Imbruglia has appeared in several films, includingJohnny English (2003) and Australian indie filmClosed for Winter (2009). She has modelled for several brands, such asL'Oreal,Gap, and Kailis. Among other philanthropic work, Imbruglia served as a longtime spokesperson forVirgin Unite and campaigns to raise awareness ofobstetric fistula.
Imbruglia appeared in Australian television commercials forCoca-Cola and the Australian snackTwisties. She left school at the age of sixteen, to pursue acting. She secured a role asBeth Brennan on the Australiansoap operaNeighbours where she shared a house with Benjamin Mitchell who played the parts of Brad Willis and Cameron Hudson.[16][17] By the end of her second year, she left the show to move toLondon in 1994.[15] She met Anne Barret, who became her manager and convinced her to record a demo of four songs.[15] She signed a record deal withBMG, after a demo of "Torn" impressedRCA Records.
1997–2000:Left of the Middle and international breakthrough
Imbruglia's first international single, "Torn", was a cover of a song of which the first English version was byEdnaswap, an American 1990s rock band, but it was earlier aDanish song released byLis Sørensen.[18] The song was released on 27 October 1997 in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number two for three weeks on the UK Singles Chart. "Torn" eventually sold over one million copies in the UK alone and became one of the bestselling singles of the 1990s in the UK.[19] Following the success in the UK, the song was getting heavy airplay around the world since late 1997 but not in North America. "Torn" finally made its debut in the United States in January 1998 when a radio station, Los Angeles KROQ, which sensed the buzz and popularity of the song in international markets, started playing an import version of the song, which was quickly followed by other stations. MTV followed by playing its music video, andSaturday Night Live (SNL) booked Imbruglia for a live performance even before her album was available.[20]
"Torn" debuted at the Top 40 onBillboard Radio Songs Chart on 14 February 1998 and finally reached number one spot on 16 May 1998 and stayed at the summit for eleven consecutive weeks. To promote the album sales in the US, the record label decided not to release the physical single of the song, thus the song did not appear on theBillboard Hot 100 Chart during its popularity peak in mid-1998. The rule was changed due to the public and industry outcry in late-1998, and the song made its appearance on the chart for two weeks, and peaked at number 42. In other markets, "Torn" was a number one song in Canada, Denmark, and number two in her home country, Australia.
Imbruglia's debut album,Left of the Middle, was released on 24 November 1997. It sold 350,000 in the UK three weeks after release and was certified platinum. It has sold 7 million copies.[21] The second single in the UK after "Torn" was "Big Mistake", which debuted at No. 2. "Wishing I Was There" was less successful, peaking at No. 19. "Wishing I Was There" only peaked at No. 2 on UK radio in summer 1998, and in the US peaked at No. 14 on the Top 40 Show. The final single fromLeft of the Middle was "Smoke", which had a more divided reception. It was a hit in the UK and made the top five, while in Australia it missed the top 40. Eventually, the album became a million-seller after charting well in many countries and entering the Top 10 in the US and UK. In 1999, she recorded a cover of "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS withTom Jones, which appeared on his albumReload.
Imbruglia's next album,White Lilies Island, in 2001, was named after where she lived beside theRiver Thames atWindsor. Imbruglia co-wrote every track over three years. The album's first single, "That Day", was stylistically different from her singles but did not reach the UK Top 10. In the US, "Wrong Impression" was the first single and charted in theHot 100 Singles andadult contemporary charts. In the UK it did slightly better thanThat Day. "Beauty on the Fire", the final single, barely entered charts worldwide, and did not make the top 50 in Australia. The album, briefly notorious in theSony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal, sold 1 million but did not repeat the success ofLeft of the Middle.
Imbruglia's third album was ready by November 2003; however her record label refused to release it. She was given songs to record with Swedish pop producers,Bloodshy & Avant. She and the record label separated at the beginning of 2004. Four months later she signed with Brightside Recordings, formed by a former Innocent Records executive, Hugh Goldsmith.In 2003, she appeared in the spy parody filmJohnny English, playing Rowan Atkinson's love interest, Lorna Campbell, in aBond girl–style role.
In April 2005, Imbruglia's third albumCounting Down the Days had "Shiver" as its first single. "Shiver" became her longest-charting single in the UK since "Torn." It topped UK airplay charts for several weeks, reaching eighth in the UK. It became the most-played song of 2005.Counting Down The Days became her first album to reach the top spot on the album charts.
"Sanctuary" was the second single from the album and singles sent to radio stations. The decision was later changed to the title track"Counting Down the Days", with stations asked to play the album version, because the radio mix was not finished. The single on 25 July did not have as much success in the singles chart as "Shiver," although it reignited interest in its album and received airplay in the UK. Due to the single, the album re-entered the top 40 in the UK charts.
Imbruglia made a small European tour, her first sinceLeft of the Middle, in late October and November. Though the album never entered UK Top 40 again, several concerts sold out, notably London.
The album was the 100th-best-selling album in 2005, selling 204,877 copies in the UK alone.[25]
Imbruglia started on her fourth album in late 2005. In mid-2007, plans changed and her record company released a compilation of Imbruglia's 10 years in music. The only single from the album—"Glorious"—premiered inBBC Radio 1 onThe Chris Moyles Show. The Singles Collection debuted at No. 5 in the UK, including the single "Glorious" as well as a DVD of Imbruglia's videos. The album sold 600,000 copies.
2009–2014:Come to Life, musical hiatus and stage debut
In late-2008, in the second year of work on her eventual 2009 albumCome to Life, Imbruglia parted with her label,Brightside/Sony BMG.[26] She obtained the rights to songs recorded for the album and planned to record on her own label, Malabar Records.[27] Songs were co-written withBen Hillier,Dave McCracken, her then-husbandDaniel Johns,Gary Clark, Jamie Hartman,Paul Harris, Shep Solomon andChris Martin ofColdplay. Some tracks were produced by Hillier and mixed by Danton Supple.
Accompanied by an extensive television advertising campaign and press campaign,[28]Come to Life was released, throughIsland Records, on 2 October 2009 in Australia. It entered theAustralian albums chart at No. 67 on 19 October 2009, making it Imbruglia's worst performing album to date, selling just 750 copies in its first week of release and spending only two weeks in the Top 100.[29] It had been announced that the album would be released in theUnited Kingdom (UK) on 3 May 2010, preceded by the track "Scars" to be released as a single on 22 March 2010. Following the disappointing reaction on the Australian charts, the official UK launch of the album, and the single, was delayed, then cancelled.[citation needed] All plans to launch the album in the United States were also cancelled, with the album eventually made available online throughAmazon Music.[30]
After the failure ofCome to Life, Imbruglia took a six-year hiatus from music, shifting her focus back to acting. Imbruglia moved toLos Angeles and hired acting coach Ivana Chubbuck.[31] She appeared in three movies over the next five years,Closed for Winter (2009),Underdogs (2013) andAmong Ravens (2014).
On 3 December 2014, Imbruglia signed withSony Masterworks and planned to make her first album in five years, covering famous songs by a range of male artists.[34] The first single is a cover of "Instant Crush", originally byDaft Punk featuringJulian Casablancas.Male was released on 31 July 2015, her fifth studio album.[35][36] During the spring of 2017, Imbruglia took her Acoustic Tour to Europe in support of the album.[37] In 2018 she continued with a tour around the UK.
In anInstagram post in November 2018, Imbruglia stated that new music was due in 2019.[38] In February 2019 it was announced thatAlbert Hammond Jr. ofthe Strokes was in the studio with Imbruglia working on new music, along with Strokes producerGus Oberg.[39]
Imbruglia signed toBMG in July 2019, her original record label from 1997 to 2007, with plans to release an album of new material sometime in 2020.[40] This was subsequently pushed back to 2021.[41]
On 18 June 2021, Imbruglia released "Build It Better", the first single from her sixth studio albumFirebird, which was released on 24 September 2021.[42][43] The official video for "Build It Better" was directed by Amy Becker-Burnett, with choreography by Gregory Haney and Alex Sarmiento.[44][45] "Build It Better" did not enter the Official UK Top 100 Chart, but peaked at No. 67 on the Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100 and at number 66 on the Official Singles Download Chart Top 100.[46][47]
In 2022, Imbruglia won thethird series of theBritish version ofThe Masked Singer as "Panda".[48] Imbruglia released her version of "Story of My Life" (a song she performed on the show) on 12 February 2022. It debuted on the UK Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100 at number 49.[49] TheFirebird album re-entered the UK Official Album Downloads chart at number 32.[50]
On 28 July 2022, Imbruglia made a cameo appearance as Beth in the final-everNeighbours episode.[51] Her appearance was filmed alongsideHolly Valance's character,Felicity Scully.[52]
In February 2024, it was announced that Imbruglia would embark on a UK and Ireland tour with the Irish groupthe Corrs.[53] Also in 2024, Imbruglia competed inseason twelve ofThe Masked Singer as "Bluebell" whereKelly Osbourne (who competed as "Ladybug" inseason two) served as her Mask Ambassador. She was eliminated in the Group B Finals.[54]
In 2016 Imbruglia was cast in the second season of SBS TV seriesFirst Contact.[57]
In 2024, she released anAudible Original podcast,Sleep Sound with Natalie Imbruglia. In the podcast she recites poetry by the late Australian poet,Dorothea Mackellar.[58]
In 1999, Imbruglia metSilverchair frontmanDaniel Johns backstage at his band's concert in London. They started dating after meeting again at theARIA awards after-party at the Gazebo Hotel in Sydney in October of the same year.[60] After years of an on-and-off relationship, they announced their engagement shortly before Christmas 2002 and they married on New Year's Eve 2003 in a beach ceremony inPort Douglas, Queensland.[61][62][63][64] Imbruglia stated in a 2002 interview that meeting Johns saved her from depression.[61] Johns wrote the song "Satisfied" for Imbruglia's 2005 albumCounting Down the Days, which he also produced and co-wrote the song "Want" from Imbruglia's 2009 albumCome to Life.[65][66][67] Imbruglia wrote her 2005 single "Counting Down the Days" about their long-distance relationship, as Imbruglia was based in London and Johns lived inNewcastle, Australia.[64] They announced their divorce on 4 January 2008, stating, "We have simply grown apart through not being able to spend enough time together."[68]
On 9 October 2019, Imbruglia announced on Instagram that she had given birth to a baby boy. The child was conceived usingIVF andsperm from an unnamed donor.[71]
Imbruglia became a worldwide spokesperson for L'Oréal after the release ofWhite Lilies Island. She was a model for many cosmetic products by L'Oréal, particularly mascaras and skincare products. She also appeared in several TV commercials for L'Oréal. In July 2007, her five-year contract with L'Oréal expired and was not prolonged, because, in her words during an appearance onThe Graham Norton Show, she is "apparently ... not worth it anymore", referring to the company's slogan "Because You're Worth It".
Imbruglia posed in an anti-fur ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), in which she is holding a rabbit to her naked chest next to the tagline "Try Telling Him It's Just a Little Fur Trim".
Oxfam's "Sustain Me" campaign that featured Imbruglia as one of their models, aimed at highlighting Oxfam as a fashionable and more sustainable alternative to the high street. She donned second-hand clothes that were restyled by designer Katie Shillingford.
2011–2015
Kailis
Print, television
Imbruglia was the featured model and spokesperson for Australian luxury pearl brand Kailis Jewellery from 2011 until 2015.[99][100]
