New Zealand music offers and represents a vibrant expression of their own culture. Being the largest nation in Polynesia, the music scene of NZ has been influenced by indigenous Maori & the immigrants of the Pacific region. When it comes to identifying the music history and early background of NZ music, it has been discovered that “British Colonial History” had brought a musical culture in NZ. Plus, it was influenced and contributed by several other nations – Europe and America.

Over the years, as the nation has grown itself and established a unique and distinctive culture, the local New Zealand based musicians have contributed and produced a unique Kiwi music scene. Today’s Kiwi music is more complex, intricate, and modern. If you are keen to know more about this musical culture, then here’s a perfect article for you – that will acquaint you with the “Five Great New Zealand Male Singers.” Not in any particular order below.

Overview of Five Kiwi Male Musicians:

• Phil Judd:

Among the list of “Five Great New Zealand Male Singers.” – this is the top-most music artist whose musical journey will be covered in this article. Phil Judd is a New Zealand based singer cum songwriter. He is best-known for being one of the founding members of heritage music bands, such as The Swingers and Split Enz. The musician was born on 20th March 1953. He mainly covers the following music styles, such as rock, pop, vaudeville, and alternative music etc.

He officially kick-started his music career in 1972 when he founded a folk music group (Split Enz) with Tim Finn. In the initial days, the group easily grabbed the attention from the local audience through their eccentric behavior, crazy hairstyles, unconventional makeup, and wacky clothes etc. Judd remained associated with this group during the release of their solo album (Mental Notes) and the second studio album (Second Thoughts). With the release of their second studio album, tension arose between Tim Finn and Judd. Thus, Judd decided to leave this group in 1977.

After leaving the aforementioned music group, Phil Judd started working with an Auckland-based punk band – “The Suburban Reptiles”. Next, Judd formed a new music group with the remnants of “The Suburban Reptiles” and named it as “The Swingers”. After a few line-up changes, this group managed to produce the number # 1 soundtrack in NZ. Unfortunately, the group was disbanded in 1982. Since then, Judd is mostly concentrating on his solo music career. His most recent solo music work is UniQue (that was released in 2016).

• Dave Dobbyn:

He is a famous musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who hails from New Zealand. In his early music career, he had worked with “Th’ Dudes” – a rock group which earned him a quick recognition of his music traits. After that, he formed a new pop band – named as DD Smash. Currently, he is focusing on his solo music career.

Dave Dobbyn was born on 3rd January 1957. From his young age, he was passionate and enthusiastic about music. His first success as a music artist came when he was associated with Th’ Dudes. For this rock band, he took the role of frontman and produced an epic song – “Be Mine Tonight” in 1978. With this, he proved himself as one of the ambitious and breakout stars of NZ. In 1980, Th’ Dudes was disbanded. Right after that, David Joseph Dobbyn founded a pop group – named as DD Smash. This band released a couple of albums and then it was disbanded due to certain internal reasons.

After the demise of DD Smash, Dave Dobbyn embarked a successful solo career and produced a string of studio albums, for example, Hopetown (released in 2000), Available Light (released in 2005), Anotherland (released in 2008), and Harmony House (released in 2016). He has received numerous music awards for his contribution to the NZ music industry, such as New Zealand Music Awards, RIANZ Awards, and APRA Silver Scroll Awards.

• Stan Walker:

Stan was originally born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (on 23rd October 1990). Today, he is a successful NZ based recording artist so let’s call him a Kiwi for the moment 🙂  He broadly covers two specific genres, such as pop and R&B. He embarked his career on music in the year of 2009. In this year, Stan Walker participated and won the 7th season of Australian Idol. After winning this contest, he witnessed a great recognition and made an official contract with the famous label company – Sony Music Australia.

In the same year, he produced his maiden album, named as Introducing Stan Walker. Note, this album gained the number # three rank on the ARIA Albums Chart List. It received a platinum certification by ARIA. On top of that, this album became a smashing hit in New Zealand where it gained the number # 2 rank, plus it received the triple platinum certification by RIANZ.

Over the years, he continued his music career and released the following albums – Let the Music Play (released in 2011), Inventing Myself (released in 2013), and Truth & Soul (released in 2015). As of now, he has received a plentiful of nominations, among which he has won a total of five New Zealand Music Awards.

• J. Williams:

His original name is Joshua Elia Williams. However, he is widely popular by his stage name i.e. J. Williams. He is a recording artist and hip-hop dancer who was born in Mangere, Auckland. This Kiwi musician successfully commenced his music career with the release of his debut single – “Blow Your Mind”. With the release of this particular song, he garnered a good reputation as this song made a rank on the NZ Singles Chart List. In the year of 2009, he released his debut album – named as Young Love.

This debut album became incredibly successful among the New Zealanders; note, the album was comprised of a particular hit single – “You Got Me” which was certified platinum in NZ. As a music artist, he is currently active and continuing his journey. As of now, he has received the “Pacific Music Awards” in 2010.

• Che Fu:

The original name of this music artist is Che Ness. He is better known by his guise name – Che Fu. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He is a talented musician – an artist, producer, and songwriter who basically covers the following genres, such as Hip Hop, Reggae, Soul, and Funk etc.

Being one of the founding members of a highly successful band, named as “Supergroove” – Che Fu has already received an outstanding success. Plus, he is successful as a solo artist too. The musician has received multiple “RIANZ Awards” for his solid contribution in Kiwi music!