Human Nature brothers Andrew and Mike Tierney reveal they are no longer friends with their bandmates

Human Nature brothers Andrew and Mike Tierney have shed new light on the secret division within the iconic Australian band. 

The two brothers, who make up one half of one of Australia’s most successful musical groups, have given a new interview that will sadden fans. 

In 2021, Phil Blurton announced he was stepping back from the group after more than 30 years with the long-running quartet. 

At the time, Phil told Stellar  he had made ‘a family decision’ not to join his bandmates – Toby Allen and brothers Michael and Andrew – for their Las Vegas residency. 

But the Tierney brothers confessed in the latest episode of The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show that they have only a ‘surface level’ friendship with their bandmates. 

Andrew and Mike have been singing with their Human Nature bandmates Toby and Phil since 1989. 

Human Nature brothers Andrew and Mike Tierney have shed new light on the secret division within the iconic Australian band. (L-R): Andrew Tierney, Michael Tierney, Phil Blurton, and Tony Allan attend Sony Foundation’s Wharf4Ward on March 20, 2025

The Tierney brothers, who make up one half of one of Australia’s most successful musical groups, have confessed they have only a ‘surface level’ friendship with their two bandmates

The four men, then still high school students at Hurlstone Agricultural, began performing under the name 4Trax—before signing a deal with Sony in 1995. 

Human Nature’s 1996 debut album Telling Everybody was a huge hit, earning them triple platinum status.

The band became a Las Vegas fixture in the late 2000s, doing residencies at hotels like the Venetian and Imperial Palace. 

They were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2019 and went on to release a further 12 albums together.

Despite spending three decades living and working together, the brothers indicated to Jess Rowe that the familial relationship with their bandmates had shifted. 

Jess asked Mike and Andrew if they have ever struggled to with creative differences whilst working together as brothers. 

‘Mike and I seem to be able to manage it better than we do with Dave and Phil,’ Andrew said. 

‘What does that mean?’ Jess asked. 

Human Nature’s 1996 debut album Telling Everybody was a huge hit, earning them triple platinum status. The band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2019

The singer explained that he finds it easier to brush off negative comments from his brother as impersonal.  

‘I can tell if Mike is being passive aggressive towards me or saying something that means “pull your finger out, Andrew”,’ he responded. 

‘I’ll have a go back at him, but it never seems personal. I realise Mike’s having a s***ty day. With Toby and Phil, if they’re moody, it gets a bit more personal. 

‘It’s a weird dynamic. We started as friends and now the friendship is very surface level.’  

‘I’ll notice that Toby and Phil never ask me how my day is. Or how my kids are. Or how my wife is. They just don’t. And I don’t do the same for them.’

Host Jess asked Andrew if that sentiment made him feel hurt or sad, but he insisted the professional versus personal boundaries might be the reason the band still exists. 

‘I think that’s why we’re still together. Because we don’t deal with the dirt. We all sing together. We work well together but we don’t or don’t want to deal with the mess in each other’s lives,’ he said.

Andrew and Mike have been singing with their Human Nature bandmates Toby and Phil since 1989. The four men, then still high school students at Hurlstone Agricultural, began performing under the name 4Trax—before signing a deal with Sony in 1995

Phil Blurton moved back to Sydney with his family in 2021, but remains part of Human Nature, and performs with the band when they are in Australia. Pictured with his mum and nana

Andrew put the fracture in the group down to their move to Las Vegas 15 years ago, describing it as a ‘turning point’. 

‘When we were just touring Australia we’d have these natural breaks,’ he explained. 

‘Whereas, in Vegas we were performing every day and guys were having kids and family issues and you just have to suck it up and do a show — and I think we’ve turned into that.’

Three out of four members of Human Nature remain based in Las Vegas and perform their Motown classics shows dozens of times each year. 

Phil, however, moved back to Sydney with his family in 2021. 

 ‘Covid put things in stark reality – where do you want to be? Where do you feel at home? And Australia is where we felt the most safe as a family,’ he explained at the time. 

‘I haven’t had time to think about what I’ll do next.’

‘When there are opportunities to play [in Australia], they’ll fly here and I’ll jump back on board, and it will be the four of us as always,’ he reassured fans. 

Meanwhile, Andrew and Mike have stepped out on their own with a new debut album called The Soundtrack of My Life. 

The brothers are both married with children, and elsewhere in the chat, they discussed raising their children together because their wives are also sisters, whom they both met in high school.