Rogue Traders is an Australian electronic rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 2002 by mainstay James Ash on keyboards.

Before forming Rogue Traders, the pair had worked together on many projects, including the dance music act Union State, which relocated to Melbourne in 1992.

They were joined in 2004 by soap opera actress, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, on lead vocals, Cameron McGlinchey on drums and Tim Henwood on guitar.

Their fourth studio album and greatest hits compilation, The Sound of Drums, was released after their split in November 2011.

[3] Rogue Traders formed as an Australian electronic, pop rock band in Melbourne in 2002 by former members of Union State, James Ash (aka Jamie Appleby) on keyboards and Steve Davis on guitar.

[4] The pair first worked on a rap track, Ash recalled "It was a terrible song but Steve and I hit it off straight away and became fast friends".

[5] Ash relocated to Melbourne in 1992, but the pair continued to work together and formed Union State to release singles including, "Out to Get You" and "Retrosexual".

[5] In 1994 Ash signed with Vicious Vinyl as a solo artist under the name, Thunderchild, to issue a self-named single.

The track had lead vocals by Melinda Richards, and was written by Ash, Davis, Josephine Armstead and Milton Middlebrook.

The band's first top 20 success came in 2003 when "One of My Kind", a remix/cover version of INXS's "Need You Tonight", was released on 23 February, which peaked at No.

[13] Natalie Bassingthwaighte gained popular acclaim as an actress on the Australian soap opera, Neighbours, playing the role of Izzy Hoyland from 2003.

[14] By 2004, she began working on a parallel music career creating her own demos: songs with an acoustic-rock sound when, late that year, she was recruited as the lead singer for Rogue Traders.

[6] The group had signed a new record contract with Sony BMG and now promoted their recent band members Bassingthwaighte and McGlinchey.

Also in June 2006, Rogue Traders announced they were re-releasing Here Come the Drums, as a limited edition two-CD remix set.

[6] That same month, Bassingthwaighte and Ash announced on Video Hits that the band were currently in the process of writing their third studio recorded album.

A gig was announced in the UK at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London for 11 July—to promoted "Voodoo Child" and Here Come the Drums.

The "Voodoo Child" video clip began to receive airplay on programs across UK: The Box, The Hits and MTV Dance.

"Voodoo Child" was physically released on 10 July in the UK but debuted in the chart the week before at number eighteen due to download sales.

Due to its UK chart success, "Voodoo Child" was issued in several European countries including Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

In November they released "In Love Again" as a promotional single exclusively though radio, which peaked at number twenty on the ARIA Digital Tracks.

They performed songs from Here Come the Drums, kicking off each show with "Believer" and ending with an encore of "Voodoo Child".

By the end of 2007, Here Comes the Drums was certified 4× platinum by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments in excess of 280,000 copies in Australia.

They surprised some fans by playing their first top 10 single, "One of My Kind", a re-working of the INXS classic "Need You Tonight", but this time sung live by Bassingthwaighte.

[38] In June 2008, after the toured ended, Bassingthwaighte quit the band to focus on her acting and solo music career.

[41][42] On 14 November, Ash revealed via Twitter the names of their new singer, Melinda "Mindi" Jackson, and new drummer, Peter Marin.

[45][1] "Hearts Beat as One" was issued as the third single on 11 June 2011 – it had been written for the Socceroos as the official anthem for their 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign.

However it was pushed back for undisclosed reasons, then in December it was revealed the band had left Sony Music, after the label had refused to release the album.

After a two-year media silence, Ash confirmed in a 2014 interview that the band had split shortly after being dropped by Sony Music.

[1] On 15 December 2015, it was announced that Rogue Traders had reunited with Bassingthwaighte for a New Year's Eve reunion gig, after initially reforming earlier in September for a corporate show in Gold Coast.

[2] They have since performed at multiple events including the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, and co-headlining the Coates Hire Sydney 500 with Killing Heidi.