Hayley Jensen


Hayley Jensen is an Australian singer and songwriter who became well known after appearing on the second series of Australian Idol. She was the fourth finalist, leaving the show on 1 November. She spent three years as the lead vocalist of alternative rock band Seasons and dance-rock outfit Silver Cities. Toward the end of 2015, Hayley started writing a new record, an experience that guided her back to her Country roots. The EP "Past Tense and Present Peace" was released in February 2017 and made it #1 on the Australian iTunes Country chart followed in 2018 by the album "Turning Up The Dial" which she toured across Australia, the UK and Canada.

Early life

Hayley was born in Albury, New South Wales, but has lived in Canberra for most of her life. Before entering the Australian Idol competition, she studied Jazz vocals at the ANU whilst completing year 11–12, and then went on to study Economics and Management at the University of Canberra.

Early Career

''Australian Idol''

In 2004, Jensen audition for Australian Idol. She did not progress from her hometown of Canberra, but travelled to Sydney to try again and was successful. Hayley was selected for a spot in the Final 12 and continued in the competition for a number of weeks, eventually placing 4th.

Post-''Idol'' activities

After Australian Idol, Hayley formed her own record label, released a solo album and released a number of singles, music videos and toured the country. She performed for Coalition Forces in Iraq, for the Prime Minister on a number of occasions, and at all major entertainment centres around Australia.
In March 2010, Jensen co-founded alternative pop/rock band Seasons with drummer Peter Wright and guitarist Sam Young. The band released their debut EP "A Moment of Clarity" on 15 April 2011. In late 2012, Seasons changed their name to Silver Cities, and released their first single, 'Lights'. They toured as a supporting act for Evermore on their 'Hero' National Tour. In November 2013, Hayley and her band received an award for their single 'Lights' at the 2013 Australian Independent Music Awards.
In 2015, Hayley joined Casey Donovan, Doug Williams and Darren Mapes, in a concert celebrating the songs and life of Burt Bacharach.

''The Voice Australia''

Hayley auditioned for the third season of the Australian version of The Voice. She performed the song Freefallin in the episode broadcast on 7 May 2014. Coaches Will.i.am and Kylie Minogue pressed their buttons on time, but Joel Madden pressed too late attracting a lot of national media attention after he fell on the ground when his chair unexpectedly turned around. Hayley chose to join Kylie Minogue's team.

Return to country music

2016 saw Hayley return to country music with her new ukulele laden single "The One" released on Friday 15 January. Hayley was nominated as a Toyota Star Maker Finalist at the Tamworth Country Music Festival 2016 where she performed at the iconic Tamworth Town Hall on Sunday 17 January together with 9 other finalists from across Australia. She subsequently released the single "I'll Always Love You" and "Young Years", followed by her EP "Past Tense & Present Peace" which made it to #1 in the Australian iTunes Country Chart.
Hayley's new single "Summertime Soundtrack" was revealed on 6 November 2017 under the Social Family Records label. Hayley was a finalist in the 2018 Country Music Channel Awards for New Artist of the Year. She released a second single "Saturday Night" from her album "Turning Up The Dial" on 26 March 2018 with the album coming out on 11 May 2018. 2 more singles from the album were released: "Forever Won't Be Long Enough" and "This Love" respectively on 3 August 2018 and 19 November 2018, both accompanied by music videos played on online media and the Country Music Channel.At the end of 2018, Hayley was announced as the winner of the Australian Female Artist of The Year award in Planet Country's Music For A New Generation Awards. She released 2 more singles of her album in 2019: "Next Big Thing" and the title track "Turning Up the Dial".
Hayley toured ‘Turning Up The Dial’ across the south east coast of Australia before heading to Manchester in the UK in 2018 to perform as a headline international act at Buckle & Boots Country Music Festival alongside popular international acts, American Young, Filmore and Jenn Bostic and to Canada in 2019 to perform at Calgary Stampede & Dauphin’s CountryFest.
Early 2020 Hayley re-released Sarah McLachlan's Angel, the song which got her to the top 12 in Australian Idol, this time as a duet with Australian Country Artist Beccy Cole.

Discography

Albums