Stellar (stylised stellar*) is a New Zealand pop/rock band led by vocalist

Boh Runga Boh Runga (born 1969/1970) is a New Zealand recording artist and was the lead singer and guitarist in New Zealand rock band Stellar. Boh is the older sister of Bic Runga and Pearl Runga who are also musicians. Early life Boh grew up in Chris ...

, sister of acclaimed recording artist

Bic Runga Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976), recording as Bic Runga, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist pop artist. Her first three studio albums debuted at number one on the Recording Industry Association of New Ze ...

. They have had four

RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

top 10 singles (the highest being " Every Girl" at #3) and two No. 1 albums. The band's signature song is "

Violent Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened o ...

", which at the 2000

New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

won the Single of the Year award, as well as winning Runga an award for best Songwriter. The band won seven awards, among them the Best Album award for their debut, '' Mix''. This was followed up by 2001's '' Magic Line'' and 2006's '' Something Like Strangers''. The band officially disbanded in 2010 after releasing their greatest hits compilation, and reformed in 2017.

Formation

In 1992, musicians

and Andrew Maclaren moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

from

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and recorded the single "Ride" with guitarist Joel Haines. The song featured in the short film ''Headlong'' by Simon Raby, but the collaboration with Joel Haines did not last. 1994 to 1995 saw Runga and Maclaren recruit guitarist Simon McCormack, followed by bass player Kurt Shanks to form a four-piece, at that time the name Stellar was chosen and the first line up of the band began writing, recording and gigging around Auckland. Simon McCormack left the band in 1997 and was replaced by a series of guitar players including Derek Solomon before Chris Van de Geer, who had worked as sound engineer on some of the band's demos, took over. In 1998 the band signed on with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

music NZ, later that year they released their first commercial single "

What You Do (Bastard) "What You Do (Bastard)" is New Zealand band Stellar*'s second single, and their first single from their debut album Mix. The single includes two remixes of the title track. It reached number 17 on RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Reco ...

". 1999 saw their first album release '' Mix'', then the second-highest selling NZ album ever. The album was produced by ex-

Thompson Twins Thompson Twins were a British Pop music, pop band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the mid-1980s, scoring a string ...

singer Tom Bailey. ''Mix'' would go on to gain Stellar numerous accolades at New Zealand's 2000 Tui awards. It was also released in Australia, and resulted in Stellar being a tour support for

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

and

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

. An extended version of ''Mix'' was also released, which featured a CD-ROM of three of their music videos. In 2001 a follow-up album was released, '' Magic Line'', a far more pop-rock based album than their first. After the release of four singles between 2001 and 2003, the band took an extended break due to different band members' solo projects before reforming. 2006 saw the release of their third album '' Something Like Strangers'', producing the singles "

Whiplash Whiplash may refer to: * The long flexible part of a whip * Whiplash (medicine), a neck injury ** Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS), in automobiles Film and television * ''Whiplash'' (1948 film), a US film noir about a boxer * ''Whiplas ...

" and " For a While", the latter featuring Andy Lovegrove of the band Breaks Co-Op. The band then returned to their solo projects before reuniting for one last time in October 2010 for the release of ''

The Best of Stellar* ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. The band recently reformed in 2017, playing a cover of

Sharon O'Neill Sharon Lea O'Neill (born 23 November 1952) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and pianist, who had an Australasian hit single in 1983 with " Maxine" which reached No. 16 on both the Australian Kent Music Report and Recording Industry Association ...

's 1983 single'' "Maxine''" at the New Zealand Music Awards that same year. Since then, Stellar have been playing in gigs such as the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival in 2019, and the Peachy Keen music festival in 2021.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official site
(Currently inactive)

hijacked domain, no longer owned by Bic Runga as of 2014-06-08 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stellar APRA Award winners New Zealand pop music groups New Zealand pop rock groups Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 2010