Kira Puru is a gender-fluid Australian musician. She is of Maori descent, her father being from the

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are ...

tribe, and grew up in

Cardiff, New South Wales Cardiff is a small town in the Lake Macquarie LGA of New South Wales, Australia. It is located west-southwest of Newcastle. Cardiff is home to two government primary schools, a Catholic primary school and a government high school. It has it ...

, near

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. Puru has been described as "Señorita, swagger and a troublemaker" by

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

whose self-titled EP was released in 2018 by New Tribe Music, a joint venture record label with

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 ...

. '' i-D'' Magazine called Puru "a charismatic stage persona" and she has performed at festivals and events including:

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near ...

, Spilt Milk, Listen Out, and

Groovin' the Moo Groovin the Moo is an annual music festival that is held in six regional centres across Australia. The festival is held during autumn, typically in May of each year. Groovin the Moo was established by Cattleyard Promotions and their first fe ...

Career

In 2013, Puru moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, to launch her career as a solo artist after a string of collaborations with

Paul Mac Paul Francis McDermott (born 17 September 1965), who performs as Paul Mac, is an Australian electropop musician, singer-songwriter, producer and music re-mixer. He was classically trained at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Mac has formed variou ...

Illy Illycaffè S.p.A. (branded and stylised as illy) is an Italian coffee company specializing in espresso, headquartered in Trieste. Illy markets its coffee globally in silver and red pressurized, oxygen-free cans; operates a network of cafes on s ...

, Paul Kelly and

Urthboy Tim Levinson, better known by the stage name Urthboy, is an Australian hip hop MC and producer from New South Wales. He is widely known for his solo music under the moniker Urthboy, as a founding member of the hip-hop group The Herd, and for ...

. Puru released the single "Tension" in 2017 then followed on with "Molotov" which ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said is a "Slinky, attitude-laden song" and was ranked 75th on the

Triple J Hottest 100, 2018 The 2018 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on 27 January 2019. It is the 26th countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by listeners of Australian radio station Triple J. A record-breaking number of voters (2.758 million) partic ...

. In 2018, Puru toured nationally with Listen Out, and in support of

Vera Blue Celia Pavey, known professionally as Vera Blue, is an Australian singer-songwriter signed with Island Records Australia, which is part of Universal Music Australia. Her folk-inspired album ''This Music'' peaked at number 14 on the Australian A ...

and

The Rubens The Rubens are an Australian alternative rock band from Menangle, New South Wales. The band comprises the three Margin brothers, Zaac, Sam and Elliott, and friends Scott Baldwin and William Zeglis. Their debut self-titled album '' The Rubens' ...

. In 2019, she toured nationally as the supporting act for

Peking Duk Peking Duk are an electronic music group made up of disc jockeys and music producers Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles. The pair first garnered attention in 2012 with the release of a Passion Pit bootleg remix. Their biggest hit "High" reached 5 on ...

and in May, Puru went on a national tour for her single "Everything's Better Without You" with Kinder as support. The video for her new single "Why Don't We Get Along" was launched by '' Clash'' magazine which they described as "Perfect Pop" also produced by long term collaborator

Jon Hume Jon Hume is an Australian-born New Zealand musician, songwriter and record producer based between Los Angeles and Nashville who has written and produced songs for JP Cooper, Galantis, Bebe Rexha, Guy Sebastian, Sofi Tukker, Dean Lewis, Icona ...

(

Sofi Tukker Sofi Tukker (stylized in all caps) is a musical duo based in Florida consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern. They are best known for their songs "Drinkee", " Best Friend", and " Purple Hat". "Best Friend" was featured in a commerc ...

). In 2020 Puru toured with UK artist

Yungblud Dominic Richard Harrison (born 5 August 1997), known professionally as Yungblud (pronounced "Youngblood"), is an English singer, musician, songwriter and actor. In 2018, he released his first EP, ''Yungblud'', followed shortly after by the albu ...

for his

Falls Festival Falls Music & Arts Festival (commonly known as Falls) is a multi-day music festival held annually in Lorne ( Victoria), Marion Bay (Tasmania), Byron Bay (New South Wales) and Fremantle (Western Australia), Australia over the New Year's Eve an ...

side shows where she was compared to US artist

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...

. She called out radio for not playing enough Australian Music and

were one of the first to take up her challenge. In April 2020, Puru released her single "Idiot" with a "hook that’s an effortless ear worm".

Junkee Media Junkee Media, formerly known as Sound Alliance, is a digital media company based in Australia. According to the company, Junkee Media's websites attract a monthly audience of over 2 million unique browsers. Nearly 70 per cent of the website's tr ...

said "Kira Puru's Tiktok account is fantastic" including luring

Tones and I Toni Watson, known professionally as Tones and I, is an Australian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her breakout single, " Dance Monkey" (May 2019), reached number one in over 30 countries, including Australia. In November 2019, i ...

and a bunch of other musicians to imitate the heavy metal band Korn.

Personal life

Puru uses she/they pronouns.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

National Live Music Awards

The

National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse and successful live industry, celebrating the diversity and success of the Australian live scene – recognising the best vocal talents and musicians alongside ...

(NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. , - , rowspan="3" ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, rowspan="3" , Kira Puru , Live Voice of the Year , , - , Live R&B or Soul Act of the Year , , - , Best Live Voice of the Year - People's Choice , , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, Kira Puru , Victorian Live Act of the Year , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puru, Kira 21st-century Australian singers Australian musicians Australian people of Māori descent Living people Singers from Sydney Sony Music Australia artists Year of birth missing (living people) Australian pop singers Non-binary musicians