1985 – 1993 THE BEGINNING

Hines grew up in Australia.  From a tender age she sat side of stage, under stage or in the dressing rooms of Theatres and venues around the country whilst her mother, Marcia performed.  During school years, Deni wanted to be a forensic pathologist, until she fell into a modelling contract and left school at 17 years of age. It was by chance whilst singing in the kitchen at a friend’s place that she drew the attention of Paul Gray from the group Wa Wa Nee who immediately enlisted Deni into the studio to do some backing vocals and the rest is now a continuing history.

Her earliest employment was backing vocals for such artists as Kylie Minogue (her Rhythm of Love Tour, Australia and Far East 1991), Jimmy Barnes, Wa Wa Nee and Peter Blakeley before she was approached by the band ROCKMELONS to provide vocals for several of their songs.

The first song that Hines released with the Rockmelons collaboration was a cover version of the Bill Withers 70’s hit “Ain’t No Sunshine” in 1991.  The song proved to be a success charting at #5 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.  With the success of the first single, the reggae-inspired “That Word (L.O.V.E)” was the second song released with the collaboration and became another Top 5 single, charting at #4 in Australia.  The third and final song released with the band was the ballad “Its Not Over”.  The song was also a success charting at #15 in Australia. With the success with the Rockmelons, Hines became one of the most well known faces and voices in Australia.

In 1992, entrepreneur Harry M. Miller signed Hines for the role of Mary Magdalene in a revival of the stage musical “Jesus Christ Superstar”.  Miller had discovered and signed her mother Marcia some twenty years earlier, and the role of Mary Magdalene had also been one of Marcia’s early successes.  Deni Hines was well received in the role but left the production the following year to continue to pursue her solo recording career.  In 1992 Deni recorded “Not Enough Time” with INXS and it peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100, a year later she married the band’s guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly.

1994 – 1999 AUSTRALIA & INTERNATIONAL CHART SUCCESS

After 3 hit singles with the Rockmelons, Hines was signed to Mushroom Records and released her first solo single “It’s Alright” in 1995 and it became one of the year’s biggest hits in Australia charting at #4 on the Australian ARIA Singles Charts and winning an ARIA Award for “Breakthrough Artist – Single”.  “Imagination”, the second song solo by Hines was released at the beginning of 1996 and peaked at #37 on the chart.  With two songs released from the album, Hines released her debut album Imagination on 25 May 1996 and became a hit, charting at #15 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and was nominated for two ARIA Awards; “Breakthrough Artist – Album” and “Best Female Artist”.  “I Like The Way” and “I’m Not In Love” (a cover of the 10 cc’s song) were the album’s third and fourth singles charting just outside the Top 50.  “I’m Not In Love” gave Hines a further two ARIA Award nominations for “Best Pop Release” and “Best Female Artist”.  “Imagination was also released in Japan on 24 July 1996 with “It’s Alright” hitting the #1 Chart position and the album reaching sales in excess of 300,000, making the total sales for the album Imagination 2.5 million worldwide.

In order to properly promoter her album in Great Britain, Hines moved to the UK in 1997 and re-issued her album under the title “Pay Attention” and toured with the Lighthouse Family, Earth, Wind & Fire and Chaka Kahn as well as performing at an invitation only event hosted by Prince Andrew.  “It’s Alright” was released in the UK in 1997 and peaked at #35 on the singles chart (included remixes by D-Influence and G Division).  The track also peaked at #22 in France.  Further hits such as “I Like The Way”, “Joy” and “Delicious” (produced by Don-E) followed with strong radio airplay.  In 1998, Hines cracked the U.S market on the dance charts with “Joy” and “I Like The Way” both peaking in the Top 20 US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Charts.  Hines released an album of remixed songs from her Imagination and Pay Attention albums on 14 July 1998 titled “Remix your imagination”.  Also included on the remix album for Japan was the track “Dream Your Dream” specifically written and recorded for a Japanese TV show, hit the charts and is still played on radio in Japan up until this day.

2000 – 2005        SOUNDTRACKS, TV, FRANCE

In 2000, Hines did a cover version of the Grace Jones song “Pull Up to the Bumper” (featuring The Black Eyed Peas) for the soundtrack of the 2000 Australian film The Wog Boy.  In 2002 saw Hines release a “Greatest Hits” album “A DELICIOUS COLLECTION” based on contractual commitments with her then record company Festival Mushroom.  Headed by the new single “Frenzy”, the album also included “What Makes You A Man”, one of the tracks written for Luc Beeson’s iconic movie “Taxi”.  The album served as a showcase from her early Rockmelons and debut solo years, ending with hints of future directions to come.  Turning her hand to television presenting in 2002/3, Deni became the host for Channel V’s urban/R&B show “Soul Kitchen”.  As host for 2 years Hines showed her quick wit and vivacious personality could excel in any medium, with a balance of both humour and unchallenged knowledge in the urban genres.

For the most part of 2004/5 Deni was travelling to London, New York and LA writing tracks for her new album, the first in over 6 years.  Working with the likes of The Family Stand (Heather Leadley, Tamia and their own releases), Jarrad Rogers (Delta Goodrem, Brand New Heavies, Guy Sebastien), Whole 9 in LA (Babyface’s production team) and the cream of the Australian scene, Deni had grown as a writer like none before.  Whilst in London, Deni received a call from well known multi-million selling French artist I:AM with the request to fly to Marseille to co-write for his new album.  In 48 hours 2 songs were written “Peur de Vivre” and “Par Envie” plus Deni co-wrote and vocalled the track “Welcome” which was immediately played down the phone to Beyonce to delight and the song was greenlit.  “It was so bizarre and quick” says Deni.  “Beyonce is one of the biggest female artists in the world and I get called up to write a song for her, which is always an honour for any artist” comments Deni.  All 3 songs featured on I:AM’s album title “Platinum”.

In February 2005, Deni was approached to audition for the a lead role in the new musical extravaganza on Dusty Springfield, “Dusty: The Original Pop Diva”.  The audition was a success and Deni accepted the role of Reno, a collective of characters closely involved in Dusty’s life.

In November 2005, Deni was invited to perform in Beijing for the annual Australian Film Festival.  Along with Kristy Hinze and Ben Mendelsohn the 4 day sojourn was a huge success for the Department of Foreign Affairs and the export business of Australian content, products and services.

2006 – present:  DUSTY THE MUSICAL, WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, THE OTHER WOMAN, TAKING IT TO THE STREETS, MAO’S LAST DANCER & AFRICA

In January 2006, Dusty the musical hit the theatres nationally in Australia and ran until September grossing over $A20M at the box office, performing to over 400,000 people across 253 shows.  Deni was also nominated for a prestigious Helpmann Award for Best Supporting Actress in a musical.

In August 2006, Hines released her brand new album WATER FOR CHOCOLATE which surprised and delighted both her fans and peers, with a new found confidence, direction and image.  Three singles were released from the album over the period of 2006/7, the title track “Water For Chocolate” (#28 ARIA Singles Chart), “Son of a Preacher Man” (a Dusty Springfield cover) and “5 Days of Rain”.  Deni hit the road touring the album to an increased audience and delighted fans seeing her return to the stage again.

Not resting on her laurels and always up for a new challenge, Deni made a call to Australian and International Jazz maestro, James Morrison.  A meeting two days later at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney airport and the album “THE OTHER WOMAN” was formalised and recording dates set.  Having spent most of her childhood listening to classics by Ella and Billie from her grandmother, and re-acquainting herself with this heritage of music which was inspired by her time on Dusty, Deni was yearning to let another part of her musicality and personality out.  “The Other Woman” is a 16 track collective of covers by some of the greats Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin and included 2 new original works “(tired of being) The Other Woman” and “Wake Up”, penned by Deni and James.  Released in August 2007, the album hit the top of the Australian Jazz Charts and Top 30 on the digital charts.  A near sell out National Theatre Tour concluded in late February 2008 with additional Festival performances throughout the year such as the ChristChurch Jazz Festival, Melbourne Jazz Festival and Darling Harbour Jazz Festival.  The album scored an ARIA Fine Arts nomination, the first for Deni in her career in this elite field.

Having been “titta” label mates for many years and bumping into each other at events, Deni and Christine Anu decided that it would be fun to tour together.  In May 2008 a three month Easter Coast tour was underway.  In June 2008, Deni received a call to audition for what would be her first feature film role in “Mao’s Last Dancer”.  She successful secured the position of an American reporter and was in awe of working with acclaimed director Bruce Beresford.  “Mao’s Last Dancer” was released to cinema in September 2009.

Throughout 2008 and 2009 Deni was a regular guest on Channel 9’s successful program 20 to 1.  Always one to speak her mind, Deni’s candid response to segments has drawn much praise from the public for being honest and true to herself and often saying what others think.

In January 2009, Deni and Christine Anu decided to do it all again but with another special purpose in mind.  They recorded a cover of the Doobie Bros hit “Takin’ It To the Streets” to raise awareness for the Salvation Army’s Oasis Youth Appeal for the homeless.  In addition they released a 2 hour live DVD of the same title and hit the road for another 3 month tour.
In May 2009, Deni was invited to perform in Papua New Guinea at Parliament House for the Orchid Society’s Operation Open Heart gala event.  The 2 shows were a huge success and Deni was mobbed everywhere she went.  A visit to the local hospital, a greeting by the tribal highlanders and welcome ceremony at a local village were also highlights of the trip.
In October and November 2009, Deni featured as a special guest for select Women of Soul “A Tribute To Michael Jackson” shows around Sydney and New South Wales, alongside Casey Donovan, Prinnie Stevens and Madame Parker.

On the 2nd December 2009, Deni became the ambassador for the humanitarian charity Oasis Africa Australia launched by a gala event at the Water Bar in Sydney which raised over $100k for the cause.  In January 2010 Deni went to Kibera, Kenya to see firsthand the on ground work done by the organisation, work with the children in the school as well as commence recording a new album inspired by and featuring some of the children from the Oasis Africa school and local musicians.  The album is slated to be released late 2010.
In May 2010 Deni will once again return to Papua New Guinea to perform and assist in raising funds for the Operation Open Heart foundation alongside the Orchid Society of PNG.
Throughout 2010 Deni will also be performing in regional areas throughout Australia.