"Aotearoa" is a song by New Zealand recording artist

Stan Walker Stan Walker (born 23 October 1990) is an Australian-born New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh and last season of ''Australian Idol''. He subsequently signed a recording contract ...

featuring Ria Hall,

Troy Kingi Troy Kingi (born 1984) is a New Zealand musician and actor from Northland, first receiving media attention when he appeared in the 2013 film '' Mt. Zion''. Kingi is a multi-instrumentalist, is known for his 10/10/10 project: the plan to release ...

and Maisey Rika. It was released as a single through

Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. SMEA also formerly published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of Sony ...

on 21 July 2014. "Aotearoa" peaked at number two on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

. An English version of the song was recorded and released on Walker's 2019 EP, ''

Faith Hope Love ''Faith Hope Love'' is the third studio album by the American rock band King's X. "Six Broken Soldiers" is the first King's X song to feature drummer Jerry Gaskill on lead vocals. Track listing Personnel * Dug* Pinnick - lead & backing vo ...

''.

Background

To celebrate

te Wiki o te Reo Māori ( en, Māori Language Week) is a government-sponsored initiative intended to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language which is an official language of the country. Māori Language Week is part of a broader movement to ...

(Māori Language Week), Walker decided to release his first song completely in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, alongside other Kiwi artists Ria Hall,

and Maisey Rika. Inspired by the 1984 song "

Poi E "Poi E" is a New Zealand 1984 number-one hit song by the group Pātea Māori Club off the album of the same name. Released in 1984, the song was sung entirely in the Māori language and featured a blend of Māori cultural practices in the song ...

" by the Patea Māori Club, (which as of 2014 is the only Māori language song to reach number one on the

), Walker, Hall, Kingi and Rika took on the challenge to get another Maori song to number one in New Zealand. Of this initiative Walker says, "we all have to connect ourselves back to the mainland where we are all from. I have never been more proud to be Māori. It doesn't matter who you are or where you've come from, to live in New Zealand, you are us and we are you. We are one!" Hall calls the result "a song to celebrate our nation, our landscape, our uniqueness, our language and our people". A portion of the proceeds from "Aotearoa" went towards the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre.

Video

A video was filmed with the artists in various locations around New Zealand, including Taupo and Whangarei. The director was Alice Orr.

Live performances

On 21 July 2014, "Aotearoa" was performed live on ''Breakfast''. On 23 July 2014, the song was performed live on

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...

Track listing

*;Digital download # "Aotearoa" – 3:13

Chart performance

"Aotearoa" entered the

at number two on 28 July 2014; the following week, it fell to number seven.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control Stan Walker songs 2014 songs 2014 singles Sony Music Australia singles Songs written by Stan Walker Māori-language songs Maisey Rika songs Ria Hall songs Troy Kingi songs APRA Award winners Songs written by Vince Harder