Paul Kelly has officially “killed off” Joe, the fictional narrator of his 1996 classic “How To Make Gravy”.
A death notice published in Monday’s edition of The Age revealed Joe’s cause of death as “sudden misadventure,” describing him as a much-loved father, husband, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle to Dan, Rita, Stella, Roger, Mary, Angus, Frank, and Dolly — all names taken directly from the song.
The tribute also tips its hat to Joe’s love of reggae and Junior Murvin (“You’ll put on Junior Murvin and push the tables back”) and ends with details of a Thursday funeral and “a wake to end all wakes.”
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Kelly shared the notice on Instagram with the caption “RIP, Joe.” On paper it reads like a tongue-in-cheek tribute; in practice, it feels like a teaser that the beloved singer-songwriter is set to make an announcement on August 14th, just ahead of his biggest-ever national tour, which kicks off August 26th in Perth.
EMI Music Australia has remained mum on the stunt, although The Age classifieds team confirmed the label placed the ad.
First released in 1996, “How to Make Gravy” has cemented itself in the Australian songbook, its December 21st lyric spawning the annual “Gravy Day” tradition. The song’s story found new life in 2024 as a Binge Original film of the same time, starring Hugo Weaving, Brenton Thwaites, and Daniel Henshall as Joe, with Kelly making a cameo.
Monday’s obituary quickly sparked speculation about a sequel, but Binge told The Age there’s “no sequel planned at this stage.”
The notice also lands a week after Kelly posted a short clip of actress Justine Clarke writing a letter, soundtracked by a previously unreleased song. “Rita wrote a letter, this is what she had to say.” Rita, Joe’s wife in the original song, is also the focus of a track Kelly has previously floated as a sequel: one written to a New Orleans-style piano piece from his nephew, Dan Kelly.
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Whether Joe’s death is a curtain call or just the next act in Kelly’s long-running Christmas saga is anyone’s guess. The bigger question? With Joe gone, who’s gonna make the gravy?
