Johnny Tahu Cooper (23 July 1929 – 3 September 2014), also known as The Maori Cowboy, was a pioneering New Zealand

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

musician and entrepreneur. His cover of " Rock Around the Clock", a song popularised by Bill Haley & His Comets, is considered to be the first rock and roll song recorded in New Zealand. His 1955 single, "Pie Cart Rock 'n' Roll", was the first original rock song recorded and released in New Zealand. His song, "Look What You've Done", was covered by

Johnny Devlin John Lockett Devlin (born 11 May 1938) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and rock musician, who has been compared to Elvis Presley. His cover of Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" in 1958 went to number one in the New Zealand charts with s ...

and became a national favourite, appearing in the 1994 film ''Once Were Warriors''.

References

1929 births 2014 deaths 20th-century New Zealand musicians Rock and roll musicians New Zealand Māori singers {{NewZealand-musician-stub