At age ten, Danny began guitar lessons with his Dad and it wasn’t long before he strummed his first song, Banks of the Ohio. As a teenager, Danny’s flair for performing came to the fore and he was often called upon to liven up a party with the song Rock n’ Robin. He later started a rock band with a few mates, called Niteshift.

It was love that inspired Danny to begin song writing at 18 years of age. When he sang his first song, You’re the one for me, to his girlfriend Lea, her teary response sparked a passion for song writing. Together with Lea, Danny began entering country music competitions in 1987. They won awards for Best Duo and went on to record an album in 1992, entitled Talkin’ Bout Love.

In 1994, Danny got serious. He entered the Toyota Star Maker and was selected as a Top 10 Grand Finalist. In the same year he entered the Australian Songwriters Association (ASA) National Song Competition in Melbourne and won the Acoustic Section and Song of the Year with I Left You. Despite this early success, music was placed on the back burner due to the arrival of Danny and Lea’s first son Jace, followed by siblings Courteney and Tom. Danny’s main occupation became that of House Dad, although he continued to perform at weekend gigs throughout the state. It wasn’t until ten years later that Danny Hooper once again became a name to look out for in the song-writing arena.

During a year-long family trip around Australia in 2005, Danny was inspired to reignite his dream to become a household name in Australian country music. He secured Rod McCormack as a producer and on his return recorded his debut solo album, The Legacy, releasing his album in 2007. Featuring 12 original songs, the album name and its title track are a tribute to his father and a signal to the legacy of music Danny will pass onto his own children.

Danny’s debut single, Every Reason, worked its way onto playlists throughout the country and made #37 on the Top 100 Country Hits chart. The accompanying video clip also made Top 40 on the CMC (Country Music Channel) paytv network. His single Already Gone proved a success with #39 on the Top 100 Country Hits chart, and filmclip under the direction of Ross Wood for the track Heartache, making his second chart success on the CMC video chart, reaching #36.

2004
Named Country Song of the Year in the ASA National Song writing Contest
Named Country category and Country Song of the Year in Houston Texas

2005
Named Spirit of Australia category at the ASA awards

2007
Finalist in the ASA Country Songwriter Of The Year (Top 4)
Finalist in the Gympie Muster Maton Talent Search (Top 3)
Finalist in the IMA’s Independent Music Awards (US based) Country Song Of The Year (Top 5)
Finalist in the Musicoz Awards Country Artist Of The Year (Top 10)
Finalist in the ACRA’s Australian Country Recording Awards for New
Talent and Male Artist

2008
Finalist in the TSA Salute to the Songwriter Awards New Songwriter of the Year
Finalist in the Australian Country Music Independent Awards for Rising Male Star
Finalist in the TIARA Awards for Male Vocalist Of The Year
Finalist in the VIC & National CM Awards for Best New Talent
Finalist in the NT Country Songwriting Awards for Best Contemporary Song
Semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition for Country Song Of The Year
Finalist in the Australian Songwriting Awards for Country and Ballad categories
Winner of Australian Songwriting Awards for Ballad category