Melbourne native
Nic Cester rose to fame as the singer and guitarist for Australian rock band
Jet, which he formed in 2001 with his brother
Chris. Initially associated with the garage rock boom of the early-2000s,
Jet's hooky, melodic rock earned them a deal with Elektra, which released their debut album,
Get Born, in 2003. Behind Cester's
Beatles-influenced songwriting,
Jet achieved widespread popularity worldwide, notching hits with songs like "Are You Gonna Be My Girl," "Look What You've Done," and "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is." Along with members of
Powderfinger and
Grinspoon, Cester also formed the Australian supergroup the Wrights, named after
Easybeats founder
Stevie Wright. Meanwhile,
Jet continued to find success with subsequent albums Shine On (2006) and
Shaka Rock (2009), the former going platinum and the latter gold. After the group disbanded in 2012, Cester spent time living in both Germany and Milan, eventually settling in Como, Italy. 2017 saw both the return of
Jet, who'd re-formed to tour alongside
Bruce Springsteen, and the emergence of
Nic Cester as a solo artist. Working with producer
Jim Abbiss (
Adele,
Arctic Monkeys), he recorded his eclectic solo debut,
Sugar Rush, which was released by Australian label Bloodlines in November of that year. ~ Timothy Monger