The music of New Zealand has been influenced by a number of traditions, including Māori music, the music introduced by European settlers during the nineteenth century, and a variety of styles imported during the twentieth century, including blues, jazz, country, rock and roll, reggae, and hip hop, with many of these genres given a unique New Zealand interpretation.
Briolette Kah Bic Runga, recording as Bic Runga, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist pop artist. Her first three studio albums debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40 Album charts. Runga has also found success internationally in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom with her 1997 song "Sway".
Shihad are a rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988. The band consists of founders Tom Larkin, Phil Knight and Jon Toogood, who were joined by Karl Kippenberger in 1991. The band were known as Pacifier between 2002 and 2004.
Rock music in New Zealand, also known as Kiwi rock music and New Zealand rock music, rose to prominence first in 1955 with Johnny Cooper's cover version of Bill Haley's hit song "Rock Around the Clock". This was followed by Johnny Devlin, sometimes nicknamed New Zealand's Elvis Presley, and his cover of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". The 1960s saw Max Merritt and the Meteors and Ray Columbus & the Invaders achieve success. In the 1970s and early 1980s the innovative Split Enz had success internationally as well as nationally, with member Neil Finn later continuing with Crowded House. Other influential bands in the 1970s were Th' Dudes, Dragon and Hello Sailor. The early 1980s saw the development of the indie rock "Dunedin sound", typified by Dunedin bands such as The Clean, Straitjacket Fits and The Chills, recorded by the Flying Nun record label of Christchurch. New Zealand's foremost hard rock band Shihad started their long career in 1988. Since 2018 this title is now undoubtedly held by New Zealand Māori metal band Alien Weaponry who have achieved huge success in Europe and the USA.
Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by musicians from other bands in Wellington, Fat Freddy's Drop gradually became its members' sole focus. Band members continued playing with their other respective groups—The Black Seeds, TrinityRoots, Bongmaster, and others—for much of their 20-year career. Fat Freddy's Drop are known for their improvised live performances. Songs on their studio albums are versions refined over years of playing them live in New Zealand and on tour abroad.
The Chills are a New Zealand rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band is essentially the continuing project of singer/songwriter Martin Phillipps, who is the group's sole constant member. For a time in the 1990s, the act was billed as Martin Phillipps & The Chills. In the 1980s and 1990s, The Chills had some significant chart success in their homeland and were a cult band in other parts of the world as one of the earliest proponents of the Dunedin sound.
Shapeshifter are a live drum and bass act from New Zealand. They are known for their live shows and blend of heavy soul with drum and bass. They have made appearances at Glastonbury, The Big Chill, Big Day Out, Parklife plus sold-out performances across Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Goodshirt are an alternative/pop/rock band from Auckland, New Zealand. The band formed when keyboardist Gareth Thomas left his computer recording setup with the Fisher brothers, Rodney and Murray, for safe keeping.
Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of the self-titled BBC radio series (2005) and, subsequently, the HBO American television series (2007–2009). Most recently, they released the HBO comedy special Live in London in 2018. The special was concurrently released by Sub Pop as their fifth album.
Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an oft-lauded American television series, which aired for two seasons on HBO. Active since 1998, the duo released their most recent comedy special, Live in London, in 2018.
The Phoenix Foundation is a New Zealand indie rock band formed in Wellington in 1997.
The history of blues in New Zealand dates from the 1960s. The earliest blues influences on New Zealand musicians were indirect – not from the United States but from white British blues musicians: first the R&B styles of Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, The Animals and The Rolling Stones, and later the blues-tinged rock of groups such as Led Zeppelin. The first American blues artist to make a big impact in New Zealand was Stevie Ray Vaughan in the early 1980s. Other blues-related genres such as soul and gospel almost completely by-passed New Zealand audiences, except for a handful of hits from cross-over artists such as Ray Charles.
Age Pryor is a New Zealand musician and songwriter. He records and performs solo, he plays many instruments and is a founding member of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, The Woolshed Sessions, and Congress of Animals, and is also a contributing artist to the group Fly My Pretties.
Rapture Ruckus was a Christian hip hop and rock band from Wellington, New Zealand signed to BEC Recordings. They have released four albums: Rapture Ruckus in 2002, I Believe in 2006, Rapture Ruckus Live at World's End in 2008, and Rapture Ruckus in 2010 as debut album with BEC Recordings. I Believe won an award for Best Gospel/Christian Album at the New Zealand Music Awards, Rapture Ruckus Live at World's End debuted at No. 7 on the New Zealand album charts and Rapture Ruckus (2010) was nominated for a Dove Award for Best Rap/Hip Hop Album. Headed by Brad Dring, they have been a headline act at Parachute Music Festival several times and now in the US at Jesus Jam, Creation Festival, Sonshine Festival Three Rivers Festival and Festival One.
I Believe is the second studio album of the Christian hip hop/Christian Rock band, Rapture Ruckus, from Wellington New Zealand. Released through Parachute Records, the album won the 2006 Gospel/Christian Album of the Year at the New Zealand Music Awards. The single "Lose Control" charted at #7 on the NZ iTunes video charts.
Buffalo is the fourth full-length album by New Zealand band, The Phoenix Foundation. It was released in New Zealand in April 2010, and internationally in January 2011.
The Big Muffin Serious Band (BMSB) is a ukulele-based music performance group from Hamilton, New Zealand. It was started in 1983 by Jim Fulton, Graeme Cairns and Ian Coldham-Fussell when all three were members of a Project Employment Program (PEP) scheme. These schemes were initiatives instigated by the then National Government to undertake public works and provide vocational experience for the unemployed. This specific PEP scheme was run by the Hamilton City Council and involved creating performances and art in public spaces and schools.
Nigel Collins is a New Zealand musician, actor and playwright. A long time collaborator of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords, he appears in their live shows as a string section of one, 'The New Zealand Sympathy Orchestra' playing cello, and also bass, keyboards, percussion, drums and singing backing vocals. He's featured in tours of North America, the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand from 2001 to 2018. Collins graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 1999 with a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Acting).
Bek Coogan is a New Zealand multidisciplinary artist and musician.
Pātea Māori Club is a New Zealand cultural group and performance act formed in the South Taranaki town of Pātea in 1967 as the Pātea Methodist Māori Club. In 1983, the group began to release Māori-language pop and hip hop music, produced by Dalvanius Prime with lyrics by Ngoi Pēwhairangi. Their first single, "Poi E", reached number one on the New Zealand top 50 singles chart in 1984.
