His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel — , has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time.
By he had achieved 15 solo number-one albums in Australia, more than any other artist. He has won many awards, and been nominated for many more. Some of his albums were recorded at his own recording studio, Freight Train Studios. Several of his children are musicians who have on occasion joined him on stage, including drummer Jackie , his sisters Mahalia , Eliza-Jane "EJ" , and Elly-May , and elder half-brother David Campbell. Barnes' first memoir, which told of his poverty-stricken and traumatic childhood years, Working Class Boy , was followed by a sequel published the following year, Working Class Man.
For these, he won the biography of the year award at the Australian Book Industry Awards for two consecutive years. He has four siblings: John, Dorothy, Linda, and Alan.
The family, including parents and four siblings John, Dorothy, Linda, and Alan, emigrated on 7 December under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme , [ 3 ] arriving in Australia when he was five years old, on 21 January Another sister, Lisa, was born later that year. They originally lived in Adelaide , though they eventually settled in the satellite town now regarded as a suburb of Elizabeth.
Jimmy's older brother John became a successful musician as founder and lead singer of the rock band Swanee. John encouraged and taught Barnes how to sing, as he was not initially interested.
