\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tWith two trophies each, Ball Park Music\u00a0and Jem Cassar-Daley were the big winners at the 2026 Queensland Music Awards, presented Wednesday night (April 22) on the Gold Coast for the very first time.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tBall Park Music\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tJem Cassar-Daley\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tCassar-Daley was on hand to collect the pop award for \u201cKiss Me Like You\u2019re Leaving,\u201d and doubled up with song of the year.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tPatti Smith, Morrissey, Interpol, Violet Grohl and Sex Pistols to Play 2026 CBGB Festival\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tOn winning the night\u2019s major prize, Cassar-Daley quipped: \u201cTo say I wasn\u2019t expecting this is an absolute understatement.\u201d When her name was called out, she was eating a \u201cfew little carrot sticks\u201d with her mother, the veteran broadcaster Laurel Edwards. \u201cHonestly, every year I feel like I\u2019m more and more blown away by the talent that comes out of Queensland, and Brisbane. But it\u2019s also the support from venues, metro and regional.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBy winning song of the year, Cassar-Daley, daughter of homegrown country music great Troy Cassar-Daley, is awarded with a plaque on the Walk of Fame in Brisbane\u2019s Brunswick Street Mall. She already has one, for nabbing song of the year in 2024 with \u201cKing of Disappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBall Park Music capped a massive 12 months with a brace for their eighth album, Like Love<\/em>, which won QMAs for album of the year and highest selling album. Like Love<\/em> went to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in April 2025, the band\u2019s first leader after long streak of near-misses which included three titles that peaked at No. 2:\u00a0Puddinghead<\/em>\u00a0(2014),\u00a0Ball Park Music<\/em>\u00a0(2020), and\u00a0Weirder & Weirder<\/em>\u00a0(2022). Later in 2025, the band opened for Oasis on the reunited Britpop legends\u2019 stadium tour of Australia. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe have loved being a band for almost 20 years now. To get together and to make songs together, has always been a labor of love,\u201d frontman Sam Cromack remarked after winning album of the year. \u201cIt\u2019s a great honor to win an award but it\u2019s never been the driving force. We absolutely love making music together and performing music. So to have an honor like this is very special.\u201d With his final words, a blunt reminder of the important things in life. \u201cGo and start a f\u2014ing band,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n \n\tYoung Franco, too, knows a little about life in the winners\u2019 circle. Just 24 hours after he was inducted into the Valley Walk of Fame, a permanent reminder of his 2025 song of the year win for \u201cWake Up\u201d\u00a0featuring Master Peace, Franco made the trip 50 miles south to the QMAs where he snagged the 2026 electronic award for \u201cLose Control.\u201d Franco was tapped for Spotify\u2019s RADAR emerging artist program in 2024, as he opened for Dom Dolla on the EDM superstar\u2019s record-breaking tour of Australia.<\/p>\n \n\tOther winners at the 2026 QMAs included Hollow Coves (export artist of the year), FISHER (highest Selling single for \u201cStay\u201d) and 4ZZZ, the Brisbane community radio station that was presented with the lifetime achievement award in recognition of 50 years on air, supporting homegrown acts, and for the station\u2019s epic fights for good causes.<\/p>\n \n\t4ZZZ isn\u2019t just a station. It\u2019s an institution in the domestic music community. \u201cThis award is a testament to every artist we\u2019ve ever played before anyone else would, every volunteer who showed up on a Sunday morning and every listener who tuned in because they wanted something real,\u201d commented 4ZZZ presenter, Quentin Ellison of Friday Neon. \u201cQueensland music has always been world class, and we\u2019ve just been lucky enough to have a front row seat.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tGuests and presenters at the Miami Marketta included ex-Powderfinger and the Church guitarist Ian Haug; former Powderfinger bandmate, now venue operator and night-life economy commissioner John \u201cJC\u201d Collins; Hutchies chairman Scott Hutchinson; and Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re serious about our creative enterprise and understand the importance of supporting events such as the QMAs,\u201d commented Tate. \u201cWe\u2019re not just talking about it, we\u2019re investing in our cultural capital with new venues such as the Gold Coast Music Hall under construction and the Gold Coast Arena in the pipeline.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLaunched in 2006 and presented by QMusic, the awards are the state\u2019s peak recognition of musical excellence with support by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. Each category is judged by a panel of over 100 industry professionals.<\/p>\n \n\tPerformers included Screamfeeder, DZ Deathrays, Dami Im, Sunny Luwe, Tori Darke and others, while Ash McGregor and Matt Okine were presenters.<\/p>\n \n\tThe full list of QMAs category and scholarship winners can be seen at qmusic.com.au\/qma and below.<\/p>\n Full list of the 2026 Queensland Music Award Winners<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Category Award Winners<\/strong> People\u2019s Choice Awards presented by Oztix and The Music Major Awards<\/strong> Industry Excellence Scholarships, Fellowship and Award \u2013 supported by the Queensland Government through [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/awards\/ball-park-music-jem-cassar-daley-win-big-2026-qmas-1236229646\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/dz-deathrays-2026-qmas-1800-cr-lachlan-douglas.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard With two trophies each, Ball Park Music\u00a0and Jem Cassar-Daley were the big winners at the 2026 Queensland Music Awards, presented Wednesday night (April 22) on the Gold Coast for the very first time. Explore Ball Park Music Jem Cassar-Daley See latest videos, charts and news Cassar-Daley was on hand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-1898379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1898379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1898379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1898379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1898379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1898379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1898379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Blues\/Roots \u2014 Lontano, \u201cWay Too Long\u201d
Children\u2019s Music \u2014 Joff Bush, I Don\u2019t Have a Chimney (ft. Emma Dean)
Contemporary Classical \u2014 Abigail Lui & Camerata, Memory in the Distant Hills<\/em> (presented by Griffith University)
Country \u2014 Tori Darke, \u201cRemember Me Like That\u201d
Electronic \u2014 Young Franco, \u201cLose Control\u201d (presented by Comiskey Group)
Folk \u2014 The Dreggs, \u201cWe Don\u2019t Talk\u201d
Heavy \u2014 Upsetter, \u201cBest Years of My Life\u201d (presented by The Lanes Fortitude Valley Festival)
Hip Hop \u2014 Say True God?, \u201cCOUNT US IN\u201d (presented by Eumundi Brewery)
Jazz \u2014 Dami Im, Bubble<\/em>
Music for Screen \u2014 Georgia D\u2019Arcy, Creek<\/em>
Music Video of the Year \u2014 Loki Liddle & Joshua Tate, \u201cBreaking Into Heaven (from the album Selve<\/em>) (presented by PixelFrame)
Pop presented by ARUGA \u2014 Jem Cassar-Daley, Kiss Me Like You\u2019re Leaving
Rock presented by Miami Marketta \u2014 DZ Deathrays, Skyline
Soul\/Funk\/RnB \u2014 BADASSMUTHA, BUB
World Award presented by 612 ABC Brisbane \u2014 Tenzin Choegyal, Snow Flower<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Festival of the Year \u2014 Maleny Music Festival
Metro Venue of the Year \u2014 The Tivoli
Regional Venue of the Year \u2014 Miami Marketta<\/p>\n
Album of the Year \u2014 Ball Park Music (presented by Gold Coast Music Awards)
Highest Selling Album \u2014 Ball Park Music (presented by QMusic)
Highest Selling Single \u2014 Fisher, \u201cStay\u201d (presented by QMusic)
Export Artist \u2013 Hollow Coves (presented by Sounds Australia)
Song of the Year \u2014 Jem Cassar-Daley, \u201cKiss Me Like You\u2019re Leaving\u201d (presented by City of Gold Coast through Invest Gold Coast)
Lifetime Achievement presented by Hutchies \u2013 4ZZZ<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Accessible & Inclusive Venue \u2013 Den Devine
Breakthrough Artist presented by SAE University College \u2013 Odd Mob
Indigenous Artist of the Year \u2013 JUNGAJI
Producer of the Year, presented by APRA AMCOS \u2013 Mallrat
Regional Artist of the Year \u2013 Djawarray<\/p>\n
Arts Queensland
<\/strong>(The awards were presented at the Queensland Parliamentary Friends of Music event in March)
Billy Thorpe Scholarship \u2013 Frank and Louis
Carol Lloyd Awards \u2013 Paulina
Dennis Mop Conlon Scholarship \u2013 Dubbzone
Grant McLennan Fellowship \u2013 Banff<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n