| B i o g r a p h y |
Empire of the Sun are an Australian electronic music duo from Sydney, formed in 2007. The duo consists of longtime collaborators Luke Steele of alternative rock act The Sleepy Jackson, and Nick Littlemore of electronic dance outfit Pnau.
Their award-winning, 2008 debut album Walking on a Dream shot the duo to
international success and to date has been certified double platinum in
Australia and gold in the United Kingdom (UK). The album has sparked a
number of internationally charting singles including "Walking on a
Dream" which peaked at number ten on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart
and reached number sixty four on the UK Singles Chart, and "We Are the
People", which peaked at number fourteen on the UK Singles Chart.
The duo's second album Ice on the Dune was released on 14 June 2013 in
Australia, and was preceded by lead single "Alive" on 16 April. They are
currently signed to EMI Australia and Virgin UK.
In the UK, they gained fourth position on the BBC News website's Sound of 2009 poll.
Empire of the Sun appeared for the first time in a Triple J Hottest 100
with two entries in the 2008 countdown: "We Are the People" at number
sixty-eight and "Walking on a Dream" at number four.
"Walking on a Dream" was nominated as "Song of the Year" at the 2009 Australian Performing Rights Association awards.
Empire of the Sun were nominated for six awards at the 2009 ARIA Awards.
They were nominated for Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Best
Group, Best Pop Release, Best Selling Single and Best Selling Album,
winning all but the Best Selling awards. Steele also performed "Walking
on a Dream" at the event. Empire of the Sun also received an additional
five nominations—Producer of the Year, Engineer of the Year, Best Video
and Best Cover Art—as part of the Artisan Awards section of the 2009
ARIA Awards, and won all but two of these awards.