Co-host Kyle Sandilands challenged the 43-year-old radio star to write and record her own pop single after she made an off the cuff comment about just how easy it would be to write a hit song - and what started as a joke, quickly became a reality.
Speaking to Radio Today, Jackie O revealed, “As a kid I did a lot of singing and dancing. I’ve been talking about recording a song on air for ages and when Kyle challenged me, Kian one of our Producers and I actually did it,"
“It was all a bit of a joke actually to start with. When we finished the song I took it home to play to my 7 year old daughter Kitty,"
“She is my harshest critic. To my amazement she actually loved it. She was so excited and thought her mum was actually cool and couldn’t wait to play it to her friends at school.”
After debuting the track during The Kyle and Jackie O Show on KIIS 106.5, it was decided that the track should be released to help raise money for drought affected farmers.
“The song has just been released on iTunes and Apple Music and we’ve decided that all proceeds go towards helping the farmers affected by the drought so hopefully we can raise some money for them,” Jackie told Radio Today.
“It started out as just a fantasy, but I’ve been overwhelmed by the support and reaction it’s got from everyone here at KIIS and listeners calling in to say they liked the song,"
“It was a collaboration, and whilst I was involved in the song-writing process, I have to give most of the credit to Kian and his team.”
On Tuesday morning, a snippet of Honey Money was played for musician Keith Urban to critique. Jackie explained that the song wasn't meant to be taken seriously.
“As you know Keith I cannot sing but Kyle set me a challenge, coz I was like questioning how difficult is it to write a hit song. I’ve always wondered is it a really hard thing to do or not…And so as just a joke, we played the song on air a couple of days later.” explained Jackie on-air.
“I need your opinion on this, your honest opinion Keith," continued fill in co-host Beau Ryan. "Let us know what you think of the song and how Jackie went.”
After listening to the snippet, Keith declared, "I've found my new ringtone!"
All proceeds from the release of Honey Money will go to Drought Angels.
It is now available via iTunes.
