Grace Knight

As part of our commitment to capturing and sharing great Australian music stories, the Australian Music Vault asked some of the country’s most influential trailblazers and unsung heroes to open up about their lives in music.

Grace Knight rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as the energetic frontwoman in the Eurogliders. Born in England in 1955, Knight moved to Perth in the late 1970s where she would later meet her partner in music and life, Bernie Lynch. The pair formed synth-pop band the Eurogliders and quickly became a household name in the Australian music scene.

The band’s distinctive sound was driven by the innovative songwriting and guitar work of Lynch, but it was Knight who was undoubtedly the focal point of the group with her captivating stage presence and unique fashion sense.

In 1984, the Eurogliders released their breakthrough hit single ‘Heaven (Must Be There)’, which reached No. 2 on the Australian charts and peaked at No. 21 on the US Billboard charts. Follow up singles, ‘We Will Together’ and ‘Can’t Wait to See You’ also reached the Top 10.

Lynch and Knight’s relationship eventually broke down in 1985, but the couple continued performing for another four years until Knight made a cameo for the ABC-TV series Come in Spinner. This launched her career as a jazz singer with the release of the show’s soundtrack alongside Vince Jones. Knight’s first solo album, Stormy Weather (1991), won an ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album and her follow-up album, Gracious (1993), was nominated for the same ARIA a year later.

Since then, Knight’s versatility has kept her as a mainstay on the jazz and rock circuits. Eurogliders reformed in 2005 and the band continue to perform and tour around Australia. In 2010, Knight released her autobiography Pink Suit for A Blue Day.

In this interview, Knight reminisces on the formation of Eurogliders and singing for former US president Bill Clinton.

Interviewer: Jane Gazzo
Location: Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne, 2023