Grant William McLennan (12 February 1958 – 6 May 2006) was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977. In addition to his work with the Go-Betweens (1977–89, 2000–06), he issued four solo albums: Watershed (1991), Fireboy (1992), Horsebreaker Star (1994) and In Your Bright Ray (1997). He also undertook side-projects and collaborations with other artists. McLennan received a number of accolades recognising his achievements and contributions as songwriter and lyricist. In May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association listed “Cattle and Cane” (1983), written by McLennan, as one of their top 30 Australian songs of all time. McLennan died of a heart attack at the age of 48 and was survived by his fiancée, Emma Pursey.
Grant William McLennan[1] was born on 12 February 1958 in Rockhampton, Queensland.[2][3] His father was a general practitioner, and McLennan grew up with a younger brother and sister.[2] After the death of their father, when McLennan was four years old, his family moved to Cairns. He spent five years at the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane as a boarder.[2] His mother remarried, and the family then relocated to a cattle station in central Far North Queensland.
McLennan’s songs, which often evoke the impressions and imagery of the regional background of his childhood, include “Cattle and Cane”,[4] “Unkind and Unwise”, “Dusty in Here” (about his father), “Boundary Rider” and “Bye Bye Pride”.
In 1976, McLennan began a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Queensland. Joh Bjelke-Petersen was Premier of Queensland at the time, and McLennan was arrested in a student protest against aspects of that government’s conservative policies.[5]
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