Elizabeth Lillian Marvelly (born 5 July 1989) is a singer, songwriter and social commentator from

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

, New Zealand. She first achieved success as a

classical crossover Crossover is a term applied to Musical composition, musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience, audiences. This can be seen, for example, when a song appears on two or more of the record chart, record charts, which tr ...

vocalist before switching to pop music. She ran the website ''Villainesse'' until 2021, and has written for the ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand ...

'', discussing feminist issues. In July 2020 she was director of the

Rotorua Museum The Rotorua Museum (Māori language, Māori:Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa) is a local museum and art gallery located in the Government Gardens near the centre of Rotorua, New Zealand. It is dedicated to art culture and heritage of Rotorua and wider ...

from 2020 to 2021 after which she became head of Girl Guiding New Zealand.

Background

Marvelly was born in Rotorua and is the only child of Brett Marvelly and Vlasta Marvelly . Her maternal grandfather was from Czechoslovakia, escaping from

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

during World War II. Her maternal grandmother Jean Kerrigan was from

Ohinemutu Ohinemutu is a suburb in Rotorua, New Zealand. It includes a living Māori village and the original settlement of Rotorua. Demographics The statistical area of Kuirau, which corresponds to Ohinemutu, covers and had an estimated population o ...

and through her Marvelly affiliates to

Ngāti Whakaue Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand, tracing its descent from Whakaue Kaipapa, son of Uenuku-kopakō, and grandson of Tūhourangi. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa w ...

. She is related to entertainer

Howard Morrison Sir Howard Leslie Morrison (18 August 1935 – 24 September 2009) was a New Zealand entertainer. From 1964 until his death in 2009, he was one of New Zealand's leading television and concert performers. Morrison was also known for his active ...

, who was her maternal grandfather's best friend. Marvelly grew up in the Prince's Gate Hotel, built in 1897, which her parents owned. She attended

Rotorua Girls' High School Rotorua Girls' High School is a state school educating girls from Year 9 to Year 13, located in Rotorua, New Zealand. History Rotorua Girls' High School was formed in 1959 after Rotorua High School, founded in 1927, was divided into Rotorua ...

, and then won a senior scholarship at King's College in Auckland for her seventh form year. She graduated from

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology in 2015.

Music career

Classical crossover music

She released her debut album under the name Elizabeth Marvelly on 3 December 2007 in New Zealand, and on 31 March 2008 in Australia. The self-titled pop-classical album was produced by

Carl Doy Carl William Doy (born 1947) is a British-born New Zealand pianist, composer and arranger. One of New Zealand's most successful musicians, Doy is probably best known for his multi-platinum selling ''Piano By Candlelight'' albums. Life and care ...

. On the album Marvelly sings songs taken from a range of different genres and includes two original pieces. Her song "When You Are Sad" was reportedly written after a recent case of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...

in her hometown Rotorua shocked the nation. Marvelly's second classical crossover album, ''Home'', was recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Nick Patrick. The album featured the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

and a duet with ''Britain's Got Talent'' winner

Paul Potts Paul Potts (born 13 October 1970) is a British tenor. In 2007, he won the first series of ITV's ''Britain's Got Talent'' with his performance of " Nessun dorma", an aria from Puccini's opera ''Turandot''. As a singer of operatic pop music, P ...

. As it was released on 21 February 2011, one day before the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

, Marvelly announced that she would be donating a portion of record sales to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.

Pop music

In 2012, Marvelly sang as part of

Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords are a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's c ...

supergroup

charity single A charity record, charity album, or charity single is a recording with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. In 1956, The Lord's Taverners released a 78 rpm disc which contained six tracks donated by popular artis ...

" Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)". The song reached number one in the New Zealand charts. In 2013, Marvelly announced that she would be pursuing a pop career, as she had become dissatisfied with her classical crossover career, and also wanted to sing her own compositions. She said, "I just thought music is my life and if it's going to be my life long-term, then it has to be music that I actually love everything about." In January 2014, Marvelly launched her pop career, using the name Lizzie Marvelly. Her first pop single, "Generation Young", was also released in January, with her EP ''Collisions'' released in July, peaking at number 14 on the charts. In August 2015, Marvelly released her first single with New Zealand

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

P-Money Peter Wadams (born 25 February 1978), better known by his stage name P-Money, is a New Zealand DJ and producer. In 2008 P-Money released the single "Everything", which featured the New Zealand R&B singer Vince Harder. The song reached num ...

. Entitled 'Made For You', the song featured in New Zealand hip hop film 'Born To Dance'. In October the same year Marvelly released a remix of 'Made For You' featuring New Zealand

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

K.One.

Live performances

Since 2006, Marvelly has performed in a number of high-profile concerts in New Zealand, supporting artists such as Sir Howard Morrison,

Dame Malvina Major Dame Malvina Lorraine Major (born 28 January 1943) is a New Zealand opera soprano. Early life and family Major was born in Hamilton on 28 January 1943, the daughter of Vincent and Eva Major. She grew up in a large musical family, and as a chil ...

and

Amici Forever Amici Forever is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music ( operatic pop). The band's first album, '' The Opera Band'' (2004), reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States ...

star Geoff Sewell. She also supported

on his New Zealand and Australian tour in 2008, later joining him on further international dates. Marvelly is also well known in New Zealand for her performances singing the New Zealand national anthem at rugby test matches in New Zealand and abroad. She performed the national anthem at the

2011 Rugby World Cup final The 2011 Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby union match between France national rugby union team, France and New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand, to determine the winner of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The match took place on 23 Octobe ...

Social commentary

In May 2015, Marvelly launched ''Villainesse'', a feminist website for young women. In September that year she launched the first ''Villainesse'' project, "#MyBodyMyTerms", a global campaign to spark conversation about sexual violence,

victim-blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as ...

, revenge porn and consent. From January 2016 to April 2020, she wrote a regular column in the ''

'' where she commented on social issues. In a February 2017 column she criticised the conservative Christian lobby group

Family First New Zealand Family First New Zealand is a conservative Christian lobby group in New Zealand. It was founded in March 2006 by former Radio Rhema talkback radio host and South Auckland social-worker Bob McCoskrie, who continues to be its National Director. ...

for opposing

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

individuals for using toilets not reflecting the sex of their birth. In 2015, Marvelly was a finalist of the Wintec Press Club's Best Writer in New Zealand Award.

Career outside music

In July 2020 she was appointed the director of

. She stepped down from this role in December 2021. In 2024 she was appointed head of Girl Guiding New Zealand.

Personal life

In May 2018, Marvelly revealed publicly that she was bisexual. She had earlier come out to friends, then her family, then colleagues. She said that while 'it shouldn't be a big deal' in 2018, it had not been easy. 'I didn't know I was bi until my early 20s. I didn't know if the people I loved would be okay with it. 'I'm a very private person when it comes to my personal life, and I didn't know whether I could deal with the scrutiny of having my sexuality highlighted in the media.' In mid-2021, Marvelly announced with her partner on Instagram that she was pregnant with her first child. Marvelly announced the birth of her daughter on Twitter (now X) in early 2022.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

References

External links

Official website

Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marvelly, Elizabeth 1989 births Living people People educated at King's College, Auckland New Zealand people of Czech descent New Zealand sopranos People from Rotorua New Zealand Māori feminists Te Arawa people New Zealand Māori women singers New Zealand bisexual women Bisexual songwriters Bisexual women singers New Zealand LGBTQ singers 21st-century New Zealand women singers New Zealand women columnists New Zealand LGBTQ songwriters 21st-century New Zealand songwriters 21st-century New Zealand LGBTQ people