The Most Famous
MUSICIANS from New Zealand
This page contains a list of the greatest New Zealander Musicians. The pantheon dataset contains 3,175 Musicians, 3 of which were born in New Zealand. This makes New Zealand the birth place of the 59th most number of Musicians behind Taiwan, and Moldova.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary New Zealander Musicians of all time. This list of famous New Zealander Musicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Gary Thain (1948 - 1975)
With an HPI of 50.48, Gary Thain is the most famous New Zealander Musician. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.
Gary Mervin Thain (May 15, 1948 – December 8, 1975) was a New Zealand bassist, best known for his work with British rock band Uriah Heep.
2. Graeme Revell (b. 1955)
With an HPI of 43.01, Graeme Revell is the 2nd most famous New Zealander Musician. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Graeme Revell (born 23 October 1955) is a New Zealand musician and composer. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the leader of the industrial rock/electronic rock group SPK. Since the 1990s he has worked primarily as a film score composer. Some of Revell's best known film scores include Dead Calm (1989), The Crow (1994), Street Fighter (1994), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), The Craft (1996), The Saint (1997), The Negotiator (1998), Bride of Chucky (1998), Titan A.E. (2000), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Daredevil (2003), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), and Sin City (2005). He is also known for his frequent collaborations with director David Twohy, having scored Below (2002) and the Riddick franchise. He is an eight-time recipient of the BMI Film Music Award, including the Richard Kirk Career Achievement Award, and an AACTA Award winner.
3. Ladyhawke (b. 1979)
With an HPI of 25.50, Ladyhawke is the 3rd most famous New Zealander Musician. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Phillipa Margaret "Pip" Brown (born 13 July 1979), better known by her stage name Ladyhawke, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She took her stage name from Richard Donner's 1985 film Ladyhawke. Brown was part of the Wellington-based band Two Lane Blacktop (2001–2003), before moving to Australia where, in 2004, she formed the art rock band Teenager with Nick Littlemore of Pnau. In 2007 she moved to London, around 2013 to Los Angeles, and then subsequently relocating back to her native New Zealand after the release of her third album, Wild Things. Brown's debut solo album, Ladyhawke, was released on 22 September 2008 through Modular Recordings, and topped the RIANZ Albums Chart. It spawned five singles of which "My Delirium" was the most successful. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2009, Ladyhawke won Breakthrough Artist in both album and single categories. Brown's second solo album, Anxiety, was released in May 2012, her third solo album, Wild Things, in June 2016 and her fourth album, Time Flies, in November 2021.
4. Benee (b. 2000)
With an HPI of 18.38, Benee is the 4th most famous New Zealander Musician. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Stella Rose Bennett (born 30 January 2000), better known as Benee (stylised in all caps; pronounced ) and formerly Bene, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter from Auckland. In both 2019 and 2020, she consecutively won Single of the Year, Best Solo Artist and Best Pop Artist at the New Zealand Music Awards. Benee initially gained local prominence with her singles "Glitter" and "Soaked", before her 2019 single "Supalonely" saw international popularity following its success on the video-sharing platforms TikTok and YouTube. Benee subsequently released her debut album, Hey U X, in November 2020. Under the moniker of Bene, she made her solo debut with the 2017 single "Tough Guy", before later gaining prominence with her 2018 single "Soaked", which has been certified double-platinum in New Zealand. She released her debut EP, Fire on Marzz, with help from producer Josh Fountain in June 2019. Her second EP, Stella & Steve, was released in November 2019 and charted in the US, Canada and France as a result of the international success of the EP's final single, "Supalonely". Since 2018, Benee has earned seven entries on the Triple J Hottest 100, three of which were in the 2019 list. She also released her third EP, Lychee, in March 2022 which charted at number 13 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as New Zealander musicians born between 1948 and 2000. Of these 4, 3 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living New Zealander musicians include Graeme Revell, Ladyhawke, and Benee. The most famous deceased New Zealander musicians include Gary Thain. As of April 2024, 1 new New Zealander musicians have been added to Pantheon including Benee.
