Take 5

Jacinda Ardern is a history-maker.

As Prime Minister of New Zealand at 37, she became only the second woman in the world to give birth while in office. But it was her leadership style that defined her time at the top, leading with empathy and kindness in the face of back-to-back tragedies, and showing the strength of coming together.

From growing up in small-town New Zealand singing country and western duets with her sister at the lo...

David Byrne is a music icon.

With Talking Heads, or his many wild collaborations, and as an acclaimed solo artist, he's continually pushed the boundaries of sound, crafting some of the most iconic live performances of our time.

Over five decades, he's never stopped asking why. His curiosity has driven an extraordinary creative life that stretches way beyond music: on canvas, in writing, filmmaking, composing musicals. He's even desig...

When you look back at the Australian artists who've made their mark internationally, Savage Garden are right up there. 

Two guys from Brisbane who went Number 1 around the world, cracked the notoriously tough U.S. market and sold nearly 30 million albums with hits like 'I Want You', 'To The Moon And Back', and 'Truly Madly Deeply'.

 They may have only been together for two albums, but the legacy of their pop breakthrough continu...

Shania Twain holds the record for the biggest selling country album of all time: Come On Over. 

Growing up poor in a Canadian mining town, who could have foreseen that the woman born Eileen Regina Twain would go on to sell over 100 million records, cross country music into pop, and become one of the most recognisable voices on the planet?

Her life has been extraordinary, dotted with hit albums and huge shows, songs known by thei...

Peter Garrett has been an unstoppable force of Australian music for decades.

As the iconic frontman of Midnight Oil, a grassroots activist, and a former Federal Parliamentarian, he's spent a lifetime driving change: from the pubs of Sydney to the remote outback communities that reshaped the band's sound, from the floor of Parliament to the world's biggest stages. He's never stopped pushing.

But beneath the towering public persona lie...

Take 5 with Zan Rowe is back on your screens from Thursday August 20, and Season 5 is the biggest yet!

What song makes Peter Garrett cry? 

What was the tune that woke David Byrne up to the full body physicality of music, at Studio 54? 

And who do you think a teenage Jacinda Ardern was blasting, as she hooned around her hometown in New Zealand? 

You’re about to find out, as Take 5 returns for a 5th season on ABC TV ...

This is one of the best bits from Take 5.

One of the greatest songwriters of all time sat down with Zan Rowe to open his songbook and dive deep into the making of five of his greatest. 

Paul McCartney has provided the soundtrack to billions of lives. His legacy in song is unparalleled; starting with The Beatles, who changed the game forever, he rolled on with his own solo career while building a new band in Wings, and collaborat...

This is one of the best bits from Take 5.

Kacey Musgraves is a straight shooter, a woman of conviction. In person and in song, the bridge she creates with her fans is something else, and it’s made her one of the most loved artists around.

For Kacey’s Take 5, Zan wanted to find out about the music that brought her to today, and to borrow a title from her own debut album, helped Kacey “follow her arrow”. 

Li...

This is one of the best bits from Take 5.

Founding member of Blink-182, Angels and Airwaves, and UFO enthusiast, Tom DeLonge hung out with Zan Rowe back in 2012, while in the country to play Soundwave Festival.

You don't create a career like that without loving music, so Zan dived into the music that changed his life.

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-5/tom-delonge-take-5/9035742

SONGS

• The ...

This is one of the best bits from Take 5.

In 2024 Emily Wurramara released her second album NARA and cemented herself as a powerful indigenous storyteller. 

The Warnindhilyagwa woman joined Zan Rowe to Take 5 on the same day her second album was released and the energy in the studio was pumping. It’s very much a record of renewal, and one of Double J's 50 Best Albums of that year.

Listen back to Emily talking about her love...

Poh Ling Yeow has been part of our lives for two decades. As a TV chef, a gourmet stall owner, a celebrity in the jungle, and a cookbook author. Poh is a painter and has even popped up an actor, describing herself as having a greed for life experience.

Poh is currently hosting and judging on the latest series of Masterchef, and this week she's Taking 5. 

Fall into the stories and songs that have shaped who Poh has become.

Poh's s...

2026 marks 20 years since Hot Chip released The Warning. Their second album leapt from the quiet, reflective electro of their debut and catapulted us all onto the dancefloor.

To mark the occasion, we share an episode from 2020 when Joe Goddard and Al Doyle dropped in to Take 5. Their theme? Jubilant songs. Their vibes? Pure joy. 

From classic to modern gold to deep cuts, settle in with some "heaters" as Hot Chip Take 5!

Hot Chip'...

This month, Gotye's breakthrough album Like Drawing Blood, turns 20. It was the record that took him from bedroom producer to Hottest 100 favourite, showcasing his incredible talent at sewing sounds. The man behind Gotye, Wally De Backer, has been keeping a low profile for a while. But back in 2007, after a huge year following this album's release, he joined Zan Rowe to Take 5. 

This is one of the very first episodes of Take 5,...

This week marks the 20th anniversary of Tool's huge album 10,000 Days. Back in 2013, Tool were in the country playing massive shows when drummer Danny Carey and bass player Justin Chancellor came into the triple j studios to Take 5 with Zan Rowe.

As we mark the anniversary of Tool's chart topping album, let's time travel back to a Take 5 classic.The theme? Unexpected finds in their music library. The outcome? Unexpected joy from one...

In the fifteen years since Emma Louise wowed us with her debut single 'Jungle', she’s shown all sides of herself, singing her story with vulnerability and reflection.

Last year, Emma released the collaborative album Dumb with producer Flume. But it’s been 8 years since her last solo album, the daring and romantic Lilac Everything. 

This week, she returns with Sunshine for Happiness, an album that was actually recorde...

35 years ago, we met a band called Smashing Pumpkins. Rising in the wave of American grunge, the Chicago band were led by the iconic voice of Billy Corgan and would rise and rise like all their contemporaries, over the coming years. 

If you know anything about music history, you know the story of the Pumpkins is a tumultuous one. But Billy has continued through it all. 

Back in 2012, Billy was in Australia to play Splendour...

Alexei Toliopoulos is a lifelong cinephile. Known for his excellent podcasts including The Last Video Store, he’s a writer, comedian, filmmaker and loves talking about the movies that made us who we are today. The way he speaks about cinema invites everyone into the conversation. But what are the songs that soundtrack his life? And why?

Dig into a joyful convo that will have you curating a playlist of songs and movies, fo...

Thirty years ago the world met Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Their debut album Revival introduced us to two incredible storytellers, singers and guitarists, and in the three decades since they’ve swept us away in song.

It's long been on my bucket list to have them Take 5, and finally here it is. When thinking on a theme, I landed on time. Time, and their ruminations on time, have always swirled in their songs. They lo...

Are you ready for some incredible stories? Take 5 always gifts us with some cracking yarns, but this week’s episode takes the cake. In fact, I’ve had more responses to Ed Le Brocq’s Take 5 than any other, in ages.

Ed used to be Eddie Ayers, a legendary ABC Classic FM broadcaster who has shared his life of adventure with us over the past two decades. Ed is a cellist, viola, and violin player, and has gifted his tale...