Hold Your Horses: Daryl Braithwaite Announces Retirement From Playing Live

There are some songs that belong to an artist…. And then there are songs that somehow stop belonging to anyone at all. Today, Australia is saying goodbye to one of the voices behind one of those songs.

Homegrown music icon Daryl Braithwaite has announced he is stepping away from live performance after nearly six decades on stage, revealing ongoing issues with his throat have made singing increasingly difficult.

“It’s broken my heart to think of how appreciative people have been”

In a statement shared with fans on social media, Braithwaite said the decision had been incredibly difficult.

“After much thought and consideration, I have made the difficult and sad decision to step back from performing live gigs,” he wrote.

“For some time now it has been increasingly physically challenging for me to sing comfortably and as a result it has taken the joy out of performing, which has always been so important to me.”

Speaking to ABC Melbourne after the announcement, Braithwaite admitted the response from fans had left him emotional.

“It’s broken my heart to think of how appreciative people have been,” he said. “Like, it’s over.

“I personally would love to keep doing it because physically I feel like I could but in my throat, it’s not complying with how I feel.”

The 77-year-old said he made the final decision during recent performances aboard an Arctic cruise.

“After the third one I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’”

Braithwaite’s career stretches back almost 60 years – first exploding with Sherbet in the 1970s before launching one of Australia’s most enduring solo careers, including chart-toppers You’re My World and, of course, The Horses.

And honestly? It’s impossible to talk about Daryl Braithwaite retiring without talking about The Horses.

Released in 1990, the song long ago escaped the usual lifecycle of a hit single. Somewhere between pub singalongs, weddings, music festivals, backyard beers, footy club buses and 1am karaoke sessions, it stopped being just another Australian classic and became something stranger – and rarer.

A communal ritual. You don’t really listen to The Horses anymore. You participate in it.

Generations of Aussies who weren’t even alive when it came out somehow still know exactly when to yell the chorus.

Tributes have already begun pouring in across the industry, too.

Jimmy Barnes shared a memory from their early touring days together, recalling being ushered into an armoured van with Braithwaite while surrounded by screaming fans.

“He is an absolute gentleman and will be missed by audiences all across this country,” Barnes wrote.

Elsewhere, Vika & Linda thanked Braithwaite for decades of friendship and support, while messages also rolled in from Dannii Minogue and Vanessa Amorosi.

For his part, Braithwaite says he’ll miss all of it.

Getting up early. Packing the bags. Airports. Soundcheck. Walking on stage. And maybe most of all – hearing people sing back.

Thankfully for him, that bit isn’t stopping anytime soon.

Because even if Daryl Braithwaite never plays another show, there’s approximately zero chance Australia stops belting The Horses.

That’s the way it’s gonna be, little darlin’.

Further Reading

Hold Yr Horses: It’s Been 30 Years Since Daryl Braithwaite Gave Every Pub Band Their Closing Song

triple j’s Hottest 100 Of Australian Songs: The Complete List

Daryl Braithwaite Says Green Day Are One Of His “Big Influences”

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