Anthony Field

Anthony Donald Joseph Field AM (born 8 May 1963) is an Australian musician, actor, songwriter and producer. He is best known as a leader of the children's group the Wiggles and a member of the 1980s and 1990s pop band the Cockroaches. While still a teenager, he helped found the Cockroaches with his brothers, Paul and John. The Cockroaches recorded two albums and enjoyed moderate success, interrupted by Field's service in Australia's regular army, until they disbanded in the late 1980s. Field attended Macquarie University to receive training in early childhood education, and founded the Wiggles with fellow students Murray Cook, Greg Page and former bandmate Jeff Fatt in 1991. He worked as a preschool teacher for two years before the success of the Wiggles led him to focus on children's music full-time. The Wiggles became one of the most successful and active groups in Australia. Field, who wears a blue shirt while performing with the Wiggles, was responsible for the production aspects of their stage and television shows, albums, and DVDs. His issues with chronic pain and depression, which almost forced him out of the group at the height of their success, are well-documented. After the departure of Cook, Fatt, and Page in 2012, he is the only remaining original Wiggle. Field was born in Kellyville, New South Wales, Australia. He is the youngest of seven children, and grew up in north western Sydney. He came from a long line of musicians, especially the women in his family. His great-great aunt was "Queenie Paul", known for performing at the Tivoli Theatre in Sydney, and his grandmother Kathleen accompanied silent movies in the mining town of Cobar. Field's mother, Marie, made sure that all of her seven children learned how to play at least one musical instrument. He attended the all-boys boarding school St. Joseph's College, which his great-grandfather Paddy Condon, an Italian immigrant and master stonemason, helped build. In 1979, while they were students at St. Joseph's, he and his brothers Paul and John formed the pop group the Cockroaches.