# Ziggy Alberts

Ziggy Alberts (born July 1994) is an Australian singer-songwriter. He is best known for his studio album Laps Around the Sun, which peaked at number 2 on the ARIA Charts for Australian Artist Albums in November 2018.

## Early life

Ziggy Alberts was born in July 1994 and grew up on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland and was homeschooled until the age of 13. Alberts told Triple J "I was looking into dentistry and engineering – no creative stuff". On 31 December 2010, his parents gave the budding dentist a guitar as a graduation gift. He said "I wasn't planning to be a musician, so I was like 'Thanks for this present but…' They said, 'maybe it's time to explore songwriting, and it's just gone from there." Alberts attended public school on the Sunshine Coast and graduated when he was 16 years old.

## Career
### 2011–2016: Career beginnings

Alberts picked up a guitar in 2011 and began busking down the East Coast of Australia. In 2012, he released his first self-released EP titled Feels Like Home. Shortly after, Alberts co-founded his own record label Commonfolk Records. In October 2013, he released his first studio album Made of Water and spent most of 2014 touring before releasing his second studio album Land & Sea in December 2014.
In October 2015, Alberts released the single "Runaway" Alberts said "Runaway is a song about reopening up a relationship that heavily affected my emotional trust, in order to become friends and heal those trust issues." In May 2016, Alberts released the 5-track EP Four Feet in the Forest; the EP highlights social and environmental issues. He performed 44 shows across Australia in 2016 with the "Start Over Summer Tour".

### 2017–2018: Laps Around the Sun

In 2017, Alberts toured 11 European countries as part of the "Tell Me European Tour", including festival performances in France (Fête de la Musique), Netherlands (Mundial Festival and Surfana Festival) and Germany (Bochum Total). In September 2017, Alberts released "Heaven", the first single from his forthcoming studio album. The song became his first song to make the ARIA Singles Chart, debuting and peaking at number 85. "Love Me Now" was released in May 2018, followed by "Laps Around the Sun" in August and "Stronger" in September 2018. In November 2018, Alberts released his third studio album Laps Around the Sun, which became his first charting album, peaking at number 9 on the ARIA Album Chart and number 2 on the ARIA Australian Artist Albums. The album is a metaphor about the Earth's rotation in a passionate message about the importance of protecting marine life.

### 2019: A Postcard from an Australian Summer and further singles

In July 2019, a live EP titled A Postcard from an Australian Summer was released. In August, a new single "Intentions (22)" was released.
On 19 December 2019, ARIA presented Alberts with gold certifications for six songs and platinum certification for two songs and an EP.

### 2020-2021: I Won't Give You Up and Searching for Freedom

In January 2020, Alberts released the single "Together", in response to the Australian Bushfire Crisis. The artist donated 10% of streaming income from the first month of this single release to organisations involved with the Bushfire relief.
In June 2020, Alberts released the single "Don't Get Caught Up". The single was criticized for its possible lyrical allusions to anti-vaccination and anti-5G conspiracy theories. Alberts responded to the controversy with social media posts in which he reiterated his opposition to, specifically, "…the potential for punishment and fines if people do not comply" with mask mandates and lockdowns enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August 2020, Alberts release a collaborative EP I Won't Give You Up with prolific Sydney Hip Hop duo, Horrorshow.
In September 2020, Alberts released his fourth album, Truly Acoustic.
In November 2020, Ziggy Alberts announced details of his studio album Searching for Freedom, released on 19 March 2021.
In November 2021, Alberts announced his Commonfolk Records, had signed a global distribution deal with Ingrooves Music. On 5 November 2021, Alberts released "I Believe".

### 2022: Dancing in the Dark

In May 2022, Alberts announced the forthcoming release of his fifth studio album, Dancing in the Dark. The album is due for release on 4 November 2022.

## Discography
### Albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Title | Album details | AUS | Certifications |
| Made of Water | Released: 3 October 2013 Label: Commonfolk Formats: CD, digital download | — | |
| Land & Sea | Released: 12 December 2014 Label: Commonfolk Formats: CD, digital download | — | ARIA: Gold |
| Laps Around the Sun | Released: 9 November 2018 Label: Commonfolk Formats: CD, digital download, LP, streaming | 9 | ARIA: 2× Platinum |
| Searching for Freedom | Released: 19 March 2021 Label: Commonfolk Formats: CD, digital download, LP, streaming | 27 | |
| Dancing in the Dark | Released: 4 November 2022 Label: Commonfolk Formats: CD, digital download, LP, streaming | — | |
| New Love | Released: 21 February 2025 Label: Commonfolk Formats: CD, digital download, LP, streaming | 18 | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. ||||

### EPs

List of extended plays :
| Title | EP details | Certifications |
| Feels Like Home | Released: 2012 Label: self-released Format: Digital download | |
| Four Feet in the Forest | Released: 9 May 2016 Label: Commonfolk Format: Digital download | ARIA: 2× Platinum |
| A Postcard from an Australian Summer | Released: 26 July 2019 Label: Commonfolk Format: Digital download, streaming | |
| I Won't Give You Up (with Horrowshow) | Released: 21 August 2020 Label: Commonfolk Format: Digital download, streaming | |
| Truly Acoustic | Released: 2 October 2020 Label: Commonfolk Formats: digital download, LP, streaming | |

### Singles

List of singles as lead artist :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | AUS | NZ Hot | Certifications | Album |
| "Simple Things (The Ocean Song)" | 2013 | — | — | | Made of Water |
| "Days in the Sun" | 2014 | — | — | ARIA: 2× Platinum | Land & Sea |
| "Gone (The Pocahontas Song)" | 2014 | — | — | ARIA: 2× Platinum | Land & Sea |
| "Runaway" | 2015 | — | — | ARIA: 3× Platinum | Four Feet in the Forest |
| "Four Feet in the Forest" | 2016 | — | — | ARIA: Gold | Four Feet in the Forest |
| "Heaven" | 2017 | 85 | — | ARIA: Platinum | Laps Around the Sun |
| "Love Me Now" | 2018 | 199 | — | ARIA: 2× Platinum | Laps Around the Sun |
| "Juke Jam" (Triple J Like a Version) | 2018 | — | — | | Like a Version: Volume Fourteen |
| "Laps Around the Sun" | 2018 | 149 | — | ARIA: 3× Platinum | Laps Around the Sun |
| "Stronger" | 2018 | — | — | ARIA: Platinum | Laps Around the Sun |
| "Yu (A Song for Koda)" | 2018 | — | — | | Laps Around the Sun |
| "On Hold" | 2018 | — | — | ARIA: Gold | Laps Around the Sun |
| "Bright Lights" | 2019 | — | — | ARIA: Gold | Laps Around the Sun |
| "Intentions (22)" | 2019 | — | — | ARIA: Gold | — |
| "Together" | 2020 | — | 24 | ARIA: Platinum ARIA: Gold (Instrumental) | Searching for Freedom |
| "Don't Get Caught Up" | 2020 | — | — | ARIA: Gold | Searching for Freedom |
| "Heaven Part 2" (with Horrorshow) | 2020 | — | — | | I Won't Give You Up |
| "Heartbeat" | 2020 | — | — | ARIA: Gold | Searching for Freedom |
| "Letting Go" | 2021 | — | — | ARIA: Gold | Searching for Freedom |
| "I Believe" | 2021 | — | — | | Dancing in the Dark |
| "Tattoos" | 2022 | — | — | | Dancing in the Dark |
| "The Great Divide" | 2022 | — | — | | Dancing in the Dark |
| "The Sun and the Sea" (with Donovan Woods) | 2022 | — | — | | Dancing in the Dark |
| "Campfire" | 2022 | — | — | | Dancing in the Dark |
| "Rewind" | 2022 | — | — | | Dancing in the Dark |
| "New Love" | 2024 | — | — | | New Love |
| "Outlaw" | 2024 | — | — | | New Love |
| "Where Does the Love Go?" | 2024 | — | — | | New Love |
| "Singing for Country" | 2024 | — | — | | New Love |
| "I'm With You" | 2025 | — | — | | New Love |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. ||||||

### Other certified songs

List of other certified songs :
| Title | Year | Certifications | Album |
| "Follow the Ocean" | 2013 | ARIA: Gold | Made of Water |
| "Youngblood" | 2013 | ARIA: Gold | Made of Water |
| "Hands I Can Hold" | 2014 | ARIA: Platinum | Land & Sea |
| "Better Off" | 2016 | ARIA: Gold | Four Feet in the Forest |
| "Start Over" | 2016 | ARIA: Gold | Four Feet in the Forest |
| "Tell Me" | 2016 | ARIA: Gold | Four Feet in the Forest |
| "Worn Out " | 2018 | ARIA: Gold | Laps Around The Sun |

## Awards and nominations
### AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| 2023 | Dancing in the Dark | Best Independent Blues and Roots Album or EP | Nominated | |

### APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Alberts has been nominated for one award.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
| 2019 | "Love Me Now" | Song of the Year | Shortlisted |
| 2020 | "Laps Around the Sun" | Most Performed Blues & Roots Work of the Year | Nominated |
| 2021 | "Together" | Most Performed Blues & Roots Work of the Year | Nominated |
| 2022 | "Letting Go" | Most Performed Blues & Roots Work of the Year | Won |
| 2023 | "I Believe" | Most Performed Blues & Roots Work of the Year | Nominated |
| 2024 | Dancing in the Dark | Most Performed Blues & Roots Work of the Year | Won |

### ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual ceremony presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| 2021 | Searching for Freedom | Best Blues and Roots Album | Nominated | |
| 2023 | Dancing in the Dark | Best Blues and Roots Album | Nominated | |

### Environmental Music Prize

The Environmental Music Prize is a quest to find a theme song to inspire action on climate and conservation. It commenced in 2022.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| 2023 | "Together" | Environmental Music Prize | Nominated | |