Kaylee Bell is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. In 2013, she won the Toyota Star Maker award in Australia making her the first New Zealand-born artist to win since

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban ( né Urbahn; 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves Int ...

in 1990. Bell is currently the 'Most Streamed Female Country Artist' in Australasia. Bell opened for

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

on his World Tour NZ show late 2022,

Kane Brown Kane Allen Brown (born October 21, 1993) is an American country music singer and songwriter. First garnering a mass following on social media, he released his debut extended play (EP) ''Closer (Kane Brown EP), Closer'' in June 2015, and followe ...

on his Australia and NZ Arena Tour November 2024 and was support act for

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

on his Mathematics World Stadium Tour in 2023. Bell shot to fame on The Voice Australia performing her hit single ‘ Keith’ to superstar coach

. The song went on to reach #12 on the US Billboard chart and was a certified Gold record in Australia and New Zealand.

Career

Bell was born in Waimate in

Canterbury, New Zealand Canterbury () is a Regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in it ...

and began singing at the age of four. She attended Craighead Diocesan School in

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

. Bell won the NZ Gold Guitar Award at age 18 and moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

four years later to pursue a career in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. In 2013, she won the prestigious Toyota Star Maker award, which led to her releasing the single "Pieces" with fellow Australasian, Jared Porter. The song received substantial airplay in Australia and earned the duo an

APRA Award The APRA Music Awards in Australia celebrate excellence in contemporary music, honoring songwriters and publishers who have achieved artistic excellence and outstanding success in their fields. Several award ceremonies are run in Australia b ...

for Best Country Music Song at the 2015 APRA Silver Scroll Awards and the overall grand prize at the US Unsigned Only Competition, marking the first time a non-American had won the latter award. Bell independently released her debut studio album, ''Heart First'', in 2013 that included her first solo single of the same name. ''Heart First'' won Best Country Album at the 2014 New Zealand Music Awards. In 2016 Bell released her breakout single "Getting Closer" a break-up anthem written with Morgan Evans, that charted on the New Zealand Heatseekers singles chart. Bell started reaching career highs on the Australia country music charts with the release of her singles "One More Shot", "Who I Am", "Keith", and "Wasted on You" in 2018 and 2019; these songs and "Getting Closer" were later repackaged as ''The Red EP'' in 2021. Bell's tribute to Keith Urban, 'Keith' went to #1 on The Music Network Country Chart where it spent 25 weeks on the chart. Three further one-off singles were released in 2020: "Light On", "Home", and "Be With You". In 2021, Bell released three collaborative singles "That Summer" with Josh Mirenda or Lepnani, "Before I Met You" with The McClymonts, and "Living Free" with Lindsay Ell, and announced that her second studio album, ''Silver Linings'', would be released November 26, 2021. 'That Summer' featuring Kiwi Pop Artist Lepani had crossover success at NZ mainstream radio in 2021 being 'the most added single to radio' for the month of May on hard hitters ZM, More Fm and The Hits.' Bell was chosen as the face for Spotify's EQUAL global programme for Female Artists in Music where she was featured on a billboard in Times Square, New York, USA. In 2022, she auditioned for '' The Voice Australia'' and all four coaches turned for her. After

was blocked, she chose to join

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...

's team. She was eliminated in the battle rounds. In June 2023, Bell became the first independent Australasian female country singer to receive a gold certified single or EP, with ''The Red EP''. Bell's third studio album ''Nights Like This'' was released in March 2024.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Notes

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. ! , - , scope="row" rowspan="1",

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, rowspan="1", "Same Songs" (with James Johnson) , rowspan="1", Most Performed Country Work of the Year , , rowspan="1", , - , scope="row" rowspan="1",

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, rowspan="1", "Good Things" , rowspan="1", Most Performed Country Work of the Year , , rowspan="1", , -

Country Music Awards of Australia

The Country Music Awards of Australia is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They commenced in 1973. ! , - , rowspan="1", 2022 , (unknown) , (unknown) , , rowspan="1", , - , rowspan="3", 2023 , , "Small Town" (with James Johnston) , , Vocal Collaboration of the Year , , , , rowspan="3", , - , rowspan="2", ''Silver Linings'' , , Contemporary Country Album of the Year , , , - , Album of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2", 2024 , , "Boots 'n' All"
(directed by Shae Sterling) , , Video of the Year , , , , rowspan="2", , - , Kaylee Bell , , Female Artist of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2", 2025 , , Kaylee Bell , , Female Artist of the Year , , , , rowspan="2", , - , "Beer in a Bar" (with The Wolfe Brothers) , , Vocal Collaboration of the Year , , , -

Country Music Association Awards

The Country Music Association Awards (CMA) are an annual American awards show honouring the best in country music. Bell has received two nominations. , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, rowspan=2, Kaylee Bell , rowspan=2, Global Country Artist Award , , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Tamworth Songwriters Awards

The Tamworth Songwriters Association (TSA) is an annual songwriting contest for original country songs, awarded in January at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. They commenced in 1986. Kaylee Bell has won one award. , - , 2010 , "The Seed" by Kaylee Bell and Lance Coassin , Amateur Contemporary Award , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Kaylee Living people APRA Award winners New Zealand country singers New Zealand women country singers People from Waimate 21st-century New Zealand women singers Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Craighead Diocesan School