Australian music icon Daryl Braithwaite has been flooded with messages of love and support after announcing his retirement from live performances, bringing the curtain down on a career spanning almost six decades.
The 77-year-old revealed this week that ongoing physical challenges had made singing increasingly difficult, forcing him to step away from the stage after what has been one of Australia’s longest and most celebrated music careers.
“For some time now it has been increasingly physically challenging for me to sing comfortably,” Braithwaite said in a statement, thanking fans for their unwavering support over the years.
Braithwaite first rose to fame in the 1970s as the frontman of Sherbet, one of Australia’s biggest pop acts of the era, before launching a hugely successful solo career in the late 1980s.
But for many Australians, his legacy will forever be tied to The Horses – the 1990 hit that became an unlikely national anthem, despite being a near note-for-note remake of a song originally written by Rickie Lee Jones and Walter Becker. While the original remained relatively obscure, Braithwaite’s version took on a life of its own, becoming a staple at weddings, sporting events and late-night singalongs.
It’s a curious twist in Australian music history: one of the country’s most beloved songs wasn’t written by an Australian – or even by Braithwaite himself – yet few tracks have become so deeply woven into the national fabric.
That enduring connection was reflected in the flood of tributes that followed his retirement announcement, with fans and fellow performers thanking him for the soundtrack he provided to generations of Australians.
While Braithwaite may be stepping away from the spotlight, his voice – and the song that defined it for so many – seems certain to keep echoing for years to come.
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