(CelebrityAccess) – Sony Music has picked up Aussie pop-duo Savage Garden’s recorded catalogue in a new global deal.
While the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Sony acquired the group’s catalogue, which includes hits “Truly Madly Deeply,” “To The Moon and Back,” “I Knew I Loved You,” “I Want You” and the first two solo albums by frontman Darren Hayes, from Australian artist manager and music entrepreneur, John Woodruff, who sold ownership interests in the group’s masters represented by his company, John Woodruff Management (Exports) or JWM.
Hailing from Logan City, south of Brisbane, Hayes and bandmate Daniel Jones were the biggest thing to come out of Australia in the late 1990s. Though the pair split in 2001, their two studio albums have since sold 23 million copies worldwide.
Commenting on the news, Hayes said in a statement: “I will forever be indebted to John Woodruff who, in 1995, was the only ‘yes’ underneath a room full of rejection letters. He plucked us from obscurity and believed in us without any outside interference. His dedication to the idea of what we could be, catapulted us all the way from the suburbs of Brisbane Australia to the overwhelming madness of New York’s Madison Avenue and the hallowed halls of Columbia Records. That impossible journey profoundly changed all of our lives for the better.”
Jones added: “To finally be signed to our ‘now worldwide label’ in our home country is just perfect. Growing up in Australia and watching the success stories of artists behind the mastermind Denis Handlin and his amazing team at Sony has always been an inspiration for me. I could not be happier! I belong here, I plan to stay here, I am home.”
