Robert Forster (The Go-Betweens)

Robert Forster is a Brisbane based singer-songwriter and author. In 1978, with Queensland University friend Grant McLennan, he co-founded the acclaimed indie pop/rock band The Go-Betweens.

The group, based in London for five and a half years, recorded six albums, toured extensively, before breaking up in late 1989.

In the 1990s, while living in Brisbane and Regensburg, Germany, Forster recorded and toured four solo albums before reuniting, in 2000, with Grant McLennan. The Go-Betweens recorded their seventh album, and would record two more albums, one of which, Oceans Apart, was awarded the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Best Adult Contemporary Album of 2005.

On May 6, 2006, Grant McLennan passed away at the age of 48. From 2005 to 2013, Forster was the music critic for Australian politics and culture magazine The Monthly. He won the Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism in 2006, and a collection of his music writings was published in 2009, titled, The Ten Rules of Rock and Roll.

In 2015, Forster received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from Queensland University. The following year, his memoir, Grant & I, was published, winning the Book Of The Year award in Mojo and Uncut in 2017. His memoir was also translated and published in Italian and German.

He has continued to tour and record solo since 2007, recording his 2025 album Strawberries in Stockholm with Swedish players who now make up his touring band.