‘Being here’- The official song of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games

SYDNEY — Leading Australian contemporary songwriter, Graeme Connors, has written a song for the athletes of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games which will now become the ‘anthem’ for the Games.

Graeme wrote ‘Being Here’ in 1999 as his contribution to the fundraising compilation CD ‘The Holy Grail’ which was launched by the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC) and Warner Music Australia on 18 October last year on the ‘One Year to Go’ anniversary.

‘Being Here’ — which focuses on the athletes and the moment they’ve been training long and hard for – to be part of the Games — is now being released as a radio single after SPOC crowned it the ‘Official song of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games’.

Graeme Connors’ record company ABC-EMI will distribute the single to radio stations nationwide to coincide with another important Games anniversary — the ‘100 Days to Go’ countdown — today, Monday, 10 July.

Graeme’s own award winning career complements the achievements of the world’s greatest athletes with a disability, and ‘Being Here’ is a tribute to their persistence and passion to represent Australia.

Graeme Connors is the holder of 10 ‘Golden Guitars’ for Male Vocalist, Album and ARPA Song of the Year — his first ‘Golden Guitar’ was in 1989 with ‘We’ve Done Us Proud’ penned for Slim Dusty and the 1988 Bicentennial celebrations.

His other awards include: two American Song Festival Awards, 12 Songwriter’s Awards from the Tamworth Songwriter Association; two MO Awards; two PPCA Awards for Most Played Australian Country Artist; Song of the Year from the Victorian Country Music Awards and an ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) award for Best Australian Country Album.

He has worked with the likes of Liza Minnelli, Peter Allen, Bill Cosby, Del Shannon and Kris Kristofferson as well as Slim Dusty and Jon English.