Big, Beautiful, and Sexy

Black women have been making music from the beginning of time. Traditional songs and rhythms passed down from grandmothers and aunts and mothers to the next generation of women. The first recording by an Australian black woman though appears to be a wax cylinder recording of Aboriginal songs in an indigenous Tasmanian language, by Fanny Cochrane Smith in the late 1890s and 1903. Since then, the music of the Australian First People has metamorphosed over time to the songs we are familiar with from the 20th and 21st centuries. There is not a large number of native Australian female musicians, but among the pioneering Aboriginal women musicians to become known in the music industry were Georgia Lee and Wilma Reading who paved the way for Auriel Andrew, Ruby Hunter, and more recently Deborah Cheetham, Christine Anu, Jessica Mauboy, and Casey Donovan.

Casey Donovan is a gutsy, strong woman who has moved me to tears with her powerful voice. The youngest ever winner of Australian Idol at the age of 16 in 2004, Casey has become a multi-award winner for her work as a musician, as well as performing on stage in theatre, again receiving accolades from the industry and award nominations. She has appeared on multiple television programs as well as presenting her own program, Fusion, showcasing indigenous music.

Despite her biological father being a member of the country music band, the Donovans, with his brothers, music wasn’t really a big deal with Casey until she reached high school and formed a band with some friends.

Casey has battled more than a few demons. Her story is one of heartache, anxiety, and a lack of self-worth. She doesn’t fit with the accepted image of the ideal size and weight for a woman and has struggled with her body image. Two years after winning Australian Idol her resulting record deal with Sony was axed.

She has battled with the aftermath of the failure of a six-year “romance” with a catfish, and her humiliation at admitting that it was actually a woman who had created the male persona of a man whom she had never actually met. She confessed in an interview with Australian television presenter, Andrew Denton “That was my world, done…I wanted to die”.

She drove for Uber for a while and drove a bus for Aboriginal elders, but she finally returned to music better and stronger than ever. Her disappointment with her love life as well as her struggles with her body image emerge in her song Big, Beautiful and Sexy and her biography with the same title. This is such a powerful piece of music. Her renditions of “The Flame”, “Beautiful”, “Listen With Your Heart” and joining Cyndi Lauper with “True Colors” are truly goosebump-creating and I never tire of listening to them. They tell her life story and her challenges.

She continues to face her fears and her insecurities about her image and despite being the only “plus-size” lady in the group she somehow found the confidence to bare all on the Full Monty: Ladies Night, the aim of which was to raise awareness for women’s health, mainly breast cancer, and continues to act as Ambassador for RU OK, MMAD and Camp Quality, we well as supporting a number of other charitable and non-profit organisations.

This beautiful Australian black woman is a true trailblazer for her people and for women in general. Her struggles are real but she has overcome and continues to overcome them and this is a testament to her resilience and strength. I am certain she will continue to make music and to face the future with spirit and I look forward to hearing more from this amazing artist.