b. Briolette Kahbic Runga, 13 January 1976, Christchurch, New Zealand. Runga was born into a musical family, her Chinese Malaysian mother being a professional singer. Musically inclined from a very early age, she played percussion at 11, guitar three years later, and was also writing songs. From the age of 18 she lived in Auckland, singing in clubs and restaurants and very soon was able to persuade Sony Records to sign her to a contract for her independent recording of her composition ‘Drive’. The record went swiftly into the New Zealand Top 10 charts and she also won a Silver Scroll award for the writing of the song. Runga’s career was off to a flying start that was confirmed when her debut album won six Tuis at the 1998 New Zealand Music Awards, including Album Of The Year, Single Of The Year, Best Female Vocalist and Best Songwriter. Her next singles, ‘Bursting Through’ and ‘Sway’, also did well, and so too did her second album Beautiful Collision, which won 3 Tuis, including her award as Best Producer. A successful single from this set, ‘Get Some Sleep’, reached the UK charts.
From 1998-2000, Runga toured, mainly in New Zealand but also overseas, including a trip to the USA where she was on a Lilith Fair tour with Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris. One of her early 00s homeland tours resulted in material for a live album. Runga spent some time living in Paris and London before returning to New Zealand for a 2005 tour with the Finn Brothers. Runga is a significant figure in New Zealand’s popular music community and by the mid-00s had already made a similar impression upon the wider world.
