| 1989 ARIA Music Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | 6 March 1989 |
| Venue | Darling Harbour Convention Centre, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Most wins | Crowded House (4) |
| Most nominations |
|
| Website | ariaawards |
The Third Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs ) was held on 6 March 1989 at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney. [1] [2] First Australian host Greedy Smith of Mental As Anything was assisted by presenters George Martin, Jono & Dano, Barry Bissell of Take 40 Australia , Peter Collins, Peter Jamieson, Jonathan King and Brian Smith to distribute 24 awards. [1] [3] There were no live performances and the awards were not televised. [1]
Some significant changes were made for the third ARIA Awards. In addition to previous categories, Best Independent Release, Breakthrough Artist – Single and Breakthrough Artist – Album were added. [1] [3] The ARIA Hall of Fame inducted two artists: Dame Nellie Melba and Ross Wilson. [1] An Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to INXS. [1] Music journalist, Anthony O'Grady cited ARIA spokesperson Peter Rix, who had felt that The Church's win Single of the Year with "Under the Milky Way" was a highlight. [3] Rix elaborated, "the industry was capable of judging music on its merit, not by who'd recorded it. The Church were no one's darlings but they had written a great song." [3]
The ARIA Awards ceremony was hosted by singer-songwriter Greedy Smith from Mental as Anything. [3] Presenters were:
| Presenter(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|
| Barry Bissell (host of Take 40 Australia ) | [3] |
| Peter Collins (New South Wales politician) | |
| Peter Jamieson | |
| Jono & Dano (comedy duo) | |
| Jonathan King | |
| George Martin (British producer) | |
| Brian Smith | |
Winners for each category are bolded with nominees provided below each winner. [4] [5] [6]
The Hall of Fame inductees were:
| Nominations | Artist |
|---|---|
| 11 | John Farnham |
| 10 | Crowded House [a] |
| 9 | 1927 |
| 5 | The Black Sorrows |
| Kate Ceberano [b] | |
| INXS | |
| 4 | Wendy Matthews |
| Midnight Oil | |
| Kylie Minogue | |
| Schnell Fenster [a] | |
| 3 | Big Pig |
| Paul Field [c] | |
| Go 101 | |
| The Hippos | |
| The State | |
| 2 | Mary Azzopardi [d] |
| Daryl Braithwaite [b] | |
| Catfish | |
| The Church | |
| The Cockroaches | |
| Con the Fruiterer [e] | |
| Stephen Cummings [f] | |
| Smoky Dawson and Trevor Knight [g] | |
| Died Pretty | |
| Slim Dusty [g] | |
| Tommy Emmanuel [b] | |
| Flederman | |
| Flying Emus | |
| Renée Geyer [h] | |
| The Go-Betweens | |
| Johnny Diesel & the Injectors | |
| Grace Knight [i] | |
| Kylie Mole [e] | |
| John Schumann [b] | |
| Spy vs Spy | |
| Dave Steel [j] | |
| Sydney Symphony Orchestra [k] | |
| John Williamson [g] |
| Wins | Artist |
|---|---|
| 4 | Crowded House |
| 3 | John Farnham |
| INXS | |
| 2 | 1927 |
| Kate Ceberano | |
| The State |