Australia’s musical sweetheart Jessica Mauboy is coming to the Canberra Theatre Centre

Posted on 14 September, 2026

It doesn’t feel that long ago a teenager from Darwin with a voice like honey stepped onto our screens, instantly captivating the Australian Idol judges along with the rest of Australia.

Though it may not seem it, 20 years have passed since Jessica Mauboy finished runner-up in the 2006 Idol series. In that time, it’s safe to say she’s cemented herself as Australia’s musical sweetheart, with a string of number one albums, screen triumphs in The Sapphires and collaborations spanning Beyoncé to Snoop Dogg.

Now, she’s bringing that journey full circle with her most personal project yet. Heading to the Canberra Theatre Centre on 3 October, her new stage show, The Story of Me, promises a deeply candid look at her life, beautifully woven together with rare footage from her childhood and, of course, the very songs that made us fall in love with her, from Been waiting to Burn.

“It’s a full circle moment, because I’m going back to the natural way of how I started off in music, which was busking and performing live,” Jessica says.

“I think sharing these stories will be liberating, talking about being the little Darwin girl having big dreams and stepping into an industry at a very young age. There are the incredible highs of that, and then the challenges that people didn’t always know.”

One of five daughters, Jessica’s mother is a Kuku Yalanji woman from Far North Queensland and her father is an Indonesian-born migrant from East Timor.

Knowing the power of her voice, her parents encouraged her to audition for Idol, travelling to Alice Springs for two days on a bus.

When she looks back at that audition now, one word comes to mind: “brave.”

“It took a lot of courage and bravery to show up, to step up to the plate,’” she says.

“And there were so many people who encouraged and carried me through on this journey.”

Though we’ve known her since she was 16, Jessica says her singing journey began while she was “still in nappies.”

“My mum recalls me doing the riff to Michael Jackson’s Black or White when I was only three,” she says.

In fact, Jessica sang so much as a kid that she was actually sent out of class one day for it. But in a beautiful twist of fate, a music teacher walked past her in the hallway – where she was still happily humming away – and was so struck by her passion for singing that she invited her to join the school choir.

From there, she was singing at church on weekends and, at 14, won the 2004 ‘Road to Tamworth’ singing competition.

As part of The Story of Me, Jessica sifted through “hours and hours” of footage of her childhood. I ask if watching that footage made her feel more protective of the little girl she used to be, especially since welcoming her daughter, Mia, last year.

“I think I’ve learned to go more with my instinct and stick up for myself in this industry,” she says.

“Motherhood has really changed my perspective on everything. Mia has made me so much more present, but she’s also made me a lot braver. When she looks at me, I don’t want her to see perfection, but a woman who knows her value, who follows her heart and isn’t afraid to begin again.”

Jessica has recently done just that, making the leap away from the major record system to launch her own independent label, Jamally, taking creative control of her music.

“I think taking ownership of my life now that I’m older and have experienced the politics of the music industry has been powerful,” she says.

Now, she says she is excited to share her journey with a Canberra audience, many of whom have grown up singing to her hits.

“It’s such a personal show, with songs that people have grown up with and hopefully songs that bring back beautiful memories,” she says.

“Each song is a piece of my puzzle, and it’s about me backing myself, taking the responsibility of my choices and building something that feels true to the woman and artist that I am today.”

Feature image: Supplied.