As the sun set on the Hooper family home in the 1970s, you would frequently find Danny Hooper, his parents and three sisters belting out some of their favourite tunes around the kitchen table. Music meant entertainment for the Hoopers, who lived on a remote station in the mid north of South Australia. This early and joyful introduction to music planted the seed for Danny, but it was his Dad’s old Maton guitar that sprouted a lifelong passion.


At the age of ten, Danny began guitar lessons with his Dad and it wasn’t long before he strummed his first song, Banks of the Ohio. As a teenager, Danny’s flair for performing came to the fore and he was often called upon to liven up a party with the song Rock n’ Robin. He later started a rock band with a few mates, called Niteshift.


It was love that inspired Danny to begin song writing at 18 years of age. When he sang his first song, You’re the one for me, to his girlfriend Lea, her teary response sparked a passion for song writing that has since reaped much recognition.Together with Lea, Danny began entering country music competitions in 1987. They won awards for Best Duo and went on to record an album in 1992, entitled Talkin’ Bout Love.


In 1994, Danny got serious. He entered the Toyota Star Maker competition in Tamworth and was selected as a Top Ten Grand Finalist. In the same year he entered the Australian Songwriters Association (ASA) National Song Competition in Melbourne and won the Acoustic Section and Song of the Year with I Left You.


Despite this early success, music was placed on the back burner due to the arrival of Danny and Lea’s first son Jace, followed by siblings Courteney and Tom. Danny’s main occupation became that of House Dad, although he continued to perform at weekend gigs throughout the state. It wasn’t until ten years later that Danny Hooper once again became a name to look out for in the song-writing arena, thanks to a swag of awards:


During a year-long family trip around Australia in 2005, Danny was inspired to reignite his dream to become a household name in Australian country music. He secured Rod McCormack as a producer and in 2007 released his debut solo album, The Legacy. Featuring 12 original songs, the album name and its title track are a tribute to his father and a signal to the legacy of music Danny will pass onto his own children.


Danny’s debut single, Every Reason, worked its way onto radio play lists throughout the country and charted on the Top 100 Country Hits chart. The accompanying video clip also made Top 40 on the CMC (Country Music Channel) PayTV network.


His second single Already Gone is also proving a radio favourite, and filmclip under the direction of Ross Wood for the album track Heartache has managed a Top 40 position on CMC.