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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Reuben De Melo’s blind audition on The Voice Australia began with Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire,” but the story behind his singing began years earlier, after the death of his close friend Josh Henderson. When PerthNow profiled him in August 2024, De Melo was a FIFO fixed-plant worker, a father of three and a contestant hoping music could bring him closer to home. He went on to win The Voice Australia 2024; later accounts describe a career still balanced with family life and, at times, mine work.
How De Melo’s music journey began with a friend’s memory
De Melo told PerthNow that his close friend Josh Henderson died in 2012. At Henderson’s wake, De Melo sang. He described that moment as the beginning of his music journey: “His spirit lived through my music, so I believed I had to do it justice.”
His account makes singing more than a route to a new career. It was also a way to honour someone he had lost. That connection between memory and music remained part of the story when De Melo stepped onto The Voice stage.
The blind audition that brought him to national television
De Melo’s blind audition aired on the opening night of the 2024 season. He performed “I See Fire,” and all four coaches—Adam Lambert, Guy Sebastian, LeAnn Rimes and Kate Miller-Heidke—were impressed. Lambert called him a “diamond in the rough,” while Miller-Heidke said she could imagine him winning the competition.
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At the time, the result was still unknown. Later reporting confirmed that De Melo won The Voice Australia 2024, turning the audition’s promise into a competition victory.
FIFO work, a new baby and the pull of home
When the August 2024 profile appeared, De Melo was working FIFO as a rigger. The roster could keep him away from his family for weeks. He and his wife Olivia, a teacher and performer described by PerthNow as a songwriter, had welcomed their third child in July that year.
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De Melo hoped pursuing music might change the family’s options: he wanted more time with his children and hoped the opportunity could give Olivia room to share her own songwriting. “I’m really hoping that this journey that I’m on can also propel her and allow her to express herself and her music to shine as well because she’s an incredible songwriter,” he told PerthNow.
He also described the balance he was seeking in practical terms: “I just love the music, and if I can pay the bills doing that while spending more time with the kids then I won’t be a machine.” His goal was not simply to leave work behind; it was to make a living through music without losing the time with family that his FIFO job often took away.
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What changed after the win—and what remains part of the story
The “high-vis to showbiz” framing captured a transition in progress in August 2024. The West Australian reported in 2025 that winning the show afforded De Melo more time at home as he worked on recording music and being present for his family. Creative Australia describes him balancing writing, recording and touring with occasional FIFO mine work.
That later picture is not a simple before-and-after exit from the mines. It is a working musician’s life that can still include FIFO employment, alongside creative work and family commitments. The account’s through-line remains the same: music is both a livelihood he is building and a way to carry the memory of a friend.
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