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September 3, 2026 \u2014 11:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Jacqui Hunt, 60, former lead singer of \u201990s band Single Gun Theory, first met fellow muso Brian Conolly, 62, when they were teenagers. Decades later, they\u2019d reunite in a collaboration that would be more than musical.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n JACQUI: I was a rebellious child. I was expelled from school for a crazy haircut, and left home at 16 to move into a share house in Darlington [in Sydney]. It was 1982. There were four guys in the house, including Brian. They were a little older than me, and most were musicians. We started a band called The Guinea Pigs, with me as lead singer. I was Piglet One and Brian was Piglet Two. We were just friends, but he was very supportive. I wanted to write songs and so, one Saturday, he grabbed his guitar and we went to Centennial Park. I was young, and lots of people were telling me what to do, but Brian always took me seriously.<\/p>\n After a year, Brian left the band and the house broke up. I cried because I thought my life had fallen apart, too. I moved to Surry Hills and studied fashion at tech. I also started singing with an electronic band called Single Gun Theory. We toured the US and Canada and developed a solid following.<\/p>\n Related Article I saw Brian occasionally through the years, just as friends. Then, in 2012, we reconnected through Facebook. He was still making music and he asked me to come round and see what he was doing. When the time came, I thought, \u201cThis is the last thing I wanna do\u201d. But it was lovely seeing him: he was so positive, which wasn\u2019t what I was used to. At that time, my marriage was in a bad place.<\/p>\n We kept meeting up to jam, and I started to develop feelings for Brian, who\u2019d been separated from his wife for seven years. But I was still married. Then he went to Europe. On the way there, he emailed me a poem he\u2019d written about building his own planet and \u201ctaking your sky with me\u201d. On the spur of the moment, I turned it into a song.<\/p>\n A few days later, I was at home one afternoon, crying, knowing my marriage was over. I opened my emails and saw one from Brian, who was in Italy, saying, \u201cTi amo.\u201d I sent him the song I\u2019d made as an MP3. He got it on his phone when he was sitting in the Kuala Lumpur exit lounge. I knew immediately I needed to see him, that it was the most important thing in my life. The day he arrived back, I met him at his house. Then I went home and told my husband I was in love with someone else.<\/p>\n I moved straight in with Brian, which was radical, and then my divorce took years. And all I wanted was peace: one day, I met Brian\u2019s ex-wife in the driveway of his house \u2013 she was collecting one of their daughters. I said, \u201cIf you want to reconcile with him, just tell me,\u201d and she said, \u201cOh, God, no!\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been through a lot: my father died of cancer in 2020, my mum died suddenly, also of cancer, in 2022 and, in 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Brian has always been there. Every morning, he makes me coffee. He makes me laugh. We make up silly band names like The Turtle Minders because I think minding turtles would be a cool job. Or maybe it\u2019s hugely stressful? We also ended up collaborating on my new album, Desiderium. Coming full circle with Brian feels like some weird miracle, like I\u2019m in this beautiful space and lifting back into the light.<\/p>\n BRIAN: I met Jacqui in the early 1980s when she moved into a share house we had near Sydney Uni. She was gorgeous, a little punkette with short blonde hair. I was in a garage band called The Kelpies but, when she arrived, we started The Guinea Pigs, which was more New Wave.<\/p>\n Related Article I was at uni doing computer science, but music was in my soul. After graduating, I lived in Adelaide, then went to California to work in audio technology. One day in 1990, I was driving around San Francisco listening to Live 105, and Jacqui\u2019s voice came on the radio in a song by Single Gun Theory. Her singing was beautiful, perfect pitch.<\/p>\n Over those years, we\u2019d bump into each other: I crashed on her couch one time when she was living in London. We had very separate lives but were always friends. I came back to Sydney, got married and had children. I cofounded an audio business called Lake, which listed on the ASX in 2000. I then started another company producing sailing apparel, but it was incredibly stressful and my wife and I split in 2004.<\/p>\n I was wanting to get back into music again when, in 2012, I saw Jacqui on Facebook. I said, \u201cWould you like to come to my studio and try some music together?\u201d She was a brilliant vocalist, and I thought she must have all kinds of opportunities, so for her to accept was fantastic. We jammed together for a few months. I had zero expectations, but I slowly became mesmerised by her talent, and realised I was falling for her. I thought there might have been hints in the songs themselves, with the lyrics we were writing, but I wasn\u2019t sure she felt the same. Then, one day, I was visiting my mother, who had cancer and was in hospital, and I played her one of the songs I\u2019d recorded with Jacqui. Mum\u2019s eyes lit up and she said, \u201cYou\u2019re in love with her, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after, I went to Italy for business. I talked with a friend there about what I should do. He said, \u201cJust tell her!\u201d But there was a risk, because it could\u2019ve wrecked our musical connection. But I thought if I write something to her in Italian, which I don\u2019t speak, then I could hide behind a layer of innocence. Also, I was safely on the other side of the planet. So I typed a message that said simply, \u201cTi amo, Jacquelina.\u201d I pressed Send and thought, \u201cShit! I\u2019ve done it!\u201d The next day, in my inbox, was a song that Jacqui had sung with a poem I\u2019d sent her earlier on. It was confirmation of her feelings, and one of the most momentous things that has ever happened to me.<\/p>\n The minute I landed back in Sydney, I rushed home, dropped my bags, then went shopping for a cooking pot: I wanted to make Jacqui spaghetti vongole, and you need a special pot for that. Jacqui moved into my house immediately and has pretty much been here ever since.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t always been easy: we\u2019re both passionate artists. But we complement each other. I\u2019m scientific and Jacqui is more spiritual. She has made me more relaxed with the unknown, in breaking the rules of reality and embracing mystery. And I don\u2019t think anyone else could\u2019ve done that.<\/p>\n Get the best of Good Weekend delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Sign up for our newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read more from Good Weekend:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Myf](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/db607815d9e77af168fe30455aa200993df835a0.jpeg\")
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\u201cComing full circle with Brian feels like some weird miracle,\u201d says Jacqui Hunt, \u201clike I\u2019m in this beautiful space and lifting back into the light.\u201dAudrey Richardson<\/p>\n![\"Opposite:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5f4f9e1c521fd31fb3881ee2ed7b57ab1a2a0d13.jpeg\")
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The pair performing in 1983. <\/p>\n