Complete List of Savage Garden Band Members

The band achieved massive commercial success with four number 1 hit singles, including “I Want You” and “To the Moon and Back” in 1996, “Truly Madly Deeply” in 1997, and “I Knew I Loved You” in 1999. Their debut album, Savage Garden, sold over 12 million copies worldwide and was certified 12 times platinum in Australia, 7 times platinum in the United States, and diamond in Canada. Savage Garden won a record-breaking ten ARIA Music Awards in September 1997 for their debut album, including Album of the Year, Best Group, Best Pop Release, and Song of the Year. “Truly Madly Deeply” became the most-played song on American radio in 1997 and spent 123 weeks on the Monitor/Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay Chart. “I Knew I Loved You” broke that record by staying on the chart for 124 weeks.

Savage Garden disbanded at the end of 2001 amid creative differences and conflicting attitudes toward fame. Hayes announced the breakup in October 2001 during an interview with an Australian journalist. The duo performed at the 2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Sydney and won multiple Billboard Music Awards, including Best Adult Contemporary Video and Number 1 Adult Contemporary Artist of the Year. Following the split, Hayes continued as a solo artist while Jones moved into record production before ultimately leaving the music industry to become a real estate developer in Las Vegas.

Darren Hayes

Darren Stanley Hayes was born May 8, 1972, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He grew up in a troubled household with an alcoholic father who subjected Hayes and his mother to regular violence. Hayes was bullied and physically and verbally abused at school, later describing himself as a big-hearted, emotional, and excitable teenager with an obsession for Star Wars and E.T. He was studying at university and working as a record sales assistant when he responded to Daniel Jones’ advertisement seeking a vocalist in mid-1993. Hayes joined the covers band Red Edge, performing his first show in front of an audience of four in Toowoomba. The band performed covers including “Hurts So Good,” “Let’s Stick Together,” “Khe Sanh,” and “Don’t Change” at pubs and clubs from southern Queensland to northern New South Wales.

In June 1994, Hayes and Jones left Red Edge to work as a duo. They originally called themselves Crush, a name they purchased from another Australian group, before changing to Bliss. By the end of 1994, the pair had enough songs for a five-song demo tape, which they sent to 150 record companies worldwide. They ultimately renamed themselves Savage Garden after a phrase from Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles. Hayes handled lead vocals and arrangements while Jones played guitar, keyboards, and provided backing vocals. Hayes and Jones entered the studio in 1995 to work on their debut album with producer Charles Fisher. Hayes sang on all of Savage Garden’s hit singles and became the public face of the duo, conducting most of the media interviews and promotional activities. He wrote lyrics dealing with romance, relationships, and emotional vulnerability that resonated with audiences worldwide.

Hayes married his childhood sweetheart, makeup artist Colby Taylor, in 1994. They were still married when Savage Garden skyrocketed to fame in the late 1990s, but separated in 1998 and divorced in 2000. Much of the lyrics for the band’s second album, Affirmation, dealt with his divorce. Hayes recorded Affirmation in San Francisco in mid-1999 and bought a house there. He moved to Sausalito in 2000 and became increasingly isolated as Jones withdrew from promotional activities. Hayes did nearly all the promotion for Affirmation himself after Jones expressed his desire to leave the spotlight. During the promotion of their second album, Hayes felt immense pressure and control from Columbia Records. The record company reportedly disliked his dancing because they felt he came across as too gay, and they secretly filmed footage with a woman for the “Insatiable” music video to make it appear heterosexual.

Hayes announced that Savage Garden had broken up in October 2001 during a conversation with an Australian journalist. He thought the information would be saved for a later article but it was immediately published. Hayes started coming out as gay to friends and the head of his label, Sony, in the early 2000s. He entered into a private marriage ceremony with his boyfriend of two years, Richard Cullen, on July 23, 2005, in London. On June 19, 2006, they entered into a formal civil partnership in London. Hayes and Cullen were married on July 15, 2013 in California to show their support for same-sex marriage. Hayes has become a vocal advocate for gay rights and same-sex marriage.

Hayes released his first solo album, Spin In March 2002. The album was produced by Walter Afanasieff and sold two million copies worldwide, debuting at number 2 in the UK and number 3 in Australia. The lead single “Insatiable” reached number 3 in Australia, and other singles, including “Strange Relationship,” “Crush (1980 Me),” and “I Miss You,” performed well on charts. The album peaked at number 35 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Hayes spent two years working on his second solo album, The Tension and the Spark, released in 2004. The album was produced almost entirely electronically by Hayes and Robert Conley and marked a bold change of direction. Although it alienated a portion of his audience expecting radio-friendly pop songs, it earned Hayes the strongest critical praise of his career. The first single “Pop!ular” reached number one on the US Dance Charts.

Hayes released the double album This Delicate Thing We’ve Made in 2007 through his own record label, Powdered Sugar, after leaving Columbia Records. His fourth solo album, Secret Codes and Battleships, was released in 2011. After an eleven-year hiatus from recording, Hayes released his fifth studio album Homosexual on October 7, 2022. He wrote, produced, mixed, and performed every instrument on the album. The album explores Hayes’ experiences with homophobia, shame, and trauma from growing up in 1980s Brisbane. Hayes announced the Do You Remember? Tour in March 2022, performing in six Australian cities between January and February 2023. The tour featured songs from both his Savage Garden and solo careers. Hayes has consistently stated that Savage Garden will never reunite, likening it to being asked to return to a dysfunctional, toxic relationship. Hayes published his memoir Unlovable in November 2024.

Daniel Jones

Daniel Jones was born July 22, 1973, in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, the youngest of three boys. When he was one year old, his family moved to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Jones was approximately 18 years old when he formed a band called Red Edge with his brother Oliver on lead guitar and lead vocals, along with Jamie Sullivan on bass guitar and backing vocals, and his brother Scott Sullivan on drums. Jones played keyboards and rhythm guitar in the covers band. In mid-1993, Jones placed an advertisement in Brisbane street press Time Off seeking a vocalist for Red Edge. Darren Hayes responded and joined after his audition. Hayes and Jones started writing original material together while performing covers with Red Edge.

In June 1994, Hayes and Jones left Red Edge to pursue a career as a duo. According to the credits on their albums, Hayes handled lead vocals and arrangements while Jones played guitar, keyboards, and sang backing vocals. They wrote their songs together, with Jones contributing significantly to the musical arrangements, programming, and synthesizing. Jones helped secure their recording contract by sending demo tapes to record companies worldwide. He worked with Hayes in the studio, alongside producer Charles Fisher, to create their debut album in 1995. Jones provided the instrumental foundation and production expertise that complemented Hayes’ vocal performances, becoming an essential component of Savage Garden’s signature sound.

Originally, both Hayes and Jones traveled the world to promote their first album, Savage Garden, in 1997. However, as travel strain and other issues began to take their toll on Jones, he decided he was not comfortable with the press junket circuit and the intense scrutiny from fans and the media that came with it. Jones informed the band’s manager, John Woodruff, that he wanted to leave before the promotion for their second album, Affirmation, began. When it came time to produce Affirmation, Jones told Hayes he wanted out and agreed to complete the album only after Hayes agreed to handle all the promotion himself, virtually. Jones took a back seat in all promotional activities for Affirmation, signaling his discontent with remaining in Savage Garden as it had operated.

In 2000, Jones met Kathleen de Leon, an original member of Hi-5, an Australian children’s musical group aligned with a television series of the same name, at the 42nd Annual TV Week Logie Awards. Jones proposed to de Leon on his 30th birthday at the GPO Bar in Brisbane. Jones married de Leon on October 9, 2005, at Avica Weddings and Resort on the Gold Coast in Queensland. After the birth of their first child, de Leon left Hi-5 to focus on mothering and growing a family with Jones. In 2009, the couple relocated to the United States from Australia.

In 2001, Jones built his own recording studio and launched the music label Meridien Musik. The label’s first act was Aneiki, a duo consisting of Grant Wallis and Jennifer Waite, who had been one of the backing vocalists on Savage Garden’s The Future of Earthly Delites tour. Jones wrote five songs with Waite, including “Dearest,” “She Says,” “Saving Grace,” “Feel This Fool,” and “Sugarlust” for their album Words in Place of Objects. Their single “Pleased To Meet You” became the most-played song on Australian radio in 2002. Aneiki released only one album before dissolving. In 2002, Jones worked with Australian duo Bachelor Girl to co-write a song called “Falling” for their fourth album Dysfunctional. In 2004, Jones helped produce albums for Australian pop-rock musician Julie Strickland and the Australian act The Wish.

Jones eventually left the music industry after realizing he was spending too much of his own money on projects and would lose it all if he did not step away. He moved to Las Vegas with his wife and entered the real estate business. Jones and his wife formed the De Leon Jones Family Trust to purchase homes at deflated costs and flip them for profit. Jones employs a small crew but performs much of the renovation work himself. In 2011, the couple purchased a 10,000-square-foot, nine-bedroom, seven-bath home in Las Vegas for $ 2.5 million. After a five-year renovation, they sold the property in 2016 for 4.4 million dollars, earning a profit of 1.9 million dollars. Jones has stated that he is primarily a father and husband, with property development as his third priority, while music sits on the back burner as a hobby.