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LAB secured their place in history by eliminating the same four Tūī for the second consecutive year at the Aotearoa Music Awards.
LAB’s success story continues with the band winning Album of the Year for their fifth album LABV
Along with this, the band won Single of the Year for Mr Reggae, Best Band and Best Roots Artist.
Country singer-songwriter Tami Neilson won three awards for his Kingmaker album – his 6th Best Country Artist, Best Solo Artist and Best Producer.
Neilson’s Best Producer nomination makes her the first solo woman to win the award since Bic Runga in 2006.
Rob Ruha was recognized as the best soul/RnB artist for his album Preservation of Scenery.
Under his mentorship, Te Tairāwhiti tira waiata Ka Hao was awarded Best Maori Artist and Te Māngai Pāho Mana Reo Tūī respectively for Ka Hao: One Tira, One Voice and 35 (ft. Rob Ruha).
First-time nominee Tauranga-based artist Georgia Lines won the Tūī for Breakthrough Artist of the Year for their second EP Human.
For the fourth year in a row, BENEE won the award for best pop artist.
Other winners included Waipu-based metal band Alien Weaponry for Best Rock Artist, Vera Ellen for Best Alternative Artist for the critically acclaimed It’s Your Birthday, debut nominee LEAPING TIGER for Best Electronic Artist and Robert Ashworth and Sarah Watkins for Best Classical Artist. for their album Moonstone – a collection of works by New Zealand composers.
Diggy Dupé, choicevaughan and P. Smith, two-time winners of the 2022 Pacific Music Award, won the Tūī for Best Hip-Hop Artist for The Panthers OST.
Six60 won Top Selling Artist for the fourth consecutive year, as well as Airplay Radio Record of the Year for the sixth time for their single Someone To Be Around.
Along with the main award finalists, the behind-the-scenes heroes of hapori puoro were also announced.
While Neilson received the award for Best Producer, the Tūī for Best Engineer went to Simon Gooding for his contributions to Tami’s album.
Los Angeles-based Chelsea Jade Metcalf received the Best Album Artwork award for her album Soft Spot.
Joel Kefali and Ella Yelich-O’Connor (Lorde) received the Best Music Video Content award for Lorde’s music video Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen It All).
Sarah Owen of Recorded Music New Zealand said this year’s awards were a testament to the passion and commitment shown by the local music scene.
“To be able to see such deserving artists receive recognition for their art is an honor – such a wide range of works recorded with originality and artistry, showing the depth and breadth of talent in Aotearoa,” said Owen.
