Savage Garden consists of Daniel Jones (keyboards, guitar), Darren Hayes (vocals).
For the eponymous debut album, see Savage Garden (album). For the album by The 69 Eyes, see Savage Garden (69 Eyes album).
Savage Garden were an Australian pop duo that enjoyed international success over the course of several years. The band was comprised of Darren Hayes (vocals) and Daniel Jones (keyboards, sequencing, guitar).
In 1993, multi-instrumentalist and producer Daniel Jones placed an advertisement in Time Off, a newspaper in Brisbane, Australia, seeking a vocalist for his five-piece band Red Edge. Darren Hayes, who previously had been a kindergarten teacher, responded and was immediately asked to join.
In June 1994, Darren and Daniel left Red Edge to pursue a career together. The new duo was named “Savage Garden” - a name taken from The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice (“The mind of each man is a Savage Garden…”) of which Darren is a fan.
By the end of that year, the pair had penned enough songs for a demo tape, which they sent to various record companies around the world. In 1995 they entered the studio to work on their eponymous debut album.
In July of 1996, under Roadshow Music, the duo released their debut single “I Want You.” The single was a hit in Australia and became the highest-selling single of the year. The success of the single garnered much interest from many US record labels, and in September, Columbia Records won the bidding war to sign the band. In November, a second single, “To The Moon And Back,” was released and was another chart hit, reaching #1 in January of the following year.
“I Want You” was released in the US in February 1997, where it peaked at #4 and quickly achieved gold status. “Truly, Madly, Deeply," the band's third Australian single, was released in March and reached #1 just before “I Want You” was released across Europe in April. The duo’s debut album Savage Garden debuted in Australia at #1 in March and remained at the peak for seventeen weeks. Two weeks later it was released around the world. At the end of May, “To The Moon And Back” was the most played song on US radio.
