Deborah Ann Conway (born 8 August 1959) is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actress. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their top-5 hit "Man Overboard".
Conway performs solo and has a top-20 hit single with "It's Only the Beginning" (1991). The associated album, String of Pearls, also peaked in the top 20. She won the ARIA Award for Best Female Artist at the 1992 awards. Her next album, Bitch Epic, reached the top 20 in November 1993. Conway organised and performed on the Broad Festivals from 2005 to 2008—show-casing contemporary Australian female artists.
Early life and education
Deborah Ann Conway was born on 8 August 1959 in Melbourne, Victoria. Melinda Schneider, Mia Dyson, Kate Miller-Heidke, Conway, and Ella Hooper in 2006; Anne McCue, Sally Seltmann, Conway, Jade Macrae, and Abbe May in 2007; and Laura Jean, Elana Stone, Liz Stringer, Dianna Corcoran, and Conway in 2008.
2023: Book of Life
In September 2023, Conway and Zygier premiered their musical theatrical show, Songs From The Book of Life, at the Brisbane Festival, based on Conway's forthcoming memoir. On 3 October 2023, Conway published her memoir, Book of Life. It was shortlisted for the 2024 Nib Literary Award.
In August 2025, Conway and Zygier released the album Right Wing Propaganda.
Portraits and other recognition
In 1996, a portrait of Conway as Medusa, painted by Rosemary Valadon, was a finalist in the Archibald Prize. The prize is awarded for the "best portrait painting preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics".
Personal life
Conway was in a relationship with Paul Hester before he moved to Los Angeles in 1985. Conway is married to guitarist and musical collaborator Willy Zygier. In 2024 in the context of reactions to the Gaza war, Conway described her efforts to expose "the antisemitism among the 'good', the 'kind', the 'righteous', the 'educated' - people I never imagined would fall for it".
In a radio interview with ABC Australia in 2023 she disputed the large number of children being killed by Israel. "It depends what you call kids. You see 16-, 17-year-olds, young boys, toting rifles. Unfortunately Hamas recruits boys that are not men yet," she said.
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:20em;"| Album details
! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"| Certifications
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br />
|-
! scope="row"| String of Pearls
|
- Released: 14 October 1991
- Label: Mushroom <small>(D30601)</small>
- Formats: CD, Cassette
| 20
|
- ARIA: Gold
- Label: Mushroom <small>(MUSH33055.2)</small>
- Formats: CD
| 79
|
|-
! scope="row"| Exquisite Stereo
|
- Released: 2000
- Label: Another Intercorps Production / Shock <small>(SHOCK0399)</small>
- Formats: CD
| -
|
|-
! scope="row"| PC: The Songs of Patsy Cline
|
- Released: July 2001
- Label: Another Intercorps Production
- Formats: CD, DD
| -
|
|-
! scope="row"| Summertown<br />(with Willy Zygier)
|
- Released: August 2004
- Label: Another Intercorps Production <small>(INTERCORPS001)</small>
- Formats: CD, DD
| -
|
|-
! scope="row"| Half Man Half Woman<br />(with Willy Zygier)
|
- Released: 3 May 2010
- Label: Another Intercorps Production <small>(INTERCORPS002)</small>
- Formats: CD, DD
| -
|
|-
! scope="row"| Stories Of Ghosts<br />(with Willy Zygier)
|
- Released: 15 February 2013
- Label: Another Intercorps Production <small>(INTERCORPS004)</small>
- Formats: CD, DD
| -
|
|-
! scope="row"| Everybody's Begging<br />(with Willy Zygier)
|
- Released: 2 September 2016
- Label: Another Intercorps Production <small>(INTERCORPS005)</small>
- Formats: CD, DD, streaming
| -
|
|-
! scope="row"| The Words of Men<br />(with Willy Zygier)
|
- Released: 15 February 2019
- Label: Another Intercorps Production <small>(INTERCORPS006)</small>
- Formats: CD, DD, streaming
| -
|
|-
! scope="row"| Right Wing Propaganda<br />(with Willy Zygier)
|
- Released: 8 August 2025
|-
! scope="row"| "Feel Like Makin' Love"
| 1990
| —
|
|-
! scope="row"| "It's Only the Beginning"
|rowspan="2"| 1991
| 19
|rowspan="4"| String of Pearls
|-
! scope="row"| "Under My Skin"
| 34
|-
! scope="row"| "Release Me"
|rowspan="2"| 1992
| 58
|-
! scope="row"| "White Roses"
| 87
|-
! scope="row"| "He Can't Decide"<br /><small>(with Paul Kelly, Renee Geyer and Vika Bull)</small>
|rowspan="2"| 1993
| 112
| Seven Deadly Sins
|-
! scope="row"| "Alive and Brilliant"
| 64
|rowspan="3"| Bitch Epic
|-
! scope="row"| "Today I am a Daisy"
|rowspan="2"| 1994
| 98
|-
! scope="row"| "Consider This"/"Now That We're Apart"
| 141
|-
! scope="row"| "Only the Bones (Will Show)"
| 1997
| 196
|rowspan="3"| My Third Husband
|-
! scope="row"| "2001 Ultrasound"
|rowspan="2"| 1998
| 189
|-
! scope="row"| "It's a Girl Thing"
| —
|-
! scope="row"| "Happy New Year"
| 1999
| —
|
|-
! scope="row"| "Radio Loves This"
|rowspan="2"| 2000
| 63
|rowspan="3"| Exquisite Stereo
|-
! scope="row"| "She's Coming for It"
| —
|-
! scope="row"| "Exquisite Stereo"
| 2001
| —
|-
! scope="row"| "Accidents Happen in the Home"<br /><small>(with Willy Zygier)</small>
| 2004
| —
| Summertown
|-
! scope="row"| "Something's Right"<br /><small>(with Willy Zygier)</small>|
| 2004
|
| Summertown
|-
! scope="row"| "I Am Woman"<br /><small>(with Judith Lucy)</small>
| 2015
| —
|
|}
Charity singles
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of charity singles
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:1em;"| Year
! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:30em;"| Notes
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br />
|-
! scope="row"| "I Touch Myself" <span style="font-size:85%;">(as part of the I Touch Myself Project)</span>
| 2014
| 72
|style="text-align:left;"| The I Touch Myself Project launched in 2014 with a mission to encourage young women to touch themselves regularly to find early signs of cancer.
|}
See also
- Do-Re-Mi (band)
Awards and nominations
Conway was honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia in January 2020, "For significant service to the performing arts as a singer, songwriter and producer." In December 2022 she was inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame.
|-
| rowspan="6"| 1992
| rowspan="4"| Strings of Pearls
| Best Female Artist
|
|-
| Album of the Year
|
|-
| Best Cover Art
|
|-
| Breakthrough Artist - Album
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| "It's Only the Beginning"
| Single of the Year
|
|-
| Breakthrough Artist - Single
|
|-
| 1993
| "Release Me"
| Best Female Artist
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1994
| rowspan="2"| Bitch Epic
| Best Female Artist
|
|-
| Best Cover Art
|
|-
Australian Women in Music Awards
The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the Australian Music Industry who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018.
!
|-
| rowspan="1" | 2024
| rowspan="1" | Deborah Conway
| Lifetime Achievement Award
|
| rowspan="1" |
Countdown Music Awards
Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.
|-
| 1986
| Deborah Conway in "Guns and Butter" by Do-Ré-Mi
| Best Female Performance in a Video
|
|-
Don Banks Music Award
The Don Banks Music Award was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board.
|-
| 2020
| Deborah Conway
| Don Banks Music Award
|
|-
Helpmann Awards
The Helpmann Awards is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
!
|-
| 2002
| Deborah Conway - Always... Patsy Cline
| Best Female Actor in a Musical
|
|
|-
| 2017
| Deborah Conway - The Beginning & The End (with Willy Zygier)
| Best Australian Contemporary Concert
|
|
|-
Music Victoria Awards
The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005.
!
|-
| 2022 || Deborah Conway || Hall of Fame || ||
|-
National Live Music Awards
The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
|-
| 2019
| Deborah Conway
| Live Legends (Hall of Fame)
|
|-
References
;General
- Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
;Specific