Opera star Dame Nellie Melba is the face of our $100 note, and the inspiration for the famous Peach Melba dessert. In short she’s an icon – one of Australia’s original divas. But how did she go from young Melbourne tomboy to domestic abuse survivor and then global superstar? 

Leigh dives deep on Nellie’s life of tragedy and drama, worthy of its own opera, and proves to Alecia this diva is a little saltier than the sweet pudding named in her honour. 

Plus, we explore the origins of long service leave and how Nellie falls flat on her face during her first audition in Europe. 

Warning: This episode discusses intimate partner violence.

Melba, Nellie. Melodies and Memories. London: Thornton Butterworth, 1925. 

“Melba Remembers—An Interview with Dame Nellie Melba.” The Home: An Australian Quarterly 3, no. 2 (June 1, 1922) 

“Coombe Cottage: Dame Nellie Melba’s Home—Third of a Series of Studies of Notable Australian Homes.” The Australian Home Beautiful: A Journal for the Home Builder 6, no. 6 (June 1, 1928) 

“In Dame Nellie Melba’s Paris Home.” The Home: An Australian Quarterly 11, no. 7 (July 1, 1930) 

Campbell, Rachel M. “Dame Nellie Melba: Celebrity and the Portrait.” Context: A Journal of Music Research, no. 40 (January 2015): 69–79. 

Modjeska, Drusilla, Susan Dermody, and John Docker, eds. Nellie Melba, Ginger Meggs and Friends: Essays in Australian Cultural History. Malmsbury: Kibble Books, 1982. 

Blainey, Ann. I Am Melba: A Biography. Melbourne: Black Inc., 2008. 

Wainwright, Robert. Nellie: The life and loves of Dame Nellie Melba. Allen and Unwin: Sydney, 2021 

Davis, Richard. Nellie Melba: The legend lives. Mile End: Wakefield Press, 2025 

Woollacott, Angela. To Try Her Fortune in London: Australian Women, Colonialism, and Modernity. Oxford University Press USA, 2001. 

• Hosted by Alecia Simmonds and Leigh Boucher
• Supervising Producer: Hannah Reich
• Producer: Hannah Jose
• Video producer: Christian Harimanow
• Executive Producers: Clare Rawlinson and Eric George
• Head of ABC Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
• Theme: Martin Peralta
• Artwork: Gabriel Virata-Alves