The hosts, nominees and top five for Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year have been announced for the centenary edition of the 2026 APRA Music Awards, to be held on Wednesday, April 29 at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
This year’s Song of the Year top five features three previous winners from across the musical spectrum. 2025 winners Amyl and the Sniffers are nominated for the playfully controversial Jerkin’, which is also up for Most Performed Rock Work; multi-award-winner Paul Kelly, with nephew and first-time nominee Dan Kelly, for Rita Wrote A Letter, the long-awaited follow up to How to Make Gravy; and two-time-winner Kevin Parker for Tame Impala’s slacker-rock hit Loser.
Heavy music is again being recognised at this years awards, with the keenly sought after Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Work a feature of the nnight. This years nominess are The Amity Affliction, Thornhill, Ocean Grove, Parkway Drive and Make Them Suffer. HEAVY sent out short Q & A’s to all bands, with todays focus being The Amity Affliction. Questions answered by guitarist Dan Brown.
Title: All That I Remember
Artist: The Amity Affliction
Written by: Joel Birch/Daniel Brown/Joseph Longobardi/Jonathan Reeves
Published by: Concord Music Publishing ANZ
HEAVY: You are one of five nominees for the 2026 Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Work APRA Music Award. What does it mean for your band to be nominated?
DAN: We’re again very appreciative and grateful to be nominated in this category. We have been a band for a very long time and to still be recognised in the industry in this way is amazing
HEAVY: The hard rock/metal category is still relatively new. How important is it to the Australian music industry, and especially bands from these genres to have this recognition?
DAN: It is extremely important to us that such an active genre of Australian music is being recognised for what it is in our country. The Rock/Metal scene in Australia has always been so strong, it’s very deserving in our opinion that artists within the genre and sub genres continue to be supported by the industry and public alike. We’re here to stay!
HEAVY: This year celebrates 100 years of APRA. Where do you see Australian hard rock and heavy metal in 10 years?
DAN: Bigger and better than ever! There are so many young Australian Rock and Heavy Metal bands coming through the industry now that are looking like they will stand the test of time. The scene looks really strong at the moment.
HEAVY: If you had to pick one band nominated other than yourself to win the Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Work Award, who would it be and why?
DAN: It’s gonna have to be Ocean Grove. We love all the other bands but we have a huge soft spot in the Amity camp for the OG boys.
HEAVY: Will you have a speech prepared or are you planning to wing it if your name gets called out on the night?
DAN: I think we’ll wing it? Seems possibly a little weird to sit down and write a speech for something you may or may not win. We’re just happy to be nominated!
HEAVY: What’s the rest of 2026 look like for The Amity Affliction?
DAN: We have our new album dropping on April 24, then a few months off from touring beginning in June. Then straight back into a bunch of touring towards the end of the year and closing it all out with a special (unannounced) one off performance.
