Anne Crummer (born 1966) is a New Zealand pop singer and songwriter of

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

descent who has seen success in both a solo career and as part of various musical groups. Crummer represented New Zealand at the 1987 ABU Popular Song Contest with the song "It's That What Friends Are For", placing third.

Biography

Crummer grew up in West Auckland. Her father, Will Crummer, a Cook Islander, was one of her strongest musical influences. Her mother Tangi is Tahitian. Crummer was a precocious singer, performing at Cook Island nightclubs and shopping mall talent quests. At the age of 9, Will Crummer tried to interest her in piano lessons and took her to singing coach Sister Mary Leo, but Crummer preferred to learn from her father. She attended Avondale High School, leaving at the age of "15 years and two months" to focus on a singing career. She appeared on the TV talent show ''Opportunity Knocks'', won, and released her first single at the age of 16. At the age of 18 Crummer stood out as a guest vocalist in the Netherworld Dancing Toys hit song "For Today", which was Single of the Year at the 1985

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 ...

. She was one of the five founders of the all-female band When The Cat's Away in 1986; their cover of the 1969 Blue Mink song "

Melting Pot A melting pot is a Monoculturalism, monocultural metaphor for a wiktionary:heterogeneous, heterogeneous society becoming more wiktionary:homogeneous, homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative bei ...

" topped the charts in New Zealand, and the band won Group of the Year in the 1989 New Zealand Music Awards. Crummer has also performed with

Herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...

. Crummer released her first solo album, ''

Language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

'', in 1992, and her second, '' Seventh Wave'' (co-written with Barbara Griffen) in 1996. ''Seventh Wave'' was completed at Prince's studio,

Paisley Park Paisley Park is a 65,000 square foot estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota, United States, once owned by American musician Prince. It was opened to the public as a museum in October 2016. History Construction of the $10 million complex began in Jan ...

. She recorded the

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...

song " I Hope I Never" as part of the

ENZSO ENZSO was an orchestral project started by former Split Enz keyboardist Eddie Rayner. It combines the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with contemporary pop singers to perform Split Enz songs. History The project began with Eddie Rayner. He wa ...

project in 1996. In 1993 she had a role on New Zealand soap opera ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The show was first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992 and is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, be ...

'' and recorded a single " Keeping Up the Love Thing", which featured on the show. She has performed with Australian singers

John Farnham John Peter Farnham (born 1 July 1949) is a British-born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until the mid-1970s, billed as Johnny Farnham. He has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.McFarlane (1999). Enc ...

and

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...

, and toured Australia for a month with Sting, singing on stage with him on "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot". In 1996, she was chosen as the supporting act for Michael Jackson's New Zealand tour. Crummer was diagnosed with

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

as an adult and says she cannot read or write or read music, but she credits her dyslexia with giving her a heightened sense of musical appreciation. She did one semester of

Cook Islands Māori Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the official language of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to, but distinct from, New Zealand Māori. Cook Islands Māori is called just Māori when there i ...

language at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

in 2000. Part of her work in the music industry has been mentoring in song writing and performing, including in prisons and for Smokefree Rock Quest. In 2014 she was a musical mentor for prisoners in the

Māori Television Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

series ''Songs from the Inside''. On stage, she was a soloist in the musical ''Rent'' in Australia and New Zealand, and played the Killer Queen in ''We Will Rock You'' (WWRY) in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 2005. The Australian production of WWRY toured throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and South Africa. Crummer reprised her role in 2019. She is currently working on her third album, ''Project Annie C''.

Honours and awards

Crummer was awarded Best Female Artist at the

in 1993, and nominated for the same category at the

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

in Australia in 1996. In 2011 Crummer was awarded ''Senior Pacific Artist Award'' at the

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...

Arts Pasifika Awards. In the same year she also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Pacific Music Awards. Crummer was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

for services to music in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours. In December 2021 Crummer and the other four members of When the Cats Away were inducted into the

New Zealand Music Hall of Fame The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame , Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to noteworthy New Zealand musicians. The hall was created in 2007 by Recorded Music NZ (then known as the Recording Industry Associati ...

at the

Aotearoa 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 ...

in recognition of their contributions to New Zealand music.

Discography

Compilation appearances

The following albums have featured tracks by Crummer. * (1996) – '' In The Neighbourhood'' (

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

) – ''Language'' * (1998) – '' New Zealand Compositions'' ( Centre For New Zealand Music) – ''I Hope I Never'' (with

) * (2011) – ''Shoebox Lovesongs: the Rarotongan Music of Will Crummer'' (

Ode Records Ode Records (also known as Ode Sounds and Visuals) was an American record label, started by Lou Adler in 1967 after he sold Dunhill Records to ABC Records. It was distributed by CBS's Epic Records except between 1970 and 1976, when the label w ...

)

Singles as main artist

Singles as featured artist

Notes

References

External links

*
Annie Crummer (Killer Queen) – Brian May
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crummer, Annie 1966 births Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand people of Cook Island descent New Zealand people of French Polynesian descent 21st-century New Zealand women singers New Zealand women songwriters Musicians from Auckland Living people 20th-century New Zealand women singers Māori-language singers Musicians with dyslexia