Throwback Thursday - Sharon O'Neill
In celebration of New Zealand Music Month we take a look at Nelson-born Sharon O’Neill - an icon of the New Zealand music scene and a character we’re very proud to have captured within our photographic collection.
Few could have predicted – on seeing a young O’Neill teaching herself to play guitar as a student at Waimea College in the late 1960s – the mark this singer-songwriter and musician would eventually make on the Australasian music industry.
Mobil Song Quest group finalists from Nelson, Sharon O’Neill and Nancy Richman accompanied by Tony Hale on guitar and Elston Blain on bass, 1970. Barry Simpson. Nelson Provincial Museum, Nelson Photo News Collection: 328973
With a talent that first became apparent through performances with a number of groups around New Zealand, it wasn’t until after O’Neill appeared as a solo artist on the television talent show The Entertainers that she got her big break and was signed to CBS Records.
Sharon’s star shining bright, December 1982. Nelson Provincial Museum, Nelson Mail Collection: 2676
From there she broke into the local charts and released the first of her six studio albums. Radio friendly songs were followed by numerous local awards, including an APRA Silver Scroll Award for songwriting. At the New Zealand Music Awards she would become the only artist to win the Tui three years in a row, as Best Female Artist, and also took out Album of the Year for her self-titled second album and Best Soundtrack for Smash Palace.
O’Neill was also well received in Australia and ended up living there after touring the country as the opening act for Boz Scaggs. There she continued winning accolades and awards in the Australian music industry.
Over the years O’Neill produced numerous hits that, today, are a source of nostalgia for many: Maxine, Words, Maybe, Asian Paradise and Physical Favours to name a few. She also performed with, and wrote for, numerous other big names in the music industry, including Leo Sayer, Robert Palmer, Jon Stevens, Mark Williams, Dragon and When the Cat’s Away.
Due to a dispute with CBS O’Neill had the misfortune of being contractually prevented from releasing more music, just as she reached her peak of popularity. She continued to write songs, however, and was to come back with two more studio albums under the label Polydor.
O’Neill often returns to New Zealand, and in recent times performed two shows at Nelson’s Boathouse called Home Again (2017) and Home Again II (2019).
2017 saw O’Neill inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. Her acceptance speech made special mention of her family and friends in ‘good old Nelson’.
