When the APRAs are presented May 3, the Wiggles will become the first children’s entertainers to receive the Ted Albert Award.
Everyone will be wiggling at the 2022 APRA Music Awards, where the Wiggles will receive one of the Australian music industry’s top honors.
When the circular APRAs are handed out next month at Melbourne Town Hall, the original Wiggles lineup — Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Greg Page and Jeff Fatt — will receive the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.
For over thirty years, the Wiggles have entertained kids (and given their parents a well-deserved break) with their cheery disposition, colorful skivvies and dancing fingers, and their bank of singalong songs, which include “Hot Potato, “Fruit Salad,” “Get Ready to Wiggle,” and many more.
The founding members formed the Wiggles in 1991, having met while studying Early Childhood Education at Sydney’s Macquarie University (several members are alumni of the rock band the Cockroaches, which enjoyed a hit with “She’s The One” in the late ‘80s).
Since then, the group has sold over 3 million albums and DVDs, eight million books, accumulated one billion music streams and two billion views on YouTube.
Their TV shows are broadcast in more than 190 countries.
When the APRAs are presented May 3, the Wiggles will become the first children’s entertainers to receive the Ted Albert Award.
“On behalf of everyone who’s worked with the Wiggles over the past 31 years, I want to thank APRA for honoring us with the Ted Albert Award,” comments Field in a statement announcing their latest recognition. “We have always been driven by genuine love and passion for music, and this recognition means so much to us. Seeing our names alongside Aussie greats, including The Seekers, Joy McKean and the incredible Helen Reddy is so wonderful.”
The Wiggles are on a hot streak, having snagged their first No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart for ReWiggled and grabbed top spot in the triple J Hottest 100 poll for their cover of Tame Impala’s “Elephant.”
The Ted Albert trophy is the latest in a long list for industry awards for the group. In 2005, the group became the first entertainers to win the Australian government’s exporter of the year award. And in 2011, the year of their 20th anniversary, the band were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
To date, they’ve recorded 54 studio albums and collected 13 ARIA Awards for best children’s album, the most for a single category.
Past recipients of the Ted Albert Award have included the late Michael Gudinski, Michael Chugg, Fifa Riccobono, Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil and Archie Roach. The annual honor is decided by the APRA board of writer and publisher directors.
Heading into the 2022 edition of the APRAs, The Kid LAROI has the head start with four nominations, followed by Vance Joy with three
