Go-Jo

Go-Jo, born Marty Zambotto on November 25, 1995, is an Australian singer, songwriter, and producer from Manjimup, a rural town in Western Australia^[1][2]. He grew up on a remote, self-sustaining property that lacked connection to the electrical grid, relying instead on solar panels mounted on a car chassis and charging a set of recycled batteries, while the family grew its own vegetables and collected rainwater to drink^[1]. He has a twin sister and four brothers; his father is French, giving him dual Australian-French nationality, and his mother sang lead in a local rock band, an early and direct model for the performer he would become^[1].

Without television or internet readily available growing up, Go-Jo discovered contemporary music largely through the countdown program Rage and So Fresh compilation albums^[1]. He received his first electric guitar at fourteen and started out covering Green Day and heavier rock and metal, before a friend showed him the basics of beat-making when he was nineteen, a moment he has described as changing everything about how he saw his own future in music^[1]. He spent his teenage years writing songs and, before committing to music full-time in Sydney, competed semi-professionally in Australian rules football for the East Perth Royals; his stage name grew out of the sideline cheers his mother used to shout for him^[1].

Go-Jo taught himself production, mixing, and recording before he ever positioned himself as a singer, initially writing and producing tracks for other artists. He built a wide following from 2016 onward by posting guitar-driven covers alongside original material, blending pop with elements of R&B and hip hop^[2]. His cover of the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" passed three million streams on Spotify, and TikTok in particular became a major engine for his visibility, a platform he has credited directly for his growth while also crediting the years of largely unseen work spent in his home studio learning every stage of making a record^[2]. His original song "Mrs. Hollywood" went on to surpass a billion cumulative views across platforms and reached number 18 on the Australian Indie Charts in 2023^[1][2].

In February 2025, Go-Jo was announced as Australia's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest, competing in Basel, Switzerland with his song "Milkshake Man." He opened the second semi-final and placed eleventh with 41 televote points, a result that did not carry him into the grand final but that significantly raised his international profile, including a number 30 chart placement in Lithuania and a number 16 spot on Sweden's Heatseeker chart^[1][2].

After Eurovision, Go-Jo largely stepped back from releasing original material, spending roughly four months secretly writing what would become his debut album^[3]. He previewed new material, including the single "Nervous," for Australian fans in person at OGAE Eurovision preview parties in Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney^[4]. His debut album, The Go-Jo Variety Show, was released on June 26, 2026 through Chugg Music, charting at number 48 in Australia and featuring outside collaborators including Erika Vikman and Salem Ilese^[2][5]. He has described touring as the greatest reward of his career and framed the album's release as the foundation for his biggest live show yet^[5].