Air Supply

Air Supply

Artist

Air Supply are a soft rock duo formed in 1975. From 1980-1985 the band had a string of hits that charted well in the US, Canada, New Zealand and their homeland Australia.

After Graham Russell’s music was ignored by bandmates in two previous bands, he auditioned for and won a part as a chorus member in a Melbourne production of Jesus Christ Superstar. This is where he met and teamed up with Russell Hitchcock, who had missed the JCS auditions in Sydney – so he flew to Melbourne and landed a spot in the same chorus.

The two submitted a demo of two songs – “Love And Other Bruises” and “If You Knew Me” to CBS Records and got signed. The former went to #3 in Australia, so they assembled session musicians, released their self-titled debut album, and toured Australia.

Air Supply’s sophomore album was released eight months later, reaching #32 in Australia despite having no charting singles. The band then toured Australia and the US with Rod Stewart. While in the US, they re-recorded a handful of their singles and released it as Love And Other Bruises – a compilation specifically made for American audiences. Despite these efforts, Air Supply still couldn’t break onto the US pop chart.

The first single of their fourth album Life Support “Lost In Love” hit #13 in Australia and #3 in New Zealand in 1980. However, the band was still broke until Arista Records owner Clive Davis opted to release “Lost In Love” in North America, where it became a top five hit in both the US and Canada.

Over the next five years, Air Supply scored eleven internationally successful singles including “All Out of Love”, “Every Woman in the World”, “The One That You Love”, “Here I Am”, “Even the Nights Are Better” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All”. Eight of them reached the top 5 in the US. 1985’s “Just As I Am” would be their last big hit in North America, signifying the end of their peak era.

In 1986, “Lonely Is the Night” from their album Hearts in Motion only charted in the US, reaching a modest #76, then their 1987 holiday album found no chart success, so Air Supply went on hiatus. Russell Hitchcock released a solo album in 1988 and the single “Caught In Your Web” in 1990.

Air Supply reunited and released seven more albums between 1991 and 2010 that achieved little chart success internationally between them and their ten singles. During this time, the duo also released their first live DVD It Was 30 Years Ago Today and a compilation of their hits re-recorded acoustically titled The Singer And The Song. In 2013, they were inducted into the Australian ARIA Hall of Fame. In 2015 the duo released the single “I Adore You”.