[1] Australian Crawl's founding guitarist Brad Robinson, was unable to attend; he was hospitalised with lymphoma (diagnosed three years earlier) and died two weeks after the ceremony.
[4][5] It was also the final Australian performance by INXS with original frontman Michael Hutchence before his death 14 months later.
Australian music journalist, Anthony O'Grady, observed, "It was the last of the Bigger-Than-Ben-Hur Award nights (for the foreseeable future).
Over 4,000 (the largest crowd ever and 8 times the number at the first Awards) flooded into the [venue]... [with a] repast at over 200 tables supplied by a dozen kitchens.
[6]The ARIA Awards ceremony was hosted by American musicians Harry Connick Jr. and Chris Isaak.