Mahinārangi Tocker (1955
– 15 April 2008) was a singer-songwriter from
New Zealand. Tocker wrote more than 600 songs in a 25-year career.
Her vocal style has been compared to that of
Joan Armatrading and
Tracy Chapman. She also gave lectures around New Zealand about the use of music and creativity to boost learning and self-esteem, and was an adult literacy tutor, writer and poet.
Biography
Tocker was born in
Taumarunui and was of
Ngāti Raukawa,
Ngāti Tūwharetoa,
Ngāti Maniapoto, Jewish and Celtic ancestry.
Tocker spent much of her life at
Glendene in
West Auckland.
In the
2008 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008.
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and a ...
, Tocker was appointed a
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music.
Tocker died on 15 April 2008 in
Auckland's
North Shore hospital following a severe asthma attack. She was 52.
Her final performance had been at the Titirangi Festival of Music in March 2008.
A memorial tree was planted for her at Falls Park in
Henderson Henderson may refer to:
People
*Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname
*Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan
Places Argentina
*Henderson, Buenos Aires
Australia
*Henderson, Western Australia
Canada
*He ...
.
Personal life
Tocker came out openly as a
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
.
Tocker openly talked about her diagnosis with
bipolar disorder.
Discography
Albums
muzic.net.nz
/ref>
* 1985 ''Clothesline Conversation''
* 1987 ''I'm Going Home''
* 1996 ''Mahinarangi''
* 1997 ''Te Ripo''
* 2002 '' Hei Ha!''
* 2002 ''Touring'' (With Charlotte Yates)
* 2005 ''The Mongrel in Me''
References
1955 births
2008 deaths
20th-century LGBT people
20th-century New Zealand women singers
Deaths from asthma
Lesbian musicians
New Zealand LGBT musicians
New Zealand LGBT singers
Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit
New Zealand Māori women singers
Ngāti Maniapoto people
Ngāti Raukawa people
Ngāti Tūwharetoa people
People from Taumarunui
{{Māori-bio-stub