), an a cappella quartet. The other members are tenor Andrew Goodwin, mezzo-soprano Fiona Campbell and bass-baritone Andrew O'Connor.
2023: Joni Mitchell's Blue tour In January 2023, Noonan commenced a national tour of 40 concerts, performing the entirety of Joni Mitchell's seminal album Blue, marking the 50th anniversary since its release. Usually accompanied by a single acoustic guitarist, the first concert took place at the 2023 Sydney Festival with the final concert in Bendigo, Victoria, on 16 September 2023.
2025: Jeff Buckley's Grace tour In 2025, Noonan toured Jeff Buckley's Grace album.
2026: Alone But All One In March 2026, Noonan released "This Isn't What I Signed Up For", the lead single from her Alone But All One album scheduled for release on 26 June 2026.
Other activities A National Office for Live Music was launched by Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd in July 2013 and, as of August 2013, Noonan is the state ambassador for Queensland.
In 2013, Noonan combined with the Sydney Dance Company and musicians from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conductor Richard Gill to perform Britten's song cycle Les Illuminations at Sydney's City Recital Hall Angel Place.Discover Britten with Katie Noonan, performance details, Sydney Symphony Orchestra This production was taken in 2014 to Brisbane's QPAC with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under Johannes Fritzsch.Performance details , QPAC
In 2014, Noonan was part of the I Touch Myself Project, with a mission to encourage young women to touch themselves regularly to find early signs of cancer. They released a version of "I Touch Myself" which peaked at number 72 on the ARIA singles chart.
Noonan was the official ambassador to the Adelaide Fringe in 2014.5 Minutes With Katie Noonan , Adelaide Fringe
In 2018, Noonan performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In August 2020, Noonan was unmasked as the "Sloth" in the second season of The Masked Singer Australia. She was the fourth contestant revealed, placing 9th overall.
In February 2021, Noonan was announced as the artistic director of the National Folk Festival.
On 25 September 2022, Noonan sang the National Anthem at the pre-game ceremony of the 2022 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Personal life Noonan was married to Isaac Hurren, her longtime partner and collaborator in Elixir, from 2004 to 2025. They are parents to two sons. The marriage ended in 2025
Discography
Studio albums + List of albums, with Australian chart positions and notes Title Album details Peak chart positions Notes AUS All ARIA chart to May 2025 N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. The Sweetest Taboo: Two of a Kind Katie and Maggie Noonan Released: 5 April 2004 Label: ABC Music Formats: CD, digital download 61Number 2 on the ARIA Classical Chart Number 16 on the ARIA Australian Artist Chart Before Time Could Change Us Paul Grabowsky and Kate Noonan Released: 15 August 2005 Label: Paul Grabowsky & Katie Noonan Formats: Digital download 65Number 3 on the ARIA Jazz Chart Skin Released: 13 August 2007 Label: Mushroom, Warner Music Australia Formats: CD, digital download 648 on the ARIA Australian Artists End of Year Chart (2007) Includes the top 30 single "Time to Begin" Second Skin John Course & mrTimothy present Katie Noonan Released: 21 April 2008 Label: Warner Music Australia Formats: CD, digital download 156A remix project from the album Skin. Number 19 on ARIA Dance Chart. Blackbird: The Music of Lennon and McCartney Released: 27 October 2008 Label: Sony BMG Music Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download 43Number 7 on ARIA End of Year Jazz Chart (2008) Number 11 on ARIA End of Year Jazz Chart (2009) Number 32 on ARIA End of Year Jazz Chart (2010) Emperor's Box Katie Noonan and The Captains Released: April 2010 Label: Sony Music Australia Formats: CD, digital download 21 First Seed Ripening (Elixir featuring Katie Noonan) Released: 8 August 2011 Label: ABC Music Formats: CD, digital download 64Elixir is a band Noonan co-founded in 1997. This album is credited as 'featuring' Katie Noonan'. Number 1 on the Jazz and Blues chart. Songs from the British Isles Released: 2011 Label: Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp Formats: digital download —A covers album of British songs Available only from Noonan's website Songs of the Southern Skies(Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp) Released: 17 August 2012 Label: Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp Formats: CD, digital download —A covers album of Australian/New Zealand songs Number 3 on the ARIA Classical chart. Number 97 on the ARIA physical chart. Songbook Released: 13 January 2013 Label: KIN Music Formats: CD, digital download — Fierce Hearts (The Music of Love-Song-Circus) Released: 28 February 2014 Label: KIN Music