'Rock chick' Rose's angels on Voice stage: the women who believed in her most

Emblazoned on the guitar she carries with her is a portrait of her mother, who died of cancer aged 50, when Carleo was just 19.

"It's pretty much because of her that I am singing," said the 54-year-old from Springwood in the NSW Blue Mountains.

"She dared me to get up on stage when I was 13. I wasn't one to shy away from things, so I did it. She was a huge music lover and my biggest inspiration in life."

The deeply personal image will be seen around the country when Carleo appears on the 14^th season of Seven's talent quest show on Tuesday, August 12.

The self-confessed "rock chick" admits it was "surreal" walking out to perform in front of coaches Richard Marx, Ronan Keating, Kate Miller-Heidke and Melanie C.

"It was like my heart was pounding out of my chest to be honest," she says.

Adding to the poignancy of the moment was the more recent memory of Carleo's older sister, Cathy, who died in 2024.

"I really felt both of them were with me. They were my two biggest fans, really, besides my husband," she says.

Music has been a part of Carleo's life since that first time performing on stage as a 13-year-old.

She started playing in bands around Perth when she was 17 and currently fronts blues rock outfit, the Rose Carleo Band, who released a new single in May 2025.

"I don't know how I would have got through some things in my life without music because it's always been my constant," she says.

Carleo relished bringing her rock energy to the returning television juggernaut.

"I love being a rock chick, and I loved being the rock chick on The Voice," she says.

While belting out a song comes naturally to the Western Australian native, having to keep quiet about her journey on The Voice Australia has been a different matter.

"There's been a few times where you go to say something and realise you can't, but I actually think I'm a real champion secret-keeper now," she says.