Shannon Noll (born 16 September 1975) is an Australian singer, who came to prominence when he was runner-up of the first series of Australian Idol (2003). Noll is from the small town of Condobolin in outback western New South Wales and was working in farms shearing sheep amongst other things. He had singing experience with the band Cypress, with his two brothers, which toured around the Australian outback.
During the 2003 Australian Idol series finals, Noll sang:
Top 12 Heat - "Better Man" The '70's - "Help Is on Its Way" Australian Number Ones - "What About Me" Aussie Made - "Already Gone" The '80's - "Livin' on a Prayer" R&B/Soul - "Higher and Higher" and "When a Man Loves a Woman" Big Band - "Under My Skin" and "New York, New York" The '60's - "One (Is the Lonelist Number)" and "Hey Jude" Contestant's Choice - "Please Forgive Me", "Working Class Man" and "Angels Brought Me Here" Noll's style of music is melodic pop-rock heavily influenced by the likes of Bryan Adams. His debut single "What About Me" (a cover of the song by Moving Pictures) was released on 5 January 2004. The video was entirely filmed in Condobolin and in one scene features most of the townspeople in the town square. His debut album That's What I'm Talking About was released in February 2004 and was certified multi-platinum by July 2004.
Noll's increasing popularity saw him star in his own high rating one hour TV special on the Ten Network, Up Close with Shannon Noll, hosted by Australian Idol judge Ian "Dicko" Dickson on 2 August 2004.
Noll now lives in Sydney, but visits Condobolin regularly to see family and friends.
In October 2004, Noll became the first Australian Idol contestant to achieve success outside Australia when his single "What About Me" reached number two in Ireland. Noll was also approached by the Nine Network to re-record the World Series Cricket song "C'mon Aussie, C'mon" with updated lyrics, for release on December 19, 2004. In December, 2004 it was announced that Noll would star in the stage musical production of Grease, set to appear in Australian theatres in May, 2005.
He has two children, Cody and Blake, with his wife Rochelle Ogsten. They were married on October 2, 2004.
On August 25, 2005 his single "Shine" was released to Australian radio, while his "Lift" album was released on October 3 and debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts. "Shine" has since reached number one on the ARIA charts and is easily one of the most-played songs on Australian radio in 2005. In 2006 "Shine" was used by UK Channel Five as the theme music for its cricket coverage.
Noll has now become the most successful singer from the Australian Idol series, surpassing Guy Sebastian (winner of Series One) who also has three number one singles, and Anthony Callea (runner-up of Series Two) who has two number 1 singles.
