Paul Kelly and other musicians played music to Renée Geyer in hospital prior to her death

Kelly worked with Geyer – who passed away earlier this week – on her 1994 album 'Difficult Woman' and its 1999 follow-up 'Sweet Life'

Renée Geyer‘s manager has revealed that Paul Kelly and other musicians visited the late singer in hospital prior to her death earlier this week, playing music for the jazz and soul icon.

Geyer’s manager shared a post on the singer’s Facebook page yesterday (January 18), thanking fans for their messages and tributes, along with the staff at Geelong Hospital.

“Renée was surrounded by musicians, Yuri Pavlinov, Jex Saarelaht, Charlie Owen, Paul Hambrook and Paul Kelly who played quietly to Renée in ICU and it was magic,” Geyer’s manager added. “Thanks boys… unforgettable.”

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Hello friends,Renée’s Manager, Kathy wants to thank you all for your messages and tributes, and in particular to thank…

Posted by Renée Geyer on Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Veteran entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins also recounted the story while appearing on Today this week. “Just yesterday, Paul Kelly and a couple of friends went to see [Geyer] in hospital in Geelong,” Wilkinson said, adding that they played a couple of songs, including Geyer’s 1975 hit ‘Heading In The Right Direction’.

Geyer and Kelly had both a long friendship and professional relationship. Kelly produced Geyer’s ninth studio album, 1994’s ‘Difficult Woman’ and co-produced its 1999 follow-up ‘Sweet Life’ with the Black SorrowsJoe Camilleri.

“So long, Renee. What a force! Passionate, difficult and ferociously funny,” Kelly wrote in a tribute to Geyer he shared on Instagram following news of her death. “You taught me a lot. Pulled songs out of me no-one else could. We’ll never see or hear your like again. Flights of angels, sing thee to thy rest.”

Geyer’s death was confirmed on Tuesday (January 17), with a statement from her record label sharing that she had passed away from complications following hip surgery. While in hospital, it was also discovered that Geyer had inoperable lung cancer. “She was in no pain and died peacefully amongst family and friends,” the statement read.

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Geyer released 15 studio albums over the course of her career, with the most recent being 2013’s ‘Swing’. She was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005, and was the first woman to be inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2018, she received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Women in Music Awards.

In addition to her own work, Geyer was also an in-demand session vocalist in the decade-plus she spent living in the United States, working with the likes of Joe Cocker, Sting, Neil Diamond, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy and many others.

Many of Geyer’s contemporaries paid tribute to the singer following news of her passing. Camilleri remembered her as “truly one of the best soul singers this country has ever produced” who “influenced so many who came after her”, while Jimmy Barnes said she had “the power to bring a song to life and a voice full of passion and tenderness”.

“A game changer. A soul diva. My sister in song,” Marcia Hines wrote in her own tribute. “Heart felt condolences to her family and friends, and to the Australian music industry as a whole who have just lost a person who possessed one of the greatest voices I have ever heard.”

Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett recounted playing a charity show with Geyer years earlier. “Of course she blew the roof off,” Garrett wrote. “One of the very best voices we ever had the privilege to hear.”

Raitt also posted a lengthy tribute. “Shocked and so saddened to hear of the sudden passing of another friend and one of the greatest singers I’ve ever known, Australia’s incomparable Renee Geyer,” she wrote on Twitter.

“Her husky, powerful and deeply soulful voice and phrasing has blown me away since I first heard her,” she continued. “She was feisty, fiercely independent and faced a lot being a strong woman in this music business. She was also my good friend and will remain an inspiration and in my heart always.”

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