Altiyan Childs

Altijan Juric (born 10 June 1975), best known by his stage name Altiyan Childs, is an Australian singer-songwriter. He was the winner of the second season of The X Factor Australia in 2010, and subsequently signed with Sony Music Australia.

His debut single "Somewhere in the World" reached the top-ten in Australia and New Zealand and his self-titled debut album peaked at number three on the ARIA Albums Chart; and was certified platinum. His second studio album Born Before the Sun was released in September 2015, and was preceded by the release of six singles. In 2016 he played the title role in a Queensland production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Biography 1975–2008: Early life Altiyan Childs was born Altjian Juric Childs and his sister, Altiyana, were named after their father's sister Altijana, who was murdered at only two months of age. At the age of 13, while a student at Chatswood High School, Childs was the front man for a rock band called Over the Edge and, less than two years after graduating from high school, he formed a band called Masonia with Daniel Rivers, Mo Bloomfield and Nathan Meryment. Masonia disbanded in 2008 and Childs decided to retire from music.

2010: The X Factor Australia Childs auditioned for the second season of The X Factor Australia in 2010. Falling into the Over 25's category, he was mentored by Irish singer Ronan Keating who selected him for the finals – a series of ten weekly live shows in which contestants are progressively eliminated by public vote. Keating had received criticism by the Australian public for sending Childs through, as he had forgotten his lyrics multiple times during the audition process.

Throughout the finals, however, Childs was praised continually from the judges, specifically for his performances of Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer", U2's "Beautiful Day", "Eye of the Tiger", "Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon and also Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69". After week five's performance show, Childs disappeared from rehearsals and visited a cave on the Sydney Northern beaches in a need to reconnect with "beautiful sadness". During a radio interview with 2Day FM, he said "It kind of hit me randomly at about 2 am that I had to reconnect with part of my sadness, it’s my secret power it’s what drives me through the song and ignites that part of me, it’s got to do with sadness, I needed to go back to somewhere where I felt an intimate romantic thing with an ancient memory and it worked". As the winner, Childs received a recording contract with record label Sony Music Australia.

2010–present: Debut album and controversies Childs' debut single "Somewhere in the World" was made available for download following his win on The X Factor on 22 November 2010. The song debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number eight, and also debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number five. The album peaked at number three on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for shipments of 70,000 copies. In an interview with Today Tonight, which was broadcast on the Seven Network on 11 April 2011, Childs revealed that he was earning less than he had as a forklift driver, despite releasing a single in 2010 and touring across Australia. He also revealed plans of marrying his 19-year-old girlfriend, Nikki Kingston, whom he had met through Facebook.

In January 2012, Childs was found guilty in Taree Local Court of having methamphetamine and marijuana in his system after being pulled over while driving in November 2011. A spokesperson for the record label told News Limited, "He wanted to move in another direction and the decision was mutual. We wish him all the best." In March 2013, Oxygen Music announced Childs was no longer their client. He was signed to Vibe Management and it was announced Childs would be going to the US to sign a recording deal, and doing a series of performances and interviews, including shows at the Viper Room in Los Angeles, the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego and Tao Nightclub in Las Vegas. An article in the Daily Telegraph stated that these venues all denied Childs was performing at them. Childs returned to Australia in May 2013 and made a statement on Facebook saying the trip had not gone as planned because he had been let down by his American agent. He claimed he had then been offered a contract to release his album in the US and France. He also stated he was no longer with Vibe Management.

On 20 December 2013, Childs released "Dreams" as the first single from his second studio album Born Before the Sun. On 13 March 2014, Childs independently released the album's second single, "Girl". The third single, "Celebrity", was released on 4 July 2014. Born Before the Sun was released on 27 September 2015, through independent label 9LoveRecords. The album is a collection of material Childs had written over the past 15 years and comes almost five years after his self-titled debut album was released.

In late 2016, Childs married his girlfriend of four years, Samantha Greenland, in a private ceremony. Childs announced the marriage on his Facebook page.

On 15 April 2021, Childs released a five-hour YouTube video on Freemasonry. Childs claimed to be a former member of the Masonic fraternity, breaking his Masonic oaths in order to produce his presentation. The conclusion of the presentation alleged that international Freemasonry is "organised Satanism" in disguise (No source needed).

In 2023, Childs made a comeback to music, releasing singles from 11 January to 20 July independently. The songs are "Nobody" (11 January 2023), "Baptised" (18 February 2023), "Covenant" (6 April 2023), "24 years" (6 April 2023), "Since I Heard About You" (29 May 2023), and "The Power" (20 July 2023).

Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications AUS NZ Altiyan Childs Released: 10 December 2010 Formats: CD, digital download Label: Sony Music Australia 3 3ARIA: Platinum RMNZ: Platinum Born Before the Sun Released: 27 September 2015 Formats: CD, digital download Label: 9LoveRecords — —

Singles Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album AUS Altiyan Childs "Ordinary Man" 2011 55 — Non-album singles "Headlines" 2012 — — "Dreams" — — "Rise Up" 2015 — — "Kiss Me" — — "Driving" — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart in that territory.

Awards and nominations