Artists like Daddy Cool

James Dixon Barnes is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time. By 2022 he had achieved 15 solo number-one albums in Australia, more than any other artist. He has won many awards, and been nominated for many more. In 2005 he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame as a solo artist, after also having been an inductee in 1992 as a member of Cold Chisel. His music has covered many genres, including hard rock, blues rock, soul, R&B, country, country rock, and electronic. Some of his albums were recorded at his own recording studio, Freight Train Studios.

Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes on lead vocals and, in 1975, Phil Small became their bass guitarist. The group disbanded in late 1983 but subsequently re-formed several times. Musicologist Ian McFarlane wrote that they became "one of Australia's best-loved groups" as well as "one of the best live bands", fusing "a combination of rockabilly, hard rock and rough-house soul'n'blues that was defiantly Australian in outlook."

The Screaming Jets are an Australian hard rock band formed in Newcastle, New South Wales, from the band Aspect formed in high school by Grant, Dave, Frank Manitta and Wiltshire in 1984 which Paul Woseen was also a later member of. In 1989 The Screaming Jets were formed by Grant Walmsley, Dave Gleeson, Paul Woseen, Brad Heaney and Richard Lara. The band has three albums that peaked in the top five on the Australian ARIA Charts: All for One (1991), Tear of Thought (1992), The Screaming Jets (1995), and Professional Misconduct (2023). Their 1991 single "Better" reached No. 4 on the related singles chart. Walmsley left in 2006 and formed his own band. In 2013, bassist Paul Woseen released an acoustic solo album, Bombido.

Australian Crawl are an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne, Brad Robinson, Paul Williams (bass), Simon Binks and David Reyne (drums) in Melbourne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough. They were later joined by his brother Guy McDonough. The band was named after the front crawl swimming style also known as the Australian crawl.

Noiseworks are an Australian hard rock band formed in Sydney in 1986 with bass guitarist Steve Balbi, guitarist Stuart Fraser, drummer Kevin Nicol, keyboardist Justin Stanley and lead vocalist Jon Stevens. They had four Australian Top 10 albums, Noiseworks (1987), Touch (1988), Love Versus Money (1991) and Greatest Hits (1992). They produced three Top 10 singles, "Take Me Back", "Touch" and "Hot Chilli Woman" before disbanding in 1992. Reunion tours occurred in 1999, 2004, 2007–2008, 2011, 2013. The band later reformed in 2016 and in August 2022, released "Heart & Soul"; their first new song in 30 years. Noiseworks' fourth studio album, Evolution was released in November 2022.

Powderfinger were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins and drummer Jon Coghill. The group's third studio album Internationalist peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in September 1998. They followed with four more number-one studio albums in a row: Odyssey Number Five, Vulture Street, Dream Days at the Hotel Existence and Golden Rule. Their top-ten hit singles are "My Happiness" (2000), "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" (2003) and "Lost and Running" (2007). Powderfinger earned a total of eighteen ARIA Awards, making them the second-most-awarded band, behind Silverchair. Ten Powderfinger albums and DVDs certified multiple-platinum, with Odyssey Number Five—their most successful album—achieving eightfold platinum certification for shipment of over 560,000 units.

Divinyls were an Australian rock band that formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Originally a five-piece, the band underwent numerous line-up changes, with Amphlett and McEntee remaining as core members, before its dissolution in 1996. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school uniform and fishnet stockings, and she often used an illuminated neon tube as a prop for displaying aggression towards both band members and the audience.

Grinspoon are an Australian rock band from Lismore, New South Wales, who formed in 1995 by Pat Davern on guitar, Joe Hansen on bass guitar, Kristian Hopes on drums and Phil Jamieson on vocals and guitar. Also in that year, Grinspoon won the national youth radio, Triple J–sponsored Unearthed competition for Lismore, with their post-grunge song "Sickfest". The band's name references Lester Grinspoon, an associate professor emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who supported marijuana for medical use.

Hilltop Hoods are an Australian hip hop group that formed in 1994 in Adelaide, South Australia. The group was founded by Suffa and Pressure, who were joined by DJ Debris after fellow founder, DJ Next, left in 1999. The group released its first EP, Back Once Again, in 1997, and have subsequently released eight studio albums, two "restrung" remix albums and three EPs.

Regurgitator are an Australian alternative rock band from Brisbane, Queensland, formed in late 1993 by Quan Yeomans on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards; Ben Ely on bass guitar, keyboards and vocals; and Martin Lee on drums. Their debut studio album, Tu-Plang was released in May 1996; it was followed by Unit in November 1997 which was certified triple platinum. Unit won five categories at the ARIA Music Awards of 1998: Album of the Year, Best Alternative Album, Producer of the Year, Engineer of the Year (Magoo) and Best Cover Art. Their third album, ...Art was released in August 1999.

Birds of Tokyo are an Australian alternative rock band from Perth. Their debut album, Day One, gained them domestic success, reaching number three on the AIR Independent Album charts and spending a total of 36 consecutive weeks in the top ten.

Eskimo Joe are an Australian alternative rock band that was formed in 1997 by Stuart MacLeod, on lead guitar, Joel Quartermain, on drums and guitar, and Kavyen Temperley, on bass guitar and vocals, in East Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia.

Kisschasy are an Australian rock band that formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 2002. Their line-up consists of lead vocalist Darren Cordeux, bassist Joel Vanderuit, guitarist Sean Thomas and drummer Karl Ammitzboll. The band released two gold certified studio albums, two extended plays, a documentary DVD and a compilation album in their initial 10-year career, selling in excess of 90,000 records.

Thirsty Merc are an Australian pop rock band, formed in 2002 by Rai Thistlethwayte, Phil Stack, Karl Robertson (drums), and Matthew Baker (guitar). In 2004, Baker was replaced by Sean Carey, who was, in turn, replaced by Matt Smith in 2010. Thirsty Merc have released one extended play, First Work, and six studio albums: Thirsty Merc, Slideshows, Mousetrap Heart, Acoustic Anniversary Album, Shifting Gears, and Celebration. As for 2016, band have sold over 200,000 albums and have been nominated for four ARIA Music Awards.

Dr. Hook was an American rock band formed in Union City, New Jersey. The band had commercial success in the 1970s with hit singles "Sylvia's Mother" (1972), "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" (1973), "Only Sixteen" (1976), "A Little Bit More" (1976), "Walk Right In" (1977), "Sharing the Night Together" (1978), "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" (1979), "Better Love Next Time" (1979), "Sexy Eyes" (1980), and "Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk" (1982). In addition to its own material, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show performed songs written by the poet Shel Silverstein.

The Living End is an Australian punk rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney, Scott Owen, and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 1997 after the release of their EP Second Solution / Prisoner of Society, which peaked at No. 4 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. They have released eight studio albums, two of which reached the No. 1 spot on the ARIA Albums Chart: The Living End and State of Emergency. They have also achieved chart success in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.