← NZ A to ZSouth Island • OtagoUpdated 2025
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Lorde
Ella Yelich-O'Connor β known as Lorde β released her debut single "Royals" in 2013 at just 16 years old. It reached number one in 26 countries and won two Grammy Awards, making her the first New Zealand solo artist to top the US Billboard Hot 100.
Her debut album Pure Heroine and follow-up Melodrama received widespread critical acclaim worldwide. Melodrama was nominated for the Grammy for Album of the Year. Born and raised in Takapuna on Auckland's North Shore, she remains one of the most successful and critically respected musicians New Zealand has ever produced.
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Flight of the Conchords
Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement β both from Wellington β formed one of the most original and beloved comedy music acts in the world. Their deadpan, self-deprecating humour and genuinely clever songwriting earned them a BBC radio series, a hit HBO television show and a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.
They describe themselves as "New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo." The show, set in New York, ran for two seasons from 2007 and introduced New Zealand's dry wit to an international audience. Bret McKenzie also won an Academy Award for his Muppets song "Man or Muppet."
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Six60
Six60 β named after the Dunedin flat at 660 Castle Street where the band formed β became one of the biggest live acts in New Zealand history. Their blend of rock, reggae, pop and electronic music resonated enormously with New Zealand audiences, and they became the first New Zealand act to sell out Western Springs Stadium in Auckland.
Their single "Don't Forget Your Roots" became an anthem for a generation of New Zealanders. Six60 broke records for live concert attendance in New Zealand and demonstrated that a local band could fill stadiums without needing overseas success to validate them.
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Hayley Westenra
Hayley Westenra is the best-selling New Zealand recording artist of all time. Her 2003 debut album Pure β recorded when she was just 16 β became the fastest-selling debut album by a classical artist, reaching the top 10 in 11 countries and selling over two million copies worldwide.
She has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, collaborated with artists including Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Andrea Bocelli, and has sold over four million albums globally. Born in Christchurch, she began performing at age six and has carried New Zealand's classical music tradition to audiences around the world.
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Kimbra
Auckland-born Kimbra co-wrote and performed on Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" β one of the best-selling singles in history, topping charts in over 30 countries and selling more than 13 million copies worldwide. Her performance on the track brought her to global attention overnight.
Beyond that collaboration, Kimbra has built a substantial solo career with her eclectic, genre-defying sound spanning pop, soul, electronic and avant-garde influences. She won two Grammy Awards for her work on "Somebody That I Used To Know" and continues to record and tour internationally.
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Fat Freddy's Drop
Fat Freddy's Drop are Wellington's finest musical export β a seven-piece group whose blend of dub, reggae, soul, jazz and funk created a sound that is entirely their own. Their live shows are legendary, featuring extended improvisational performances that can stretch well beyond the recorded versions.
Their 2005 debut album Based on a True Story became one of the best-selling New Zealand albums of all time and introduced their unique Pacific-influenced sound to audiences across Europe, Australia and beyond. They remain one of New Zealand's greatest live acts.
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OMC
"How Bizarre" by OMC (Otara Millionaires Club) is one of the most recognisable New Zealand songs ever recorded. Released in 1995, the track reached number one in New Zealand and Australia and became a top 10 hit in the United States and United Kingdom β a remarkable achievement for an independent Auckland artist.
Produced by Alan Jansson and fronted by Pauly Fuemana, "How Bizarre" blended hip hop, pop and Pacific influences into something completely fresh. Its chorus is instantly recognisable to anyone who lived through the 1990s, and it remains a beloved piece of New Zealand musical heritage.
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New Zealand Music Icons
From Crowded House to Kiri Te Kanawa β the musicians who put New Zealand on the world stage.
For a small nation of five million people, New Zealand has produced a remarkable number of world-class musicians. These are the artists every Kiwi knows β and that the world should know too.
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Crowded House
After Split Enz disbanded in 1984, Neil Finn formed Crowded House in Melbourne in 1986 with Paul Hester and Nick Seymour. Named after the cramped Los Angeles house they shared, the band's debut album produced two massive US hits and launched one of the great pop careers of the era.
Crowded House cracked the UK market in the early 1990s and became one of the most beloved bands in both New Zealand and Australia. Their farewell concert in Sydney in November 1996 drew 150,000 people. Neil Finn and brother Tim Finn were both awarded OBEs in 1993 for services to New Zealand music.
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Split Enz
Split Enz were New Zealand's first truly international rock band, breaking out of Auckland in the early 1970s and going on to worldwide success. With their theatrical costumes, art-school sensibility and extraordinary musical range, they were unlike anything else in rock at the time.
The band launched the careers of both Tim Finn and his younger brother Neil, who joined in 1977. Their 1980 hit "I Got You" reached number one in Australia and remains one of the defining New Zealand songs of all time. Split Enz paved the way for every NZ band that followed.
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Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is one of the great soprano voices of the 20th century and New Zealand's most celebrated classical musician. Born in Gisborne in 1944 and of MΔori and Irish descent, she rose to international prominence after joining the Royal Opera House in London in 1970.
She performed at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, watched by 600 million television viewers worldwide. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1982. Her voice β warm, rich and technically flawless β brought New Zealand to the world's greatest stages.
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Neil Finn
Neil Finn is arguably New Zealand's greatest songwriter β the creative force behind both Split Enz and Crowded House, and a hugely successful solo artist. Born in Te Awamutu in 1958, he joined his brother Tim's band Split Enz at just 18 and quickly became its dominant songwriting voice.
His songs are distinguished by melodic sophistication, harmonic ingenuity and lyrics that are both intimate and universal. He has been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, and continues to record and perform decades after his first success.
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Dave Dobbyn
Dave Dobbyn is one of New Zealand's most beloved musicians, with a career spanning four decades. As the frontman of DD Smash and later as a solo artist, he created some of the country's most enduring songs. His 1984 hit "Slice of Heaven" became a national anthem of sorts.
"Welcome Home" β written for New Zealand's America's Cup victory and later adopted more broadly β is one of the most emotionally resonant songs in New Zealand popular music. Dobbyn was awarded the Order of New Zealand Merit for his services to music.
