John Denver Hore (19 July 1944 – 27 July 2022), better known by his stage name of John Grenell, was a New Zealand country singer and songwriter.John Grenell
, New Zealand Music Commission. Retrieved 2 September 2015.Canterbury country music star John Hore Grenell has died
/ref>

Career

Grenell had his first professional engagement in 1962, the year he finished high school, after placing third in a nationwide TV contest "Have a Shot". He originally sang as John Hore, his stepfather's surname, but later changed to the family surname of Grenell. He recorded his first record album for Joe Brown in 1963, and made a further 16 albums between 1963 and 1974, some of which reached gold. He was the New Zealand representative to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee in 1966 and 1974. He sang in America, Australia, Canada, England, and South Africa, and at various TV series, special events and a Royal Command performance. He wrote the New Zealand version of

I've Been Everywhere "I've Been Everywhere" is a song written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959, and popularised by Lucky Starr and Hank Snow in 1962. The song as originally written listed Australian towns. It was later adapted by Australian singe ...

with local place names in 1966. He returned to entertainment in 1989–90 with the album "Welcome to our World" which was a single (a cover of Welcome to My World) and album best-seller in February 1990, see List of number-one singles. He received Country music recording industry awards, Male Vocalist of the year, a Gold Tribute award plus Best Country single and Country Record of the year. In 1990 he received a Scroll of Honour from the

Variety Artists Club of New Zealand The Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc (VAC) is a non-for-profit organisation and show business club. It was founded in 1966 and became an incorporated society in 1972. The VAC was formed to promote goodwill within the New Zealand enterta ...

for his contribution to New Zealand entertainment.

Personal life

Born in Ranfurly, Grenell grew up in Central Otago and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, and was educated at Kyeburn School and

Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...

. During his early years, he worked as a farmhand on the Glenrown farm in Kyeburn that was, and still is today, owned by the Greer Family. Later in 1971 He married Deidre Bruton; they had three sons and a daughter, all of whom are all musical. Daughter Amiria won a NZ Music Award for Best Folk Album of the year in 2012 for her album ''Three Feathers''. They lived in

Whitecliffs Whitecliffs is a village located in the Selwyn District of the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It has also been known as South Malvern (Sheffield was formerly known as Malvern), and the name of Whitecliffs comes from terrace ...

, on a Canterbury foothills farm, and bred

Appaloosa horse The Appaloosa is an American horse breed best known for its colorful spotted coat pattern. There is a wide range of body types within the breed, stemming from the influence of multiple breeds of horses throughout its history. Each horse's col ...

s. He was interested in the outdoor environment, particularly high country tussock and watershed areas.

Discography

* ''Introducing John Hore'' (Joe Brown, 1964) * ''Encore'' (Joe Brown, 1965) * ''My World'' (Joe Brown, 1965) * ''Together'' (Joe Brown, 1966) * ''Country Gentleman'' (Joe Brown, 1966) * ''The Town & Country Sound Of John Hore U.S.A.'' (Joe Brown, 1966) * ''Hit The Trail'' (Joe Brown, 1966) * ''Take Ten'' (Joe Brown, 1967) * ''My Kind Of Songs'' (Joe Brown, 1967) * ''Country Style'' (Joe Brown, 1968) * ''New Zealand Songs'' (Joe Brown, 1968) * ''Sings Great Country Hits'' (Joe Brown, 1969) * ''Great Country Songs By John Hore'' (Joe Brown, 1969) * ''We Should Be Together'' (Joe Brown, 1972) * ''Travellin' Singin' Man'' (Joe Brown, 1972) * ''The Mountains Of Home'' (Joe Brown, 1973) * ''Silver'' (

Ode Records Ode Records (also known as Ode Sounds and Visuals) was an American record label, started by Lou Adler in 1967 after he sold Dunhill Records to ABC Records. It was distributed by CBS's Epic Records except between 1970 and 1976, when the label was ...

, 1988) * ''Born In The West'' (Playa Sound, 1990) * ''Welcome To Our World'' (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, 1990) * ''Windstar - Aotearoa'' (Manu, 1991)

References

External links

AudioCulture profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grenell, John 1944 births 2022 deaths New Zealand country singers New Zealand male singer-songwriters People educated at Otago Boys' High School Musicians from Dunedin People from North Canterbury People from Ranfurly, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand male singers New Zealand country guitarists Deaths from coronary artery disease