Latest news with #RitaWroteaLetter
The Advertiser
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Paul Kelly farewells Joe in How to Make Gravy sequel
Paul Kelly has surprised fans with a sequel to his beloved single How to Make Gravy, finally revealing what happened to Rita after Joe was sent to prison. The long-awaited follow-up track, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released on Thursday, picking up from the singer-songwriter's 1996 hit. How to Make Gravy is one of Kelly's most popular songs. It features the incarcerated Joe, who reflects on being separated from his family at Christmas time in a prisoner letter addressed to Dan. For three decades, the song has been a soundtrack staple for holiday road trips and turkey lunches. The track was voted as Australia's ninth-best song of all time in the triple j Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, and has also been adapted into an award-winning feature film. The sequel continues the storyline from the original song, except Joe is dead and Rita has moved on with love interest, Joe's brother Dan. Kelly foreshadowed its release in a death notice for Joe published in a Melbourne newspaper on Monday, claiming he died from a "sudden misadventure". The obituary described the song's pivotal character as a beloved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly - all names featured in the song. It also announced an August 14 funeral to be followed by a "wake to end all wakes". The sequel is the first single in Kelly's album SEVENTY, to be released on November 7, named for his milestone birthday in January. Kelly released the single alongside a music video, starring himself and long-time friend and actress Justine Clarke as Rita. The song's release precedes one of Kelly's biggest tours to-date, kicking off in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then multiple New Zealand venues. The 70-year-old has tallied multiple awards over his extensive career including the 2017 Order of Australia, along with 17 ARIAs and five APRAs. His long list of hit singles include To Her Door, From Little Things Big Things Grow and Leaps and Bounds. Paul Kelly has surprised fans with a sequel to his beloved single How to Make Gravy, finally revealing what happened to Rita after Joe was sent to prison. The long-awaited follow-up track, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released on Thursday, picking up from the singer-songwriter's 1996 hit. How to Make Gravy is one of Kelly's most popular songs. It features the incarcerated Joe, who reflects on being separated from his family at Christmas time in a prisoner letter addressed to Dan. For three decades, the song has been a soundtrack staple for holiday road trips and turkey lunches. The track was voted as Australia's ninth-best song of all time in the triple j Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, and has also been adapted into an award-winning feature film. The sequel continues the storyline from the original song, except Joe is dead and Rita has moved on with love interest, Joe's brother Dan. Kelly foreshadowed its release in a death notice for Joe published in a Melbourne newspaper on Monday, claiming he died from a "sudden misadventure". The obituary described the song's pivotal character as a beloved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly - all names featured in the song. It also announced an August 14 funeral to be followed by a "wake to end all wakes". The sequel is the first single in Kelly's album SEVENTY, to be released on November 7, named for his milestone birthday in January. Kelly released the single alongside a music video, starring himself and long-time friend and actress Justine Clarke as Rita. The song's release precedes one of Kelly's biggest tours to-date, kicking off in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then multiple New Zealand venues. The 70-year-old has tallied multiple awards over his extensive career including the 2017 Order of Australia, along with 17 ARIAs and five APRAs. His long list of hit singles include To Her Door, From Little Things Big Things Grow and Leaps and Bounds. Paul Kelly has surprised fans with a sequel to his beloved single How to Make Gravy, finally revealing what happened to Rita after Joe was sent to prison. The long-awaited follow-up track, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released on Thursday, picking up from the singer-songwriter's 1996 hit. How to Make Gravy is one of Kelly's most popular songs. It features the incarcerated Joe, who reflects on being separated from his family at Christmas time in a prisoner letter addressed to Dan. For three decades, the song has been a soundtrack staple for holiday road trips and turkey lunches. The track was voted as Australia's ninth-best song of all time in the triple j Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, and has also been adapted into an award-winning feature film. The sequel continues the storyline from the original song, except Joe is dead and Rita has moved on with love interest, Joe's brother Dan. Kelly foreshadowed its release in a death notice for Joe published in a Melbourne newspaper on Monday, claiming he died from a "sudden misadventure". The obituary described the song's pivotal character as a beloved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly - all names featured in the song. It also announced an August 14 funeral to be followed by a "wake to end all wakes". The sequel is the first single in Kelly's album SEVENTY, to be released on November 7, named for his milestone birthday in January. Kelly released the single alongside a music video, starring himself and long-time friend and actress Justine Clarke as Rita. The song's release precedes one of Kelly's biggest tours to-date, kicking off in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then multiple New Zealand venues. The 70-year-old has tallied multiple awards over his extensive career including the 2017 Order of Australia, along with 17 ARIAs and five APRAs. His long list of hit singles include To Her Door, From Little Things Big Things Grow and Leaps and Bounds. Paul Kelly has surprised fans with a sequel to his beloved single How to Make Gravy, finally revealing what happened to Rita after Joe was sent to prison. The long-awaited follow-up track, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released on Thursday, picking up from the singer-songwriter's 1996 hit. How to Make Gravy is one of Kelly's most popular songs. It features the incarcerated Joe, who reflects on being separated from his family at Christmas time in a prisoner letter addressed to Dan. For three decades, the song has been a soundtrack staple for holiday road trips and turkey lunches. The track was voted as Australia's ninth-best song of all time in the triple j Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, and has also been adapted into an award-winning feature film. The sequel continues the storyline from the original song, except Joe is dead and Rita has moved on with love interest, Joe's brother Dan. Kelly foreshadowed its release in a death notice for Joe published in a Melbourne newspaper on Monday, claiming he died from a "sudden misadventure". The obituary described the song's pivotal character as a beloved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly - all names featured in the song. It also announced an August 14 funeral to be followed by a "wake to end all wakes". The sequel is the first single in Kelly's album SEVENTY, to be released on November 7, named for his milestone birthday in January. Kelly released the single alongside a music video, starring himself and long-time friend and actress Justine Clarke as Rita. The song's release precedes one of Kelly's biggest tours to-date, kicking off in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then multiple New Zealand venues. The 70-year-old has tallied multiple awards over his extensive career including the 2017 Order of Australia, along with 17 ARIAs and five APRAs. His long list of hit singles include To Her Door, From Little Things Big Things Grow and Leaps and Bounds.
The Advertiser
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
After Joe's death, muso Paul Kelly releases How to Make Gravy follow-up
Joe might be dead, but Paul Kelly isn't going anywhere, and neither is Rita, for that matter. The legendary singer-songwriter has released a highly anticipated follow-up to his song How to Make Gravy. The new song, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released today, and it's the first single of his upcoming album Seventy. The song's release was foreshadowed by a newspaper ad that went viral earlier this week when Kelly put a death notice in The Age newspaper announcing that Joe - the man at the centre of his 1996 hit song - had died. The public notice said Joe's death was due to "sudden misadventure" and "we'll miss you badly, Joe". The ad featured plenty of references to his 90s hit, which has become a part of the modern Australian songbook. A date mentioned in the song, December 21, has widely become known as "Gravy Day" with fans of the singer posting about it on that day each year. This song was also the basis for a movie of the same name released on Binge in 2024. The song tells the story of a man in jail, Joe, who is writing to his brother Dan and lamenting about being separated from them in the lead-up to Christmas. Joe also accuses Dan of harbouring feelings for Rita. "I know you really like her, just don't hold her too close, oh brother, please don't stab me in the back," lyrics in the song state. Paul Kelly is about to kick off a seven-date national tour later this month. Joe might be dead, but Paul Kelly isn't going anywhere, and neither is Rita, for that matter. The legendary singer-songwriter has released a highly anticipated follow-up to his song How to Make Gravy. The new song, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released today, and it's the first single of his upcoming album Seventy. The song's release was foreshadowed by a newspaper ad that went viral earlier this week when Kelly put a death notice in The Age newspaper announcing that Joe - the man at the centre of his 1996 hit song - had died. The public notice said Joe's death was due to "sudden misadventure" and "we'll miss you badly, Joe". The ad featured plenty of references to his 90s hit, which has become a part of the modern Australian songbook. A date mentioned in the song, December 21, has widely become known as "Gravy Day" with fans of the singer posting about it on that day each year. This song was also the basis for a movie of the same name released on Binge in 2024. The song tells the story of a man in jail, Joe, who is writing to his brother Dan and lamenting about being separated from them in the lead-up to Christmas. Joe also accuses Dan of harbouring feelings for Rita. "I know you really like her, just don't hold her too close, oh brother, please don't stab me in the back," lyrics in the song state. Paul Kelly is about to kick off a seven-date national tour later this month. Joe might be dead, but Paul Kelly isn't going anywhere, and neither is Rita, for that matter. The legendary singer-songwriter has released a highly anticipated follow-up to his song How to Make Gravy. The new song, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released today, and it's the first single of his upcoming album Seventy. The song's release was foreshadowed by a newspaper ad that went viral earlier this week when Kelly put a death notice in The Age newspaper announcing that Joe - the man at the centre of his 1996 hit song - had died. The public notice said Joe's death was due to "sudden misadventure" and "we'll miss you badly, Joe". The ad featured plenty of references to his 90s hit, which has become a part of the modern Australian songbook. A date mentioned in the song, December 21, has widely become known as "Gravy Day" with fans of the singer posting about it on that day each year. This song was also the basis for a movie of the same name released on Binge in 2024. The song tells the story of a man in jail, Joe, who is writing to his brother Dan and lamenting about being separated from them in the lead-up to Christmas. Joe also accuses Dan of harbouring feelings for Rita. "I know you really like her, just don't hold her too close, oh brother, please don't stab me in the back," lyrics in the song state. Paul Kelly is about to kick off a seven-date national tour later this month. Joe might be dead, but Paul Kelly isn't going anywhere, and neither is Rita, for that matter. The legendary singer-songwriter has released a highly anticipated follow-up to his song How to Make Gravy. The new song, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released today, and it's the first single of his upcoming album Seventy. The song's release was foreshadowed by a newspaper ad that went viral earlier this week when Kelly put a death notice in The Age newspaper announcing that Joe - the man at the centre of his 1996 hit song - had died. The public notice said Joe's death was due to "sudden misadventure" and "we'll miss you badly, Joe". The ad featured plenty of references to his 90s hit, which has become a part of the modern Australian songbook. A date mentioned in the song, December 21, has widely become known as "Gravy Day" with fans of the singer posting about it on that day each year. This song was also the basis for a movie of the same name released on Binge in 2024. The song tells the story of a man in jail, Joe, who is writing to his brother Dan and lamenting about being separated from them in the lead-up to Christmas. Joe also accuses Dan of harbouring feelings for Rita. "I know you really like her, just don't hold her too close, oh brother, please don't stab me in the back," lyrics in the song state. Paul Kelly is about to kick off a seven-date national tour later this month.
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Paul Kelly farewells Joe in How to Make Gravy sequel
Paul Kelly has surprised fans with a sequel to his beloved single How to Make Gravy, finally revealing what happened to Rita after Joe was sent to prison. The long-awaited follow-up track, Rita Wrote a Letter, was released on Thursday, picking up from the singer-songwriter's 1996 hit. How to Make Gravy is one of Kelly's most popular songs. It features the incarcerated Joe, who reflects on being separated from his family at Christmas time in a prisoner letter addressed to Dan. For three decades, the song has been a soundtrack staple for holiday road trips and turkey lunches. The track was voted as Australia's ninth-best song of all time in the triple j Hottest 100 Australian songs countdown, and has also been adapted into an award-winning feature film. The sequel continues the storyline from the original song, except Joe is dead and Rita has moved on with love interest, Joe's brother Dan. Kelly foreshadowed its release in a death notice for Joe published in a Melbourne newspaper on Monday, claiming he died from a "sudden misadventure". The obituary described the song's pivotal character as a beloved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly - all names featured in the song. It also announced an August 14 funeral to be followed by a "wake to end all wakes". The sequel is the first single in Kelly's album SEVENTY, to be released on November 7, named for his milestone birthday in January. Kelly released the single alongside a music video, starring himself and long-time friend and actress Justine Clarke as Rita. The song's release precedes one of Kelly's biggest tours to-date, kicking off in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne, then multiple New Zealand venues. The 70-year-old has tallied multiple awards over his extensive career including the 2017 Order of Australia, along with 17 ARIAs and five APRAs. His long list of hit singles include To Her Door, From Little Things Big Things Grow and Leaps and Bounds.
Perth Now
14-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Paul Kelly announces new album with sequel to iconic Aussie song
A fortnight out from his biggest-ever tour of Australia and New Zealand, legendary singer-songwriter Paul Kelly has announced details of his 30th album. Seventy, reflecting the age its author turned in January, will be released on November 7, just over a year after his last album Fever Longing Still. Its first single — the mooted How To Make Gravy sequel Rita Wrote a Letter — was released on Thursday morning along with a video directed by Imogen McCluskey. READ BELOW: Our (spoiler-free) verdict on Rita Wrote A Letter The sequel, teased by Kelly this week in a funeral notice in a Melbourne newspaper, comes almost 30 years after listeners first met the characters Dan, Rita and Joe as the latter spends his first Christmas behind bars. How To Make Gravy, released in 1996, was last year adapted into a feature film and has transcended its modest origins to become a festive classic certified four times platinum by ARIA and last month voted the ninth best Australian song of all time by Triple J listeners. 'I've been mulling over the idea of a sequel to How To Make Gravy from Rita's point of view for quite some time,' Kelly explained. 'About five years ago I wrote down the words, 'Rita wrote a letter,' and thought, 'There's my title.' 'I scratched away intermittently and fruitlessly for several years but never got very far until [nephew and bandmate] Dan Kelly sent me a recording of something he'd written on piano with a rough melody over the top. The words started rolling after that. 'As often happens, they took me by surprise. You could say the song took a dark turn but to my mind it's a black comedy. A ghost story. You hear Rita's voice loud and clear, but Joe talks even more. I couldn't shut him up.' Paul Kelly's new album Seventy will be released on November 7. Credit: EMI Kelly and his band will hit some of Australia's biggest venues later this month, kicking off at Perth's RAC Arena on August 26 before swinging through Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide and wrapping up with a two-night stand at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena on September 6 and 7. 'Looking back on what we've done with these songs, it's really a band record,' Kelly said of Seventy. 'Peter Luscombe has been with me for more than 30 years, Bill McDonald and Dan Kelly for 20. Even the newbies Cameron Bruce and Ash Naylor have been with me since 2007.' A bouncing, jaunty arrangement — think the 2014 Merri Soul Sessions project and a vocal line at times not dissimilar to Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel's 1975 hit Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) — seems somewhat at odds with its lyrical content. Let's just say Joe didn't get out by July, and when he eventually did, things didn't get much better. Though Kelly had already announced the death of Joe earlier this week — and indeed makes it clear in the opening couplet — the method of his demise and the events leading to it will take some fans by surprise. Keen-eared listeners will note the clear connection (and we're not talking about the letter) to another hit, To Her Door, Kelly having previously suggested the two songs may in fact be about the same character. Will it become a beloved classic like its predecessor? Probably not — but considering the original's two-decade journey from cherished secret passed around barbecues and late night/early morning loungerooms to national treasure, you never know. Perhaps that redemptive aspect (late in the song Kelly sings 'I made my bed, I'm lying in it/And I know they're gonna be alright') is the entire point: this is a love letter from a man who did all the dumb things and died to tell the tale.
Sydney Morning Herald
13-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Paul Kelly releases How to Make Gravy follow-up after viral tease
Joe might be dead, but Paul Kelly isn't going anywhere. Australia's most celebrated singer-songwriter has announced the release of Rita Wrote a Letter, the long-awaited follow-up track to his hit How to Make Gravy. Rita Wrote a Letter is the first single off Kelly's new album, Seventy, which will be released on November 7. Kelly, who turned 70 in January, appears to be channelling UK superstar Adele, whose albums are famously titled according to her age at the time of release. The release of Rita Wrote a Letter was foreshadowed in a viral marketing stunt earlier this week, when Kelly took a death notice out in The Age newspaper, announcing the passing of 'Joe', the incarcerated hero of his 1996 song. According to the public notice, which ran on Page 33 of The Age, Joe's death was the result of 'sudden misadventure'. He is described as the much-loved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank and Dolly (all names that feature in the track). Kelly posted the notice on his Instagram page, accompanied by the caption 'RIP, Joe'. How to Make Gravy has become one of Kelly's most popular songs, an unlikely Christmas anthem (that was also turned into a 2024 film) that tells the story of Joe, a man behind bars, lamenting being separated from his family at Christmastime. The song takes the form of a letter Joe writes to his brother, Dan, voicing his concerns about missing his children growing up while also accusing Dan of harbouring feelings for Rita. (I know you really like her, Just don't hold her too close, oh brother, please don't stab me in the back).
