Aussie music icon reveals why he suddenly quit music and worked for the local council after his popular 70s band broke up

Australian music icon Daryl Braithwaite rose to fame and scored numerous hits with his iconic band Sherbet.

But after the popular 70s band split in 1984, Daryl, 75, decided to turn his back on music and has now revealed why he decided to briefly shun the spotlight.

After a first attempt to go solo in his music career, the singer went on benefits and found an everyday job as a road worker for the municipality.

He revealed he found it daunting to land club gigs without his former bandmates Tony Mitchell, Garth Porter, Alan Sandow and Clive Shakespeare.

“When the break came it was more or less like, I didn’t want to prostitute myself doing clubs and doing it with fellow musicians, so I pulled out,” Daryl told the BBC. Courier mail.

He said he only rediscovered his motivation for music after stepping away from fame and working in his city job, which prompted him to pick up the microphone again.

‘And I guess the motivation [to play music again] Then it came from not singing and getting benefits, and doing manual work,” he explained.

“And then, eventually, I probably started thinking to myself, ‘This is really nonsense.'”

Daryl finally made his big musical comeback in 1988 with his first album Edge.

In 1991 he had another hit with the single The Horses, a cover version of the Rickie-Lee Jones song first recorded in 1989.

Now, the veteran artist has no plans to retire anytime soon and still loves to belt out a tune.

‘It’s the same as when I started. You hear something that moves you and it attracts you. I remember that explicitly when I was 10, 12, 15 years old,” he recently told Ny Breaking Australia.

‘That also applies now. If you don’t have a passion for it, you wouldn’t do it.’

After his popular band broke up in 1984, the singer went on the road on benefits and found an everyday gig as a road worker for the municipality. He said he found it daunting to land club gigs.

Although recording has never been his favorite part of the process, live performances still thrill Daryl.

‘I like the live aspect. You interact with people immediately. It’s either going to work or it’s not going to work, and that excitement never gets old,” he said.

As for his iconic hit The Horses, Daryl says he still enjoys performing it now, even after over thirty years.

‘No, I don’t get tired of singing it. It has been very popular over the years and it still connects with people in ways that amaze me,” he said.

“We played in Parkes last weekend to about 7,000 people, and they sang it like there was no tomorrow. It’s not over yet, that’s for sure.’

Daryl added that he performed the hit with global pop superstar Harry Styles during his The 2023 Australian tour was a career highlight.

‘It was incredible. “I couldn’t believe it when I got the call,” he recalls.

‘Harry is such a big star and being invited to sing with him was just surreal. Leading up to it, I kept thinking, “Is this really going to happen?” And then we got there and it was beautiful,” he said.

He said he only rediscovered his motivation for music after stepping away from fame and working in his council job, which prompted him to pick up the microphone again and he had huge success with his cover of The Horses.

Daryl first rose to fame in the 1970s as the frontman of the popular Australian pop group Sherbet.

Formed in 1969, the band released the number one Australian hits Summer Love (1975) and Howzat (1976).

By the 1980s, the band had morphed into the Sherbs after a series of lineup changes and had another hit in 1981, I Have the Skill.

Daryl also launched a solo career during his time with Sherbet and had several number one hits including You’re My World (1973) and Calvary (1975), Old Sid (1976).

In 2017, Daryl was honored by the music world when he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.