'F*ck, I Love Rock & Roll': You Am I's ARIA Hall Of Fame Acceptance Speech In Full

The story of this year’s ARIA Awards belonged to Amyl And The Sniffers and Ninajirachi, two Australian acts who tear things up in their respective genres and prove just how exciting Australian music is.

• Amyl And The Sniffers, Ninajirachi Win Big At 2025 ARIA Awards

But it was the induction of You Am I (and a stunning performance from Missy Higgins) that ensured that not a dry eye was left in the Hordern Pavilion.

With undeniable songs and swagger, You Am I are one of the country’s most loved rock and roll bands, with Daniel Johns - who had the honour of inducting the band into the ARIA Hall of Fame - admitting that without You Am I, there would be no Silverchair.

After Amyl And The Sniffers accepted their fourth award of the night - for Album of the Year - You Am I took to the stage and performed renditions of Heavy Heart and Berlin Chair.

Accepting the induction, You Am I’s Davey Lane, Rusty Hopkinson, Andy Kent, and Tim Rogers each made speeches, with the sentiment, “Fuck, I love rock and roll” echoing across the country.

You can read their speeches below.

Davey Lane:

I saw You Am I play and thought, ‘That’s the fucking coolest band I’ve seen in my life!’ I think that's how my thoughts were voiced at that time… To stand alongside my mates here, well, the same band who are now my best mates for many of those years is a real trip.

There are a few people to thank, but I just want to thank Tim, Russ and Andy for letting me join their rock band, and if anyone ever offers you the opportunity to make art or do cool things with cool people, just fucking take it, because it's never not worthwhile, and it could change your life too. So thank you.

Rusty Hopkinson:

Thirty-two years ago, I got a phone call from Tim Rogers. I was working at a record company. I'd retired from playing the drum set to begin a more sensible life, and he said, ‘Do you want to have a jam?’

So yeah, and that jam turned into the most amazing experience of my life, and ended up in some of the best relationships and friendships I've ever had, not just the three gentlemen behind me, but a whole slew of people. Too many to name, but I'd like to thank my wonderful wife Andrea, my mother, Maxine, who's 91 and still coming to rock and roll shows, and the extended Hopkinson family.

I've been playing drums in bands for 45 years, and there are a lot of old rock and roll soldiers I can thank. I'd just like to give a shout-out to Greg Hitchcock and thank you all very much.

Andy Kent:

I feel very grateful to be playing music with these guys. They're quite amazing, but also more grateful to be still really good friends with them after all this time.

We'd like to thank a few people who've been really close with the band over the years and have worked really hard with passion. Mariana from Universal Publishing, Shauna from Universal Music… Van Picken from Sony, and two of the hardest working guys in show business, our crew guys have worked 50 shows this year.

Wes and Clinton. Thank you to those guys sitting up over here, Ritchie and Maya, thanks for your patience, I love you. Annette, I love you. Charles, I love you. But ultimately, without the people out there that buy those records, put the needle on that disc and buy those tickets and tattoo our faces on their naked bodies, and there's actually a few out here without them, this doesn't happen. So thank you.

Tim Rogers:

Showbiz!

Oh, the music industry, you do keep company with some nefarious people. We don't understand the industry, but it is lovely, and we're very grateful to be asked to sit at the parents’ table. Your canopies are delicious, and your wine looks delicious.

It’s wonderful to see lots of old friends here today. 94% of them are working behind the scenes on the crew, and once again, we reiterate that they are not called Roadies. They are called prospective consensual, romantic partners.

Thirty-six years ago, I was extremely sick and had no prospect to do anything, and my brother and my best friend asked me to join their band, and it gave me a life. At the start of this year, I was sick again in hospital. My mate Andy Kent called me and said, ‘Let's get the band back together.’ Well, we've never broken up, but let's go out on tour, and not for the 100th time, it gave me the opportunity to have a life.

Fuck, I love rock and roll.

The part about it I love the most is that writing gives me a purpose to live, to express to people how I feel about them through writing rather than other more courageous ways. My three best friends, for taking these abstract, miserable songs that I write and turning them into something that's enjoyable for the public.

There have been a lot of very, very big festivals, big shows, some overseas bands touring and getting your photo taken amongst 80,000 people is very exciting. I understand that the spectacle of that, but there are so many great venues, Link & Link in Woy Woy, Trash Cult in Eaglehawk, Bendigo, that put on shows whenever they can, whenever they can afford it.

And by buying a ticket, going to those shows and taking a punt on something, something you've never heard of, you may have been a crowd of 12 people, but by doing that, you're part of this great art experiment. You're not necessarily a fan, but you are a fan, which I think is the most noble thing of all, to be passionate about, something I know because we're just fans who dress considerably better.

Plus, I would really love to thank our first manager, the first person who believed in us, Kate Stewart, Todd Wagstaff, to my dear darling Big Brother, Jaimme, thank you for asking me to join your band. To Mark Tunaley, who played on our first recordings, to my beautiful Alice, who I absolutely adore, and to my wonderful, wonderful, extraordinary daughter, Ruby. Thank you so much for travelling so far, and hopefully, we'll see you all out there on the road of endless possibilities.