Aotearoa Music Award for Best Solo Artist

Best Solo Artist (Māori: Te Tino Reo o te Tau) is an Aotearoa Music Award that honours solo artists for outstanding work. The award can either apply to solo performers or a singer who performs with a band.

John Rowles was one of the two first recipients in 1978.

The award was originally divided by gender, with separate prizes going to male and female artists. The awards were first presented in 1978 at the relaunched New Zealand Music Awards. The awards were then called Top Male Vocalist and Top Female Vocalist. In 1985 they became Best Male Vocalist and Best Female Vocalist, then in 2004 they were renamed Best Male Solo Artist and Best Female Solo Artist. In 2017, following a revamp of the awards, the two awards were amalgamated into the one award called Best Solo Artist.^[1]

Dave Dobbyn has won the award six times and been nominated a further six times. Bic Runga has won the award four times and been nominated once more. Jon Toogood of Shihad has won the award three times and been nominated a further six times. The award has also been won by three members of the same family: brothers, Neil Finn and Tim Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House and Neil's son Liam Finn.^[2]

Winners

Bic Runga has won the award four times.

Shihad frontman Jon Toogood has won the award three times.

Lorde won in 2014 for her debut album Pure Heroine.

Marlon Williams has won the award three times.

Top Male Vocalist and Top Female Vocalist (1978 to 1984)

Year	Winner	Other finalists	Ref.
1978	John Rowles	—	[3]
	Sharon O'Neill
1979	Rob Guest		[4]
	Sharon O'Neill
1980	Jon Stevens		[5]
	Sharon O'Neill
1981	Dave McArtney (Dave McArtney & The Pink Flamingos)	Deane Waretini Hammond Gamble	[6]
	Suzanne Prentice	Jenny Morris Tina Cross
1982	Dave Dobbyn (DD Smash)	Malcolm McNeill Murray "Monte Video" Grindlay (Monte Video and the Cassettes)	[7]
	Patsy Riggir	Suzanne Prentice Trudi Green (The Neighbours)
1983	Dave Dobbyn (DD Smash)	Malcolm McNeill Murray "Monte Video" Grindlay (Monte Video and the Cassettes)	[8]
	Suzanne Prentice	Trudi Green Patsy Riggir
1984	Jordan Luck (Dance Exponents)	Andy Dickson (The Narcs) Andrew Fagan (The Mockers)	[9]
	Patsy Riggir	Jodi Vaughan Suzanne Prentice

Best Male Vocalist and Best Female Vocalist (1985 to 2003)

Year	Winner	Album	Other finalists	Ref.
1985	Andrew Fagan (The Mockers)	—	Malcolm Black (Netherworld Dancing Toys) Pat Urlich (Peking Man)	[10]
	Margaret Urlich		Patsy Riggir Jacqui Fitzgerald
1986	Pat Urlich (Peking Man)		Malcolm McNeill Sonny Day	[11]
	Margaret Urlich		Betty Monga Annie Crummer
1987	Dave Dobbyn		Charlie Tumahai (Herbs) Martin Phillipps (The Chills)	[12]
	Shona Laing		Betty-Anne Monga (Ardijah) Patsy Riggir
1988	Dave Dobbyn		Charlie Tumahai (Herbs) Barry Saunders (The Warratahs)	[13]
	Shona Laing		Aishah Annie Crummer
1989	Tim Finn		Howard Morrison Barry Saunders (The Warratahs)	[14]
	Margaret Urlich		Moana Jackson Aishah
1990	Barry Saunders (The Warratahs)		John Grenell Barry Saunders (The Warratahs)	[15]
	Margaret Urlich		Patsy Riggir Aishah
1991	No awards held
1992	Jordan Luck (The Exponents)	—	Mikey Havoc (Push Push) Shayne Carter (Straitjacket Fits)	[16]
	Fiona McDonald (Headless Chickens)		Moana Ngaire
1993	Greg Johnson (Greg Johnson Set)		Jordan Luck Paul Ubana Jones	[17]
	Annie Crummer		Patsy Riggir Shona Laing
1994	Shayne Carter (Straitjacket Fits)		Jon Toogood (Shihad) Chris Matthews (Headless Chickens)	[18]
	Fiona McDonald (Headless Chickens)		Annie Crummer Shona Laing
1995	Dave Dobbyn		David Kilgour Greg Johnson (Greg Johnson Set) Jon Toogood (Shihad)	[19]
	Fiona McDonald (Strawpeople)		Emma Paki Stephanie Tauevihi
1996	Jon Toogood (Shihad)		Greg Johnson (Greg Johnson Set) Dave Dobbyn	[20]
	Teremoana Rapley		Sulata Jan Hellriegel
1997	Che Fu		Jeremy Eade (Garageland) Jon Toogood (Shihad)	[21]
	Bic Runga		Emma Paki Fiona McDonald (Strawpeople)
1998	Jon Toogood (Shihad)		Greg Johnson Booga Beazley (Head Like a Hole)	[22]
	Bic Runga		Sulata Annie Crummer
1999	Neil Finn		Dave Dobbyn James Reid (The Feelers)	[23]
	Betty-Anne Monga (Ardijah)		Sulata Foai (Te Vaka) Alesha Siosiua (Urban Pacifika)
2000	Jon Toogood (Shihad)		Dave Dobbyn Don McGlashan (The Mutton Birds)	[24]
	Boh Runga (Stellar)		Betty-Anne Monga (Ardijah) Zara Clark (Deep Obsession)
2001	Nathan King (Zed)		Jon Toogood (Shihad) Dave Dobbyn	[25]
	Julia Deans (Fur Patrol)		Renee Brennan (Tadpole) Libby Huirua (The Parachute Band)
2002	Che Fu	Navigator	Neil Finn - One Nil Tiki Taane (Salmonella Dub) - Inside the Dub Plates	[26]
	Anika Moa	Thinking Room	Boh Runga (Stellar) - Magic Line Hayley Westenra - Hayley Westenra
2003	Che Fu	"Misty Frequencies"	Jon Toogood (Pacifier) - Pacifier Te Awanui Pine Reeder (Nesian Mystik) - "For the People"	[27]
	Bic Runga	Beautiful Collision	Anika Moa - "Falling In Love Again" Kirsten Morrell (Goldenhorse) - Riverhead

Best Male Solo Artist and Best Female Solo Artist (2004 to 2016)

Year	Winner	Album	Other finalists	Ref.
2004	Scribe	The Crusader	Greg Johnson - Here Comes the Caviar Nathan Haines - Squire For Hire	[28]
	Brooke Fraser	What to Do with Daylight	Bic Runga - Live in Concert with the Christchurch Symphony Hayley Westenra - Pure
2005	P-Money	Magic City	Savage – Moonshine SJD – Southern Lights	[29]
	Yulia	Into the West	Debbie Harwood – Soothe Me Jordan Reyne – Passenger
2006	Dave Dobbyn	Available Light	Don McGlashan - Warm Hand Che Fu - Beneath the Radar	[30]
	Bic Runga	Birds	Aaradhna - I Love You Anika Moa - Stolen Hill
2007	Tim Finn	Imaginary Kingdom	Paul McLaney - EDIN Greg Johnson - Anyone Can Say Goodbye	[31]
	Hollie Smith	Long Player	Brooke Fraser - Albertine Hayley Westenra - Treasure
2008	Liam Finn	I'll Be Lightning	SJD - Songs From a Dictaphone Tiki Taane - Past, Present, Future	[32]
	Anika Moa	In Swings the Tide	Aaradhna - Sweet Soul Music Annabel Fay - Annabel Fay
2009	Savage	Savage Island	Don McGlashan (Don McGlashan & The Seven Sisters) - Marvellous Year Dave Dobbyn - Anotherland	[33]
	Ladyhawke	Ladyhawke	Boh Runga - Right Here Ladi6 - Time Is Not Much
2010	Dane Rumble	The Experiment	Connan Mockasin - Please Turn Me Into the Snat J. Williams - Young Love	[34]
	Anika Moa	Love in Motion	Gin Wigmore - Holy Smoke Hollie Smith - Humour and the Misfortune of Others
2011	Tiki Taane	In the World of Light	David Dallas – The Rose Tint Stan Walker – From the Inside Out	[35]
	Ladi6	The Liberation Of...	Brooke Fraser – Flags Julia Deans – Modern Fables
2012	Ruban Nielson (Unknown Mortal Orchestra)	Unknown Mortal Orchestra	Bulletproof – Dub Me Crazy Seth Haapu – Seth Haapu	[36]
	Kimbra	Vows	Gin Wigmore – Gravel & Wine Ladyhawke – Anxiety
2013	Lawrence Arabia	The Sparrow	Ruban Nielson (Unknown Mortal Orchestra) – II Willy Moon – Here's Willy Moon	[37]
	Aaradhna	Treble & Reverb	Iva Lamkum - Black Eagle Jamie McDell - Six Strings and a Sailboat
2014	David Dallas	Falling Into Place	Liam Finn – The Nihilist Stan Walker – Inventing Myself	[38][39]
	Lorde	Pure Heroine	Ladi6 - Automatic Tiny Ruins - Haunts
2015	Marlon Williams	Marlon Williams	Stan Walker – Truth & Soul Ruban Nielson (Unknown Mortal Orchestra) – Multi-Love	[40][41]
	Gin Wigmore	Blood to Bone	Brooke Fraser - Brutal Romantic Anika Moa - Queen at the Table
2016	Maala	Composure	Avalanche City – We are for the Wild Places Dave Dobbyn – Harmony House Lawrence Arabia – Absolute Truth	[42][43]
	Aaradhna	Brown Girl	Tami Neilson - Don't Be Afraid Ladyhawke - Wild Things Hollie Smith - Water of Gold

Te Tino Reo o te Tau - Best Solo Artist (2017 to present)

Year	Winner	Album	Other finalists	Ref.
2017	Lorde	Melodrama	Aldous Harding – Party Kings – Kings EP Nadia Reid – Preservation	[44]
2018	Marlon Williams	Make Way for Love	Julia Deans – We Light Fire Kimbra – Primal Heart Tami Neilson – Sassafrass!	[45]
2019	The Beths	Future Me Hates Me	Beastwars - IV Broods – Don't Feed the Pop Monster L.A.B. – L.A.B. II	[46]
2020	Benee	Stella & Steve	JessB – New Views Nadia Reid – Out of My Province Reb Fountain – Reb Fountain	[46]
2021	TEEKS	Something to Feel	Anna Coddington – Beams BENEE – Hey U X Troy Kingi – The Ghost of Freddie Cesar	[46]
2022	Tami Neilson	Kingmaker	Lorde – Solar Power Reb Fountain – IRIS Rob Ruha – Preservation of Scenery	[46]
2023	No awards held
2024	Marlon Williams		Avantdale Bowling Club Fazerdaze Kaylee Bell Princess Chelsea Stan Walker	[46]
2025	Fazerdaze	Soft Power	Aaradhna – Sweet Surrender Georgia Lines – The Rose of Jericho Kaylee Bell – Nights Like This Mokotron – Waerea Stan Walker	[46]