Gerald Kereti Merito (b Whakatane, August 16, 1938, married twice, d Waihoa, January 26, 2009), was a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
singer and guitarist, and one of the original members of the
Howard Morrison
Sir Howard Leslie Morrison (18 August 1935 – 24 September 2009) was a New Zealand entertainer. From 1964 until his death in 2009, he was one of New Zealand's leading television and concert performers.
Early life
Of Māori (Te Arawa), Irish ...
Quartet.
Merito was a farm boy from
Whakatane and a
Tuhoe tribe member.
In 1999 Merito received the
Benny Award
The Benny Award is bestowed on a New Zealand variety entertainer. It is presented annually by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand, a non-for-profit organisation and showbusiness club, founded in 1966 and awarded to a variety performer who ha ...
from the
Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc, the highest honour available to a New Zealand variety entertainer.
He died aged 70, after playing at the Waihau Hotel.
Merito has two sons, Daniel and Ben and his wife Dorothy Ohlson.
References
External links
AudioCulture profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merito, Gerry
1938 births
2009 deaths
New Zealand guitarists
New Zealand male guitarists
Ngāi Tūhoe people
People from Whakatāne
20th-century guitarists
20th-century male musicians