Former Savage Garden star Darren Hayes has opened up about the iconic Australian pop band’s 2001 split.
Savage Garden, comprising Darren and guitarist Daniel Jones, formed in 1993 and produced a slew of number one hits such as To the Moon and Back and Truly Madly Deeply.
However, a rift between the bandmates caused them to part ways at the height of their fame in 2001.
Speaking with Sarah Grynberg on her A Life of Greatness podcast ahead of the release of his memoir Unloveable, Darren said he has suffered a ‘huge personal betrayal’ as a result of the split.
‘Our falling out was entirely due to the fact that he told the world that the band breakup was the first he’d ever heard of it which was not true,’ Darren said.
Speaking with Kyle and Jackie O in 2022, Darren pointed to a press conference Daniel had held in 2001 announcing that he was saddened by news Savage Garden was ending, while claiming Darren never consulted him before going public.
‘He held that press conference where he said, “Oh, this is the first I’ve heard of it”, which was such a stupid thing to say, because people thought I’d left the band,’ he said.
Darren revealed to Sarah that while his former bandmate may’ve since changed his story, it was a case of too little, too late.
Darren Hayes has revealed he suffered a ‘huge personal betrayal’ in his split with savage Garden bandmate Daniel Jones
‘It was a huge personal betrayal for me and I speak about it in the book as politely as I possibly can because for the longest time, I just kept expecting him to, one day, just sit down and say the truth,’ said Darren. Pictured with Daniel Jones in Savage Garden
‘He never corrected that. He eventually did, maybe a decade later but it was a decade too late and I really suffered,’ he said.
‘It was a huge personal betrayal for me and I speak about it in the book as politely as I possibly can because for the longest time, I just kept expecting him to, one day, just sit down and say the truth.’
Darren added that he initially gave Daniel a ‘pass’ over his version of events, but soon grew tired of being blamed for the breakup of the award-winning pop band when it was Daniel who wanted to leave.
‘There are lots of reasons why, in the very very beginning he didn’t, which I gave him a pass for at the time,’ he said.
‘But three or four years later when I was still blamed for the band breaking up, I realised I didn’t want to have to keep pretending being close to somebody who had not been very kind to me, is the truth.
‘We don’t have a relationship at all because of that.’
After forming in Brisbane in 1993, Savage Garden released two studio albums Savage Garden in 1997 and Affirmation in 1999
Speaking about the split with Stellar this week, Darren said it was high time to come clean.
‘I’m tired of being afraid to tell the truth,’ he said.
‘As I say in the book, maybe six or seven years [after the split] he started weaving the truth into his interviews and saying, “When I left the band,” and now that’s fact. But it’s still this weird, blurry urban myth.
I get asked the question so much: would you ever get back together? Well, if you read the book, you’ll know why not.”
After forming in Brisbane in 1993, Savage Garden released two studio albums Savage Garden in 1997 and Affirmation in 1999.
Combined the albums sold 23 million worldwide and the group won a record number of ten ARIA Music Awards in 1997 for their debut album and singles including To The Moon and Back, and Truly Madly Deeply.
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