In keeping within the tradition ARIA established at the 2005 Hall of Fame, this years inductees will be honoured in song by some of Australia's best new talent.

Jet have flown home to do two warm up shows in preparation for the release of their much anticipated new album Shine On. Jet will be cranking out a special tribute to Rose Tattoo by performing 'We Can't Be Beaten'.

For the first time in almost 12 years, founding members of Divinyls Chrissy Amphlett and Mark McEntee will be taking the stage at the ARIA Hall of Fame to perform two of their biggest hits 'I Touch Myself' and 'Boys In Town', whilst the original line up of Daddy Cool will regroup to perform arguably their two most iconic hits 'Eagle Rock' and 'Come Back Again'.

Also appearing on the night is Iva Davies and Icehouse who will perform 'We Can Get Together' and a special rendition of their classic song 'Great Southern Land'.

And finally, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs will perform a very special music tribute to Lobby Loyde.

Just who else will be performing....stay tuned for further announcements!

ARIA is delighted to announce one final music artist who will be honoured at the ARIA Hall of Fame event on Wednesday August 16 at the Plaza Ballroom in Melbourne.

Arguably one of Australia's legendary guitar heroes, LOBBY LOYDE, will join DIVINYLS, ICEHOUSE, DADDY COOL, HELEN REDDY and ROSE TATTOO into the hallowed ARIA Hall of Fame.

Acknowledged as the godfather of heavy rock in Australia, LOBBY LOYDE has influenced countless performers both here and overseas through his playing and songwriting as well as his production work.

Barry Lyde - or Lobby Loyde, as he has been known since the late 60's - started out like so many guitar heroes, under the all-pervasive influence of The Shadows' Hank Marvin. His incendiary guitar work has been a focal point of every band he's played with.

Among those who have cited Loyde as an influence are Billy Thorpe, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, Pavement's Stephen Malkmus (who covered The Coloured Balls That's What Mama Said), Henry Rollings (who owns all Lobby's recordings), Bored! and Cosmic Psychos.

"When kids pick up guitars in this country, they don't say: 'I want to sound like Lobby Loyde', " said Rose Tattoo frontman Angry Anderson. "They say: 'I want to sound like that' - without knowing it's Lobby. More than anyone else, Lobby helped create the Australian guitar sound. Long before Angus (Young) or Billy Thorpe or the Angels or Rose Tattoo. Lobby inspired Australian bands to step forward and play as loud and aggressively as they could. People are still trying to copy it today." Angry Anderson (The Age, Sat June 10th, 2006)

The 2006 ARIA Hall of Fame event will be broadcast exclusively on subscription television. Foxtel and Austar Digital subscribers will be able to see this special telecast on VH1 on Sunday, August 20th at 8.30pm

The 20th Annual ARIA Awards will be held on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, at Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park (formerly the Sydney SuperDome) and telecast on Network Ten at 7.30pm that night.

The ARIA Awards recognise excellence and innovation in all genres of Australian music and this year will be no exception with the 2006 Awards marking their 20th Anniversary.

2005/06 has been a bumper year for Australian artists with the likes of Bernard Fanning, Wolfmother, Shannon Noll, The Veronicas, Rogue Traders, Pete Murray, Eskimo Joe and Human Nature all releasing platinum selling albums as well as Gold album releases from Something For Kate, Hilltop Hoods, Augie March and Lee Kernaghan during the eligibility period.

Over 1,000 members of the Australian music industry begin casting their votes on Wednesday, August 16. Once voting has closed on Friday, August 25 and the numbers crunched, the final five nominees across 28 ARIA Award categories will be announced in Sydney on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13. The Nominations' Event will also feature the presentation of this year's ARIA Artisan Awards for Producer of the Year, Engineer of the Year, Best Cover Art and Best Video.

Tickets to this star-studded event will go on sale to the general public (all ages) on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2006. This year's ARIA AWARDS will feature a total of 9 performances from Australia's finest recording artists. The coveted performance slots will be announced after the Nominations Event on Wednesday, September 13.

In its third year as part of the ARIA Awards program, the ARIA FINE ARTS Awards will be held on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, in the magnificent Verbrugghen Hall at Sydney's Conservatorium of Music. At this event (to be simulcast on ABC Classic FM) the winners in the categories of Best Classical Album, Best Jazz Album, and Best Original Soundtrack/Cast Recording will be announced along with the ABC Classic FM Listeners' Choice Award for Best Classical Album.

KEY DATES:

Eligibility period for releases - Tuesday, August 16, 2005 to Saturday, August 5, 2006 inclusive
Voting period - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 to Friday, August 25, 2006 inclusive
Hall of Fame event - Wednesday, August 16, 2006, Plaza Ballroom, Melbourne
Tickets on sale to ARIA Members - Monday, September 4, 2006
Tickets on sale to Industry - Monday, September 11, 2006
ARIA Nominees announced and ARIA Artisan Awards presented - Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Tickets on sale to General Public - Thursday, September 21, 2006
ARIA Fine Arts Awards presented at Sydney's Conservatorium of Music - Wednesday, October 11, 2006