Shona Laing (born 9 October 1955) is a New Zealand musician. She was raised in Eastbourne, a suburb of

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

, and was a student at Hutt Valley High School when her musical talents first came to public notice. Laing had several folk hits in her native country and in the 1980s became internationally popular for her alternative music, most notably " (Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy" and "Soviet Snow" which was based on the Chernobyl disaster. Various alternative radio stations in the US such as WLIR played songs from her "

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

" album and she became internationally known. Laing contributed to

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

album '' Somewhere in Afrika'' and contributed music to, and appeared in, the 1985 action film '' Shaker Run''.

Musical career

Laing first came to prominence in 1972 as a 17-year-old schoolgirl, coming runner-up in the television talent show '' New Faces'' with her song "1905". She signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with Phonogram. Her first two singles, "1905" and "Show Your Love" were both certified gold and each peaked at number 4 on the New Zealand charts. In 1973, she won two RATA awards: Best New Artist and Recording Artist Of The Year. Laing twice represented New Zealand at the Tokyo Music Festival, in 1973 (with the song "Masquerade") and 1974. In 1975, she relocated to Britain and was based there for the next seven years during which time she released a number of singles and an album, ''Tied to the Tracks'' in 1981. She joined

for two years, working alongside English musician Chris Thompson for the album '' Somewhere in Afrika''. Laing returned to New Zealand in 1983, and released her album ''Genre'' two years later, in 1985. The song " (Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy" eventually charted in Australia, and was re-released as part of her next album, ''

''. The song reached No. 2 on the NZ Singles Chart in August 1987. Laing won the APRA Silver Scroll in 1988 for "Soviet Snow" and in 1992 for "Mercy of Love". Laing was 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 ...

as the Legacy Award recipient at the

2013 New Zealand Music Awards The 2013 New Zealand Music Awards is the 48th holding of the annual ceremony featuring awards for musical recording artists based in or originating from New Zealand. The main awards event will be held on 21 November 2013 at Vector Arena, Auckl ...

in November 2013.

Personal life

During a concert on 18 July 1996, Laing said she was

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

and in a relationship with another woman.

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Awards

New Zealand Music Awards

, - , 1973 , Shona Laing , Recording Artist of the Year , , - , 1973 , Shona Laing , Best New Artist , , - , 1985 , Shona Laing – ''Genre'' , Album of the Year , , - , 1987 , "Glad I'm Not a Kennedy" – Shona Laing , Single of the Year , , - , 1987 , Shona Laing , Best Female Vocalist , , - , 1987 , Shona Laing , International Achievement , , - , 1987 , Kerry Brown and Bruce Sheridan – "Glad I'm Not a Kennedy" (Shona Laing) , Best Video , , - , 1987 , Shona Laing , Best Songwriter , , - , 1988 , Shona Laing – ''South'' , Album of the Year , , - , 1988 , Shona Laing , Best Female Vocalist , , - , 1988 , Shona Laing , International Achievement , , - , 1988 , Stephen McCurdy, Shona Laing and Graeme Myhre – "South" , Best Producer , , - , 1994 , Shona Laing , Best Female Vocalist , , - , 1995 , Shona Laing – ''Shona'' , Album of the Year , , - , 2013 , Shona Laing ,

References

External links

AudioCulture profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laing, Shona 1955 births Living people APRA Award winners Bisexual women singers Bisexual singer-songwriters Women new wave singers New Zealand women singer-songwriters 21st-century New Zealand singer-songwriters 20th-century New Zealand singer-songwriters 21st-century New Zealand women singers 20th-century New Zealand women singers New Zealand new wave musicians New Zealand women pop singers New Zealand LGBTQ singer-songwriters Manfred Mann's Earth Band members New Zealand women in electronic music 20th-century New Zealand LGBTQ people 21st-century New Zealand LGBTQ people Vertigo Records artists Philips Records artists EMI Records artists Virgin Records artists TVT Records artists Columbia Records artists Epic Records artists