Chris Doheny, the Melbourne-born singer, songwriter and frontman best known for leading 80s pop-rock outfit Geisha and lending his voice to the AFL anthem More Than A Game, has died in a road accident on the Thiele Highway, near Kings Bridge Road, Kapunda.
The accident occurred on Friday 19 September, 2025. South Australia police confirm that Chris was driving alone in his car. The other driver was uninjured.
Chris was a central figure in the Australian music scene across four decades, remembered for his distinctive voice, passionate songwriting and tireless dedication to his craft.
Born and raised in Melbourne, Doheny grew up in a household filled with the music of The Beatles and the great rock bands of the 60s and 70s. His early love of melody and performance carried into a succession of bands through his youth, but it was in 1983 that his legacy began to take shape when he founded Geisha Detail with brother Donoghue Doheny, John Nyman, Ken Sheppard and Peter Robertson.
Within a year the band shortened its name to Geisha, signed to EMI, and set about leaving their mark on a competitive Australian music industry. Their sound was steeped in the glamour of 70s rock but carried the polished, stylish sheen of the New Romantic movement that had propelled Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Japan to international attention. Geisha quickly developed a reputation on the Melbourne pub circuit for their dynamic live shows and Doheny’s commanding presence out front.
Their debut single “Fool’s Way” landed in April 1985, breaking into the national charts and setting up the release of their self-titled debut album later that year. That record spawned further singles “Rainy Day” and “Kabuki”, the latter climbing to number one on the Melbourne charts and giving the band a spot on Countdown.
By 1986, Geisha had tightened their line-up and momentum. That August they released “Part Time Love Affair”, a shimmering slice of 80s pop that became their biggest hit, reaching number 24 nationally and number 3 in Melbourne. It remains the group’s best remembered single and a defining track of its era. Another single, “Girl Like You”, followed soon after, while the band toured relentlessly, even taking part in the Rockin’ The Rails train station concerts alongside Painters and Dockers.
In 1987 Geisha recorded their second album Midnight to Dawn, enlisting producer David Courtney. Despite strong singles like “Calling Your Name” and “Normal People”, the album struggled to replicate their earlier success. By mid-1988, after numerous line-up changes, Geisha disbanded.
For many, that might have been the end of the story. But for Doheny, music was a lifelong pursuit. He turned his songwriting skills towards others, penning material for Daryl Braithwaite, James Blundell and Lee Kernaghan. In 1989 he toured with Swedish superstars Roxette during their Australian breakthrough, handling bass duties on TV appearances.
The 1990s saw him launch new projects including All the Young Dudes and hard rock act Dragonfly, but his biggest solo breakthrough came in 1994 with “More Than A Game
”, the theme for Nine’s The Footy Show. The song became an anthem for a generation of AFL fans, charting in the ARIA Top 60 and cementing Doheny’s voice in the fabric of Australian sport and culture.
Never one to stand still, Doheny continued to explore new directions. He issued the solo single “Can You Hear the Rain” in 1997, then reunited Geisha’s original line-up in 1998 for a show at Crown Casino and the EMI compilation The Very Best of Geisha.
In the 2000s he embraced Geisha’s legacy with fresh vigour, producing Acoustic Memoirs of Geisha (2006) and finally completing No Second Prize, the “lost” third Geisha album originally recorded in 1988. A new Geisha line-up followed in 2007, featuring guitarist Joe Matera, and the band returned to stages across Melbourne with renewed energy. A compilation, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, arrived in 2010.
Even in the following decade, Doheny remained prolific, releasing the single “Sailing” in 2011, followed by a striking cover of Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These” in 2012.
Chris Doheny’s career spanned from suburban pub gigs to national television themes, from Countdown appearances to intimate acoustic performances. Through it all, he remained dedicated to the music he loved, balancing commercial highs with artistic persistence. His voice – capable of soaring power and delicate nuance – carried his songs with unmistakable passion.
To Australian fans, he will always be remembered for the hits of Geisha and the unmistakable refrain of More Than A Game, a song that linked his name forever to football culture. To fellow musicians, he was a respected collaborator, a songwriter with melody at his core, and a frontman whose energy lifted every stage he graced.
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