Vance Joy

Vance Joy was born James Keough in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He took his stage name from Peter Carey's 1981 novel, Bliss. He explained in an interview with Australian radio station Triple J: "The main character's name is Harry Joy and his grandfather is Vance Joy. He's the storyteller and a crazy old man. Plus, I thought it was a cool name."

Before pursuing a music career, Joy was an accomplished Australian rules football player, playing for the Coburg Football Club in the Victorian Football League and winning an award for best first year player in 2008.

Joy earned Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from Melbourne's Monash University.