Troy Newman was an Australian singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 and musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 who was a member of Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 pop, rock band Boys from 1987 to 1988 and also had a solo career, releasing two albums, Gypsy Moon (1991) and It's Like This (1995) before he died in March 1997.

Biography

Troy Adrian Newman was born in Perth, Western Australia

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

. He began writing songs while attending Hollywood Senior High School and, in his earlier years, fronted The Extremists. At age seventeen he joined popular local Perth band Boys as a vocalist, when they reformed in 1987 with Camillo Del Roio and Lino Del Roio on guitar, Eddie Parise on bass guitar, drummer Frank Celenza and Tony Celiberti as keyboardist. A year later the band changed their name to Boyschool but split soon after, with Parise and Celenza moving to form Bamboo Curtain, before joining Baby Animals

Baby Animals

Baby Animals are a 1990s hard rock band from Australia.-Early history:The Baby Animals were formed in Sydney in 1989 by singer Suze DeMarchi, drummer Frank Celenza, guitarist Dave Leslie, and bassist Eddie Parise...

.

Following the break-up of Boys, Newman moved from Perth to Sydney, where he signed a deal with Warner Music. In September 1989 Newman appeared in the controversial stage musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

, Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom

Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom

Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom is a controversial stage musical first performed in Australia in 1989, written by Daniel Abineri and is a satire on religion and rock and roll.-History:...

alongside Daniel Abineri

Daniel Abineri

Daniel Abineri is an English actor, songwriter and playwright, famous for writing the book, music and lyrics for the controversial musical Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom....

, Wendy Stapleton

Wendy Stapleton

Wendy Anne-Marie Stapleton is an Australian pop/rock singer-songwriter, and musical theatre and television actress. Stapleton has performed as a backing singer, session musician and a solo artist; she fronted various Melbourne-based groups including Wendy Stapleton Band and Wendy & the Rocketts ...

, Gary Olsen

Gary Olsen

Gary Olsen was an English actor.Olsen was born in London and lived with an aunt and uncle, after losing both his parents at an early age. He attended the Archbishop Tenison's Church of England School in Kennington...

, Steve Bastoni

Steve Bastoni

Steve Bastoni is an Italian Australian actor. He is best known for his role in Police Rescue as Constable Yannis 'Angel' Angelopoulos and as Steve Parker in Neighbours.-Television:...

 and Nadine Garner

Nadine Garner

Nadine Lynette Garner is an Australian actress.-Biography:Garner first came to public attention in 1985, as Tamara Henderson in the Australian TV series, The Henderson Kids, and then in her debut film The Still Point...

 – he took over the lead role from Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe

Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...

. The musical spawned a cast album on WEA Records and a top ten single, "Enemy the Sun", (November 1989) performed by Newman.

The label flew Newman to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 where he recorded his debut solo album, Gypsy Moon, with session musicians, Craig Fall, Luis Conte

Luis Conte

Luis Conte is a Cuban percussionist.-Early years:As a child in Cuba, Conte began his musical odyssey playing the guitar. However, he soon switched to percussion, and that has remained his mode since....

, Bob Glaub

Bob Glaub

Bob Glaub is an American bass player and session musician. He's played with such artists and bands as Journey, Jackson Browne, Bee Gees, Eric Carmen, Linda Ronstadt, Leo Sayer, Warren Zevon, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer, Bonnie Raitt and many others....

, Jerry Goodman

Jerry Goodman

Jerry Goodman is an American violinist best known for playing electric violin in the bands The Flock and the jazz fusion Mahavishnu Orchestra. Goodman actually began his musical career as The Flock's roadie before joining the band on violin. Trained in the conservatory, both of his parents were...

, Russ Kunkel

Russ Kunkel

Russell Kunkel , also known as Russ Kunkel, is an American drummer and producer who has worked as a session musician with a number of well-known artists.Kunkel was born in Pittsburgh, PA...

, C. J. Vanston

C. J. Vanston

C. J. Vanston is an American film composer, record producer, songwriter, and keyboardist, based in Hollywood, California. He was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Bonnie L...

 and Waddy Wachtel

Waddy Wachtel

Robert "Waddy" Wachtel is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work...

, and guest appearances from Rick Vito

Rick Vito

Rick Vito is a guitarist and singer. He was part of the band Fleetwood Mac between 1987 and 1991.Vito and Billy Burnette took over as guitarists after Lindsey Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac....

 and Billy Burnette

Billy Burnette

William Beau "Billy" Burnette III is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who was part of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1995. Burnette also had a brief career in acting.-Family background:...

. The album was produced by Greg Ladanyi

Greg Ladanyi

Greg Ladanyi was an American record producer and recording engineer, known for his work with many musicians, including Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Type O Negative, The Church, Anna Vissi, Toto, Fleetwood Mac, Hollywood Undead, Don Henley and Jeff Healey.-Biography:Ladanyi co-produced the Behind...

 (Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

, Toto

Toto (band)

Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...

, Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...

, Don Henley

Don Henley

Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...

), except "Raining" by Richard Clapton

Richard Clapton

Richard Clapton is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist from Sydney, New South Wales. His solo top 20 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart are "Girls on the Avenue" and "I Am an Island"...

 and "Drive My Car" by Ladanyi and Kunkel. It was released 14 May 1991 in Australia by Warner and also in the United States through Atlantic

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 imprint EastWest Records. The album spent five weeks in the Australian album charts, peaking at #42. The first single released, "Love Gets Rough", reached #22 on the Australian Singles charts and charted at #92 on the Billboard Top 100. Other singles from the album, "Whisper" and "God Only Knows" released later that year failed to chart. His song, "Raining", was used on television series, Heartbreak High

Heartbreak High

Heartbreak High is an Australian television series that ran for seven years from 1994 to 1999. The series dealt with the students of Hartley High, a tough high school in a multi-racial area of Sydney, and proved to be a more gritty and fast-paced show than many of its contemporaries...

(Season 1, 1994, episode 10).

East/West did not offer him a second album, Newman issued It's Like This on 18 July 1995 on the Curb Records

Curb Records

Curb Records is a record label started by Mike Curb originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963...

/Edel Records

Edel Music

-History:Edel Music was founded in 1986 by Michael Haentjes in Germany as a mail order record company selling mostly soundtracks. With artists such as Scooter, SASH!, Holly Johnson and many others, it became a very successful pop music label...

 labels. Newman had recorded the album in Los Angeles again, with Wachtel, Glaub, Kunkel, Conte and Vanston. It was produced by Ladanyi and Wachtel but failed to emulate the success of his debut album and didn't chart.

Troy Newman died in Sydney in March 1997. As his body was found with a toxic combination of prescription drugs

Combined drug intoxication

Combined drug intoxication , also known as multiple drug intake or lethal polydrug/polypharmacy intoxication, is an unnatural cause of human death...

, there was speculation that he committed suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 however the autopsy

Autopsy

An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...

 was inconclusive. Newman had also contracted Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus , an RNA virus, usually spread the fecal-oral route; transmitted person-to-person by ingestion of contaminated food or water or through direct contact with an infectious person...

which may have contributed to his death.

Singles

• "Enemy the Sun" - WEA (November 1989)
• "Love Gets Rough" - Warner Music (1991)
• "Whisper" - Warner Music (1991)
• "God Only Knows" - Warner Music (1991)
• "The Missing Years" (1995)
• "World Gone Crazy" (1995)
• "Don't Make Me Ask" (1996)