Jon Toogood
{{Short description|New Zealand musician (born 1971)}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|name = Jon Toogood
|background = solo_singer
|image = Jon Toogood 2020 (cropped).jpg
|caption = Toogood in 2020
|birth_name = Jonathan Charles Toogood
|alias =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1971|8|9}}
|birth_place = Wellington, New Zealand
|death_date =
|occupation=Singer, musician, songwriter
|instrument = Vocals, guitar
|genre = Alternative rock, hard rock, industrial rock, pop, worldbeat, acoustic rock
|current_member_of = Shihad
}}
Jonathan Charles Toogood (born 9 August 1971) is a New Zealand musician who is the frontman (lead vocals and guitar) of the rock band Shihad.{{Citation
| last = McQuillan
| first = Laura
| title = Shihad's Week-Long 21st Party
| newspaper = The Dominion Post/Stuff.co.nz
| date = 17 August 2009
| url = http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/2758177/Shihads-week-long-21st-party
| accessdate = 10 September 2009
}} He started playing guitar when he was "8 or 9" and became friends with Tom Larkin while at Wellington High School. Toogood and Larkin were fans of AC/DC and Metallica and started Shihad in 1988.{{Citation
| last = Kara
| first = Scott
| title = Once More With Feeling
| newspaper = The New Zealand Herald
| date = 12 April 2008
| url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10503607
| accessdate = 10 September 2009
}}
Non-Shihad projects
= SML (mid-1990s) =
After their respective bands were established on Wildside Records Toogood, Larkin, and Nigel Reagan (Head Like a Hole) had a side project called SML.{{cite web |title=The Adults on RNZ Music |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/2532144/the-adults |website=RNZ |access-date=7 November 2024 |date=18 June 2011}} They recorded two albums in The Stench Room studio, releasing Is That It? and Mixdown in 1995 and 1996.{{cite web |last1=Bertram |first1=Gavin |title=Head Like A Hole aka HLAH |url=https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/head-like-a-hole |website=Audioculture |access-date=7 November 2024 |date=20 December 2013}}
= The Adults (2009–2012 and 2014–2018) =
{{Main|The Adults}}
In 2009, Toogood revealed he had been travelling around New Zealand to collaborate with other New Zealand artists for a project that is "extra-curricular" to Shihad's music. Collaborators included Tiki Taane, Ruban and Kody Neilson from the Mint Chicks, Julia Deans from Fur Patrol, Anika Moa, Shayne Carter of Dimmer/Straitjacket Fits fame and Ladi 6. The Adults was released as a full-length album in New Zealand in June 2011. Toogood subsequently toured New Zealand and Australia under this banner, joined onstage by Deans and Carter.{{cite web|url=http://13thfloor.co.nz/reviews/cd-reviews/the-adults-the-adults-warner-music/|title=The Adults – The Adults (Warner Music) review|publisher=13thfloor.co.nz|accessdate=19 October 2011|author=Duda, Marty|work=The 13th Floor |date=25 June 2011}}
A second Adults album featured entirely different (musicians other than Toogood). Haja combined New Zealand hip hop and Aghani Al-Banat music from Sudan. Toogood encountered Aghani Al-Banat, which translates as "women's music", in 2014 as part of his wedding ceremony in his wife's home country. Haja was released in 2018 and reached #14 on the national album charts.{{cite web |title=Artist Search: The Adults |url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/artists/the-adults/xzqbslwovykf/albums |website=Aotearoa Music Charts |access-date=18 November 2024}} Toogood's main musical contribution is on bass guitar, and he also sings on two songs.{{cite web |last1=Behan |first1=Alex |last2=Johnstone |first2=Kirsten |title=The Adults new album Haja harnesses the power of women's music |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/2018654308/the-adults-new-album-haja-harnesses-the-power-of-women-s-music |website=RNZ |date=19 July 2018 |access-date=25 November 2021}} He hadn't originally intended for it to be released as "The Adults", but his record company offered more support for the project if it carried this name.{{cite web |last1=Oliver |first1=Henry |title=Jon Toogood's The Adults: 'I'm bored of hearing me. I didn't make the record to hear me' |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/music/24-07-2018/jon-toogoods-the-adults-im-bored-of-hearing-me-i-didnt-make-the-record-to-hear-me |website=The Spinoff |access-date=25 November 2021 |date=24 July 2018 |quote=I found out it was going to be an Adults record when I said to Warners, 'I’ve got all this music but it’s so different, I don’t know how I’m going to put it out' [...] and they went [..] 'You’ve got an existing collaborative name, The Adults. We’ll help you out if you do that.'}}
In 2018, Toogood completed a master of fine arts degree at Massey University, with a thesis on Aghani Al-Banat music.{{Cite thesis |last=Toogood |first=Jonathan |title=Haja : incorporating Aghani Al-Banat into a Western popular music recording project |date=2018 |degree=Master of Fine Arts |publisher=Massey Research Online, Massey University |hdl=10179/14360 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10179/14360}} In 2020 Toogood was inducted into Massey University's College of Creative Arts' hall of fame.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/119995420/four-alumni-inducted-into-massey-hall-of-fame-in-wellington-ceremony|title = Four alumni inducted into Massey hall of fame in Wellington ceremony|date = 4 March 2020}}
{{clear left}}
=2020–2024: Come Together and ''Last of the Lonely Gods''=
Toogood is a key player in Come Together, a changing New Zealand supergroup that covers classic rock in live shows around the country. The group has recreated eight albums in their entirety:{{cite web |title=Neil Young, Dire Straits and Fleetwood Mac's most iconic albums to be recreated for NZ Come Together concert series |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/neil-young-dire-straits-and-fleetwood-macs-most-iconic-albums-to-be-recreated-for-nz-come-together-concert-series/VHSWLIIZP5EK3BOCRW5WARLSXA/ |website=New Zealand Herald |access-date=7 November 2024 |date=1 March 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Cudby |first1=Chris |title=Primer: Come Together - NZ Supergroup Playing Albums By Neil Young, Dire Straits, The Beatles |url=https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/18015/Primer-Come-Together---NZ-Supergroup-Playing-Albums-By-Neil-Young-Dire-Straits-The-Beatles.utr |website=Under the Radar |access-date=7 November 2024 |date=24 November 2020}}
- Abbey Road by The Beatles (2020)
- Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits (2020)
- Making Movies by Dire Straits (2023)
- Rumours by Fleetwood Mac (2023)
- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John (2021){{cite web |last1=Cudby |first1=Chris |title=Come Together - Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' Concert Tour Announced |url=https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/18515/Come-Together---Elton-Johns-Goodbye-Yellow-Brick-Road-Concert-Tour-Announced.utr |website=Under the Radar |access-date=7 November 2024 |date=11 May 2021}}
- Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
- Harvest by Neil Young (2023)
- Live Rust by Neil Young (2020)
Come Together's "End of Year Bash" tours of 2023 and 2024 did away with full album play-throughs and instead are celebrations of what Toogood calls "the greatest rock songs".{{cite web |title=Jon Toogood: Shihad frontman on the Come Together tour, and making music "I love being in front of an audience": Jon Toogood on music and the Come Together tour |url=https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/jon-toogood-shihad-frontman-on-the-come-together-tour-and-making-music/ |website=NewstalkZB |access-date=7 November 2024 |date=26 October 2023}}{{cite news |title=Come Together supergroup announces end-of-year bash |url=https://www.thepress.co.nz/culture/350454181/come-together-supergroup-announces-end-year-bash |access-date=7 November 2024 |publisher=The Press |date=17 October 2024}}
File:Jon-toogood-november2024.jpg
Toogood's debut solo album, Last of the Lonely Gods, was released in 2024. Played on acoustic guitar, the songs were inspired by years of what he called "personal carnage". This included a 2021 COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne preventing him from seeing his mother before she died, a later lockdown in Wellington stranding him away from his wife and children while he lived with his sister and dying brother-in-law, and then a COVID infection leaving him with severe tinnitus that prevented him from sleeping and led to panic attacks.{{cite web |title=Shihad frontman Jon Toogood has a lot of 'personal carnage' to unpack |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/529170/shihad-frontman-jon-toogood-has-a-lot-of-personal-carnage-to-unpack |website=RNZ |access-date=7 November 2024 |date=27 September 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Haley |first1=Connor |title=Pandemic experience reflected in album |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/music/pandemic-experience-reflected-album |website=Otago Daily Times |publisher=Timaru Courier |access-date=7 November 2024 |date=10 May 2024}}
The album's songwriting began after a cognitive behavioural therapist suggested that Toogood play guitar as a mindfulness exercise, which helped alleviate his tinnitus symptoms and anxiety. It was released in October 2024.{{cite news |last1=Bruce |first1=Greg |title=Shihad's Jon Toogood reflects on loss and recovery in new solo album |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/shihads-jon-toogood-reflects-on-loss-and-recovery-in-new-solo-album/MUDLCQZRSRBPTBSVV7PLSBCHGU/ |access-date=7 November 2024 |publisher=New Zealand Herald |date=4 October 2024}}
Personal life
Toogood's parents migrated from England to New Zealand in the 1950s.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzmusician.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/article/pi_articleid/1344|title=Shihad – It's A Beautiful Thing {{!}} NZ Musician {{!}}|last=Miller|first=Andrew|date=May 2008|website=New Zealand Music Magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522142438/http://www.nzmusician.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/article/pi_articleid/1344|archive-date=22 May 2010}} His mother comes from an Ashkenazi Jewish family that changed its name during World War II. He has described his parents as "very egalitarian".
Toogood was a keen cricket player in high school, and at one stage captained the Wellington secondary schools' representative cricket team.{{Citation
| last = Kara
| first = Scott
| title = A Quick Word With: Jon Toogood
| newspaper = The New Zealand Herald
| date = 22 June 2007
| url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10446772
| accessdate = 10 September 2009
}}
As of April 2005 Toogood was married to Ronise Paul, with whom he had a stepdaughter.{{Citation
| last = Kara
| first = Scott
| title = Repiling the rock foundations
| newspaper = The New Zealand Herald
| date = 15 April 2005
| url = https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=101206822
| accessdate = 13 April 2019
}} In 2008 they moved to Melbourne where the rest of Shihad already lived. The marriage, which Toogood later described as making him "miserable", lasted until his step-daughter was 18.
In 2014 Toogood married second wife Dana Salih, who is a Sudanese Muslim, in Sudan.{{Cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/9723416/NZs-hard-rocker-gone-soft|title=NZ's hard rocker gone soft?|last=Dekker|first=Diana|date=15 February 2014 |newspaper=Stuff |language=English|access-date=13 April 2019}} Toogood had converted to Islam prior to the wedding but only spoke publicly about his religion after 2019's Christchurch mosque shootings.{{Citation
| last = Behan
| first = Alex
| title = Shihad's Jon Toogood on being Muslim, changing his band's name and keeping the faith
| newspaper = Stuff.co.nz
| date = 13 April 2019
| url = https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/111954347/shihads-jon-toogood-on-being-muslim-changing-his-bands-name-and-keeping-the-faith
| accessdate = 13 April 2019
He is not related to broadcasting icon Selwyn Toogood.
Awards
= Aotearoa Music Awards =
The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously known as New Zealand Music Awards (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in New Zealand music and have been presented annually since 1965.
{{awards table}}
! {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
| 1992 || Jon Toogood – Shihad || Most Promising Male || {{nom}} ||rowspan="8"| {{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusicawards.nz/award-history/|title=Aotearoa Music Awards|website=aotearoamusicawards.nz|access-date=18 August 2021|archive-date=25 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025201023/https://aotearoamusicawards.nz/award-history/|url-status=dead}}
|-
| 1994 || Jon Toogood – Shihad || Male Vocalist of the Year|| {{nom}}
|-
| 1996 || Jon Toogood – Shihad || Male Vocalist of the Year|| {{won}}
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1997 || Karl Kippenberger & Jon Toogood for Shihad || Album Cover of the Year || {{nom}}
|-
| Jon Toogood – Shihad || Male Vocalist of the Year|| {{nom}}
|-
| 1998 || Jon Toogood – Shihad || Male Vocalist of the Year|| {{won}}
|-
| 2000 || Jon Toogood – Shihad || Male Vocalist of the Year|| {{won}}
|-
| 2001 || Jon Toogood – Shihad || Male Vocalist of the Year|| {{nom}}
|-
| 2010 || Jon Toogood (as part of Shihad) || New Zealand Music Hall of Fame || {{yes2|inductee}} || {{cite web|url=https://www.musichall.co.nz/home/inductees/|title=HOME INDUCTEES|website=www.musichall.co.nz|access-date=16 August 2021}}
|-
{{end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0970364}}
- [http://www.shihad.com/ Shihad's official site]
- [http://www.theadults.co.nz/ The Adults official site]
{{Shihad}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toogood, Jon}}
Category:Musicians from Wellington
Category:New Zealand male songwriters
Category:New Zealand male guitarists
Category:People educated at Wellington High School, New Zealand
Category:21st-century New Zealand guitarists