Vance Joy

James Gabriel Keogh (born 1 December 1987), known professionally as Vance Joy, is an Australian singer-songwriter and former Australian rules footballer.

James Gabriel Keogh was born on 1 December 1987.

His father worked in the computer trade, while his mother was a high-school English teacher.

His paternal grandparents immigrated to Australia from Ireland.

He attended St. Patrick's Primary School, Murrumbeena, in Melbourne.

He was school captain at and graduated from St Kevin's College, Toorak, in 2005, and later graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws.

Prior to his music career, Joy was a promising Australian rules football player.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Joy revealed that he began writing "Georgia" in 2006, then sat on it until he figured out the words and melody.

In 2008 and 2009, he played for the Coburg Football Club as a key defender in the Victorian Football League, winning best first year player award in 2008.

Joy explains his choice for a music career over a football one by saying that he "wasn't ever really in the mix (for the AFL)", being "good enough to go from local footy to the VFL. Out of three seasons, I had a handful of games. You always think you can do better, but I think I reached my potential as a football player."

In another interview, he stated "for a period of time I was super focused on footy, I played a step below professional level. I had opportunities to play for a couple of teams but my heart wasn't completely in it. I guess I was just doing something in the meantime before writing my first songs."

He is best known for his 2013 hit song "Riptide".

Joy signed a five-album deal with Atlantic Records in 2013.

He released his debut EP God Loves You When You're Dancing in March 2013.

His song "Riptide" was voted number 1 on the 2013 Triple J Hottest 100.

On 21 January 2013, Joy released his debut single "From Afar".

On 22 March 2013, he released his debut EP God Loves You When You're Dancing.

The single "Riptide" became a success on Australian commercial radio, peaking at number 6 on the ARIA Singles Chart and being certified Nine times platinum by the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA).

The song featured in a GoPro TV advertising campaign in the USA.

"Riptide" was a worldwide commercial success, helping to launch Joy's career, and became the longest-charting song in ARIA Charts' history.

The song is also certified 5× platinum in the United States.

"Riptide" was inspired by a motel Joy visited as a kid.

"As a child, I used to go on family holidays down the coast of Australia", Joy told the Brand Alley blog.

"While we were there, we would stay at this motel called Riptide. So that's where that part of the idea came from."

He promoted his album on the Dream Your Life Away Tour, which began on 17 October 2013 in Dallas, Texas.

Joy released his debut studio album Dream Your Life Away on 5 September 2014 in Australia and on 9 September 2014 elsewhere.

In an interview with Soundcheck in January 2014, Joy discussed his upcoming studio album.

saying "I think there's always a bit of variety with my songwriting, so probably the EP is a good reflection of what the rest of the album will be like. It's all different songs, I guess, but all tied together in a way."

Joy said in an interview with Triple J about his stage name, "I was going through a Peter Carey phase and reading a lot of his books. There's a book called Bliss. The main character's name is Harry Joy and his grandfather is Vance Joy. He's the storyteller and a crazy old man. Plus, I thought it was a cool name."

On 15 July 2014, Joy announced the title of his debut album, Dream Your Life Away, which was released on 5 September 2014 in Australia, 9 September 2014 in the United States, and 15 September 2014 worldwide.

In July 2014, he released "Mess Is Mine" as the third overall single from the album, with the song peaking at number 37 in Australia.

He gave his first live concert with songs on the album in September 2014, in Melbourne.

On 7 September 2014, Joy released "First Time" as the fourth single from the album in the United Kingdom.

Joy was announced as the support act for Taylor Swift's 1989 World Tour on 3 November 2014.

Joy appeared on all the tour dates in North America, the United Kingdom and Australia.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2015, he won Best Male Artist.

"Georgia" was released as a single in February 2015.

A deluxe edition was released on 4 September 2015, which consisted of two new tracks and five live songs.

"Fire and the Flood" and "Straight into Your Arms" were also released as singles, with "Fire and the Flood" later being certified platinum by ARIA.

His second studio album, Nation of Two, was released in 2018, and his third studio album, In Our Own Sweet Time, was released in June 2022.