Dohnyale "Deni" Sharon Hines (born 4 September 1970) is an Australian singer who has been releasing music since the early 1990s, with chart success in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Europe. She is the daughter of American-Australian singer Marcia Hines.
Hines released her first single with the Australian band Rockmelons with a cover version of the Bill Withers 1971 hit "Ain't No Sunshine". She then went on to release solo material, including the top-five single "It's Alright" and the top-20 album Imagination (1996), which sold more than 55,000 copies worldwide. A remix album, which included brand-new tracks, became Remix Your Imagination". Her third studio album was titled Water for Chocolate, which was released on 19 August 2006 and features the singles "Water for Chocolate", "Son of a Preacher Man" and "5 Days of Rain".
In 2007, Hines recorded a successful jazz album with Australian jazz artist James Morrison. The pair toured Australia to sold-out shows. In 2012, she played singer Neri Rogers in "The Green Mill Murder", S1:E3 of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. On 18 November 2016, her fourth studio album, The Soul Sessions, was released, with the lead single "What About Love" co-written by Hines and Edward Said. In 2019, Hines competed on The Masked Singer under the alias of Unicorn. She was knocked out in finals week and ended up placing fourth.
Music career
1985–1993: Career launch, The Rockmelons and Jesus Christ Superstar
Hines was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and was inspired by her mother's success as a singer to follow a career in show business. She was discovered by a friend when she was singing to the radio and then was encouraged to pursue singing as a career. Her earliest employment was as a backing vocalist for such artists as Kylie Minogue (her Rhythm of Love Tour, Australia and Far East 1991), Jimmy Barnes, Wa Wa Nee and Peter Blakeley before she was approached by the band Rockmelons to provide vocals for several of their songs. The first song that Hines released with the Rockmelons collaboration was a cover version of the Bill Withers 1970s hit "Ain't No Sunshine" in 1991. The song proved to be a success, charting at number five on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. With the success of the first single, the reggae-inspired "That Word (L.O.V.E.)" was the second song released with the collaboration and became another top-five single, charting at number four in Australia. The third and final song Hines released with the band was the ballad "It's Not Over". The song was also a success but was not as big as the previous two, charting at number 15 in Australia. With the success with the Rockmelons, Hines became one of the most well-known faces, and voices, in Australia.
In 1992, entrepreneur Harry M. Miller signed Hines for the role of Mary Magdalene in a revival of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Miller had discovered and signed her mother Marcia twenty years earlier, and the role of Mary Magdalene had also been one of Marcia's early successes. Deni Hines was well received in the role but left the production the following year. In 1992, Hines recorded "Not Enough Time" with INXS, and it peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100; a year later, she married the band's guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly.
1994–1999: Imagination/Pay Attention and Remix Your Imagination
After three hit singles with the Rockmelons, Hines was signed to Mushroom Records and released her first solo single, "It's Alright", in 1995. The song charted at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Charts and won an ARIA Award for "Breakthrough Artist – Single". "Imagination" was released at the beginning of 1996 and peaked at number 37. With two songs released from the album, Hines released her debut album Imagination on 27 May 1996; it charted at number 15 on the Australia ARIA Albums Chart and was nominated for two ARIA Awards. "I Like the Way" and "I'm Not in Love" (a cover version of a 10cc song) were the album's third and fourth singles, but both failed to chart in to top 50 in Australia.