Even the nights are better when Air Supply is in town, but as Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock celebrate 50 years of making hearts swoon, it’s clear their story is about much more than a single weekend in Niagara Falls. The duo, whose harmonies have soundtracked love stories around the globe, will mark their golden anniversary with concerts at the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino on May 30 and 31, but for Air Supply, every show is just another chapter in a journey that began with a simple message: love endures.
“I woke up this morning really early, and I started to think about it. It’s our 50th and it’s quite profound. I’m trying to think of everything all at once. It’s hard to put it into words,” Graham Russell says, the weight of the milestone evident in his voice.
The band’s roots stretch back to 1975, when two young performers met in the chorus of the Australian touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar. What followed was a partnership that would see them rise from pub gigs to international superstardom, powered by ballads that became the soundtrack of the ‘80s and beyond.
“We never intended it to be that. We never thought that we’d be here fifty years later, but we are. So to me, that says that the message we’ve had all these years, which we’ve never deviated from, has really been a true one. And people get it, and they understand it, and they love it,” Graham reflects.
Their first taste of the big time came at Sydney’s Opera House, where they played to 90,000 revellers on New Year’s Eve. It was a moment that hinted at the longevity to come, even if the duo themselves thought their run might last “two or three years” at best.
“That feeling was incredible. And it really fueled our career because a lot of artists in Australia, certainly at that time, and I think now, they come and go pretty fast as they do around the world. But this for us, it added the earmarks of something of longevity,” Graham says.
Before the stadiums, there were the pubs-rowdy, beer-soaked venues where Air Supply learned to win over crowds who weren’t always in the mood for tender love songs. Those early gigs forged their resilience and taught them to handle any audience, anywhere.
“In the early days, we never knew what we were doing. We had a lot of songs, and we had Russell’s voice, and that’s really all we had. And we had belief in everything. The topic that we were singing and writing about was very different than anybody else at the time. And it also wasn’t by design, it was by default,” he recalls.
As their star rose, Air Supply’s message of love and connection found a global audience. Their run of seven consecutive Top Five singles in the U.S.-a feat matched only by the Beatles-cemented their place in pop history.
“Matching one of the Beatles’ records is a huge milestone for us. When we first heard about it, we honestly didn’t believe it-we asked people to double-check, and when they confirmed it was true, we were amazed. The Beatles broke every record they set their sights on and so many more, so for Air Supply to be mentioned alongside them is truly special for us,” Graham says, still sounding a bit awed.
The Beatles’ influence runs deep for both Russell and Hitchcock, who each saw the Fab Four perform as teenagers and credit that experience with shaping their musical ambitions. For Graham, it was the moment he knew he wanted to be a songwriter above all else.
“It wasn’t until I went to see the Beatles where everything became perfectly clear. And I went, okay. That’s what I want to do, you know. And I never deviated from that path. I always wanted to be a songwriter more than I wanted to be a musician or a singer or anything,” he shares.
As Air Supply celebrates its golden year, the band is still pushing forward with new music. Their latest album, A Matter of Time, is, in Graham’s words, their “finest album we’ve ever made”-a bold claim after 24 records and countless hits.
“It’s got great songs on it, Songs for a lifetime, classic songs, and I think some of the best vocals Russell’s ever performed. And that’s not an easy thing to say because, you know, Russell’s recorded some incredible songs and vocals. But on this album, these are some of his finest. And that’s amazing fifty years later,” Graham says.
Songwriting remains a daily ritual for Graham, who credits his early love of classical music and a knack for melody as the foundations of his craft. While his style has matured, the heart of his writing remains unchanged.
“I write all the time. Every single day, I write something. And I’ve always got, like, about 10 songs in construction that are ready. But my style, I don’t know if it’s changed that much. I’ve just become wiser with it. I’ve learned how to write songs now instead of the first thirty years, I just kind of did it without knowing what I was doing,” he says.
The band’s catalogue is filled with hits, but there are hidden gems Graham wishes had reached a wider audience. “I’ll Be Thinking of You,” written during the LA riots, stands out as a personal favourite that’s rarely performed live.
“I mean, I think it’s one of my greatest songs, and it’s one of his greatest vocals, but not many people have heard it. And it’s on the Vanishing Race album, but I wish people would have heard it. In fact, we keep saying we’re gonna play it live, but we haven’t got around to it yet,” Graham admits.
The Air Supply story is set to reach new audiences with a biopic and Broadway musical in the works. Filming for the movie begins this June in Australia, with a script penned by the writer behind the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
“The biopic, I believe, begins filming in June in Australia. And the guy that wrote the script wrote all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. So it’s-and we’ve read the script. It’s a fantastic script. So we’ll see how that goes. It’s been cast, obviously. They’re gonna start filming in June,” he says.
Graham and Russell are hands-on with both the film and their joint autobiography, determined to tell their story in their own words. The book, now two-thirds complete, promises a look at how their friendship has endured five decades without a single argument.
“We originally had a ghostwriter, and neither of us felt that was the right thing to do. And we met with someone and sat down with them, and then we both decided independently that we wanted to write it with just ourselves. So we’re about two thirds of the way in,” Graham explains.
For all their success, the band’s philosophy remains grounded in gratitude and a love for performing. Every show is treated as if it could be the last-a mindset that keeps their performances fresh and heartfelt.
“Every day, every show we do, we consider it our last show. One day, it will be our last show. But we have no plans to retire. I just want to be healthy so I can keep playing because we both love to perform live. And right now, we’re both in great shape,” Graham says.
As Air Supply prepares to bring their golden anniversary tour to Niagara Falls, fans can expect a celebration of hits, history and heart. For Russell and Hitchcock, the journey that began with “Lost in Love” is far from over-and after 50 years, they’re still all out of love for anything but the music and the fans who made it all possible.
