Don't Dream It's Over: The remarkable life of Neil Finn

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In February 1980, 21-year-old Neil Mullane Finn wrote 'I Got You,' which became the signature song, and the biggest hit, for the Kiwi band Split Enz, which had been co-founded by Neil's big brother Tim several years earlier. Over the next five decades, Neil not only nurtured one of the finest heads of hair in music, but he crafted hit after hit - 'Don't Dream It's Over,' 'Better Be Home Soon, 'One Step Ahead,' 'Into Temptation' and more - for Split Enz, for his own chart-topping band Crowded House, and as a solo act. In his spare time, in 2018, he joined international superstars Fleetwood Mac, who added his 'Don't Dream It's Over' to their sets. Neil is the most successful singer/ songwriter of his generation from this end of the planet - and probably the most respected.

Neil has endured his share of challenges. There was massive conflict with his older brother, especially when Tim was briefly invited to join Crowded House in 1990; the tragic death, by suicide, of close friend and Crowded House bandmate Paul Hester; and his hardscrabble early days in England with Split Enz, surviving, but only just, on the dole. Stir in his devout Catholic upbringing, a marriage to wife Sharon that has somehow lasted more than 40 years - a miracle in the world of pop music - and the efforts of his sons, Liam and Elroy, to also pursue a career in music, and the result is one of the most inspiring musical sagas of recent times.

Author Bio

As author, co-author and / or ghostwriter, Jeff Apter has worked on more than 30 biographies. His subjects include Keith Urban, George Young (Friday On My Mind), Malcolm Young (The Man Who Made AC/DC), Daniel Johns (The Book of Daniel), Angus Young (High Voltage) and John Farnham (Playing to Win). As ghostwriter, Jeff has worked with Mark Evans (Dirty Deeds), Michael Browning (Dog Eat Dog), Kasey Chambers (A Little Bird Told Me) and Richard Clapton (Best Years of Our Lives). He also worked on 2015's Helpmann award-nominated live show, A State of Grace: The Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley and was on staff at Rolling Stone for several years. www.jeffapter.com.au