Memorial Service For Renée Geyer Announced

Renée Rebecca Geyer was born in Melbourne in 1953, the youngest of three children to Edward and Ella, who met in Palestine after World War II. Ella, a Holocaust survivor, was from Slovakia; Edward was from Hungary.

Renée described herself as “a white Hungarian Jew from Australia sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama”.

“I’m lucky I was born with an old voice,” she said.

Renée also sang on records by countless artists, including Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Neil Diamond, Joe Cocker, Julio Iglesias, Chaka Khan, Sting, Men At Work, Ian McLagan, Cold Chisel, Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Stephen Cummings, Dragon, Sérgio Mendes, Even, Toni Childs, Hoodoo Gurus, TZU and Russell Morris. Read the rest of The Music's Jeff Jenkins' obituary for the iconic singer here.

Geyer's legacy lives on, and tributes have begun to pour from her peers and music lovers alike. Jimmy Barnes wrote, "There was no one like you," Bonnie Raitt commented, "She was also my good friend and will remain an inspiration and in my heart always," Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett said, "One of the very best voices we ever had the privilege to hear," Marcia Hines called Geyer her "sister in song." Double J's Zan Rowe called Geyer "a force, terrifying by reputation but probably cos she had to be."