Missy Higgins was one of the star performers at last night’s ARIA Awards, but she was also an award winner – something that came as a shock to her.

The Scar singer and ARIA Hall of Famer took home the Best Adult Contemporary Album Award for her latest record, The Second Act. A sequel album to her classic The Sound Of White, upon its release, it topped the ARIA Australian Albums Chart and the overall albums chart, 20 years to the day after her debut album, The Sound Of White, hit #1.

“I wrote all those songs in my late teens when I never thought anyone would hear them, so they were very personal, like I was writing my secrets in a diary,” Higgins said upon announcing her Sound Of White 20th anniversary tour in late 2023.

She continued to explain, “I did less of that on later albums for lots of reasons, but lately, I realised I’d gone back to that confessional mode of songwriting. I guess it’s been my way of dealing with the end of my marriage.

“So, I feel like I’ve come full circle… I was starting life from scratch at 20, and now, like lots of people, I’m figuring out how to start life all over again at 40. In that respect, this new album that I’m recording right now will be a kind of sequel to The Sound Of White.”

The Second Act is undoubtedly a special album for Higgins, and after being inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame last year, she didn’t exactly expect more accolades, especially not for such a personal album.

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Higgins reflected on the win on social media, writing: “Well, to be inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame last year then receive an ARIA for my new album The Second Act last night… I’m a bit speechless.”

She continued, “An album written by a woman in her 40s about divorce and single-parenting is not traditionally the sexiest thing you can do in this industry, but the reaction to these songs, despite them barely being played on the radio (let alone being added to any of the bloody streaming algorithms) has just filled me with so much gratitude that these stories obviously connected with so many of you.”

Higgins then thanked members of her team whom she had forgotten last night in the midst of the excitement, including her music video director, Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore, and her team at the record label EMI.

She concluded the post by thanking her devoted fans. “Most of all thank YOU, if you support my music, bought a ticket to a show or pre-ordered my album, you made it all come alive,” she wrote. On to the next chapter…”

Last night’s big winners at the ARIA Awards were Amyl And The Sniffers and Ninajirachi, taking home four and three awards, respectively. This year, You Am I were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

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