Mahalia Violet Barnes (born 12 July 1982) is an Australian singer-songwriter and manager, the daughter of Scottish-Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes and Jane Mahoney. She began performing as part of children's pop group The Tin Lids with siblings, Eliza-Jane 'E.J.', Elly-May and Jackie, but has since become a session and backup singer in her own right. She most recently has sung backup for Joe Bonamassa in the studio, and live.
Mahalia Violet Barnes was born on 12 July 1982 in Sydney. She is the daughter of Jimmy Barnes (born James Swan, 28 April 1956 Glasgow, Scotland) an Australian rock singer, and Jane Mahoney (born Jane Dejakasaya, 1958, Bangkok, Thailand), the stepdaughter of an Australian diplomat. The pair married in Sydney on 22 May 1981, Barnes was named after United States gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson.
When she was eight, Barnes joined younger siblings, Eliza-Jane 'E.J.' and Jackie for the recording sessions of their father's Two Fires album. Their voices are among the children's choir that features on the track "When Your Love is Gone". From the age of nine she formed part of the children's singing group The Tin Lids (after Glaswegian rhyming slang for "kids") with siblings Eliza-Jane 'E.J.', Elly-May and Jackie. The Tin Lids recorded three albums between 1991 and 1994, all of which achieved platinum sales. One of their albums, Snakes & Ladders (1992) was also nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Children's Album in 1993.