Contributor
Stan Walker
Composer, Māori Composer, Performer
Biography
Ngāi te Rangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāi Tūhoe
Walker made his Australian Idol debut in the audition round of the seventh season, where he performed a version of John Legend's Ordinary People. As he advanced from one round to the next in the weeks that followed, he proved himself a talented R&B singer and garnered heaps of praise from the judges, including guests Joel Madden, Benji Madden, Michael Bublé, and Pete Wentz. In the end, he beat out second-place runner-up Hayley Warner and performed Black Box for the first time. The song was then released immediately as a digital download and shot to the top of the singles chart in New Zealand and number two in Australia.
Walker subsequently signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia and in December 2009, released his debut studio album Introducing Stan Walker. The album debuted at number three on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). It also appeared on the New Zealand Albums Chart at number two and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ).
In 2010, Walker released his second studio album From the Inside Out, which spawned the hit singles, Unbroken and Choose You. The album debuted at number one on the New Zealand Albums Chart and number two on the ARIA Albums Chart. In November 2011, Walker released his third studio album Let the Music Play, which debuted at number 18 on the ARIA Albums Chart and number 12 in New Zealand, and spawned the hit single Loud. In 2018, Walker released his most personal work yet – a self-titled EP, Stan, celebrating his triumph over stomach cancer. In 2021 is released 'Te Arohanui', a Maori language studio album, and in August 2022, Walker released his seventh studio album, All In.
Not only has Walker earned a total of six gold, four platinum, one double platinum and one triple platinum single in New Zealand across seven studio albums, he has collected eight New Zealand Music Awards along the way. He has also won the Waiata Māori Award for Radio Airplay Record of the Year five times. His live performances are legendary and, as well as headlining his own National Tours, he has shared a touring stage with Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, Ciara, Jay Sean, Travie McCoy, Ja Rule, Akon and Jessica Mauboy.
In addition to appearing as a judge on the first and second season of The X Factor NZ (in 2013 and 2015), Walker is also an actor with six motion pictures and one short film under his belt -- ‘Mt Zion’, ‘Born to Dance’, ‘Hunt For The Wilder People’, ‘Poi E’, ‘The Stolen’, ‘Chasing Comets’ and ‘Nerds In Love’. He is also a leading humanitarian and a staunch advocate for Māori, Pacific and Indigenous people. His advocacy for First nation rights saw him performing at the Ihumatao Land rights protect and partnering with Climate Change Cook Islands on the Pa Enua Action for Resilient Livelihoods Project (PEARL) to engage with the communities in the Cook Islands.