Stellar (stylised stellar*) is a New Zealand

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band led by vocalist

Boh Runga Boh Runga (born 14 March 1970) is a New Zealand recording artist and was the lead singer and guitarist in New Zealand rock band Stellar. Boh is the older sister of Bic Runga and Pearl Runga who are also musicians. Early life Runga was born ...

, sister of acclaimed recording artist

Bic Runga Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976), recording as Bic Runga, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist pop artist. Her first three studio albums debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40 Album charts. Runga ...

. They have had four

RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

top 10 singles (the highest being " Every Girl" at 3) and two No. 1 albums. The band's signature song is "

Violent Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

", which at the 2000

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 ...

won the Single of the Year award, as well as winning Runga an award for best Songwriter. The band won seven awards, among them the Best Album award for their debut, '' Mix''. This was followed up by 2001's '' Magic Line'' and 2006's '' Something Like Strangers''. The band officially disbanded in 2010 after releasing their greatest hits compilation, and reformed in 2017.

Formation

In 1992, musicians

and Andrew Maclaren moved to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

from

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and recorded the single "Ride" with guitarist Joel Haines. The song featured in the short film ''Headlong'' by Simon Raby, but the collaboration with Joel Haines did not last. 1994 to 1995 saw Runga and Maclaren recruit guitarist Simon McCormack, followed by bass player Kurt Shanks to form a four-piece, at that time the name Stellar was chosen and the first line up of the band began writing, recording and gigging around Auckland. Simon McCormack left the band in 1997 and was replaced by a series of guitar players including Derek Solomon before Chris Van de Geer, who had worked as sound engineer on some of the band's demos, took over. In 1998 the band signed on with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

music NZ, later that year they released their first commercial single "

What You Do (Bastard) "What You Do (Bastard)" is New Zealand band Stellar*'s second single, and their first single from their debut album Mix. The single includes two remixes of the title track. It reached number 17 on RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Reco ...

". 1999 saw their first album release '' Mix'', then the second-highest selling NZ album ever. The album was produced by ex-

Thompson Twins Thompson Twins were an English Pop music, pop band, formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the early and mid-1980s, scori ...

singer Tom Bailey. ''Mix'' would go on to gain Stellar numerous accolades at New Zealand's 2000 Tui awards. It was also released in Australia, and resulted in Stellar being a tour support for

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

and

Garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

. An extended version of ''Mix'' was also released, which featured a CD-ROM of three of their music videos. In 2001 a follow-up album was released, '' Magic Line'', a far more pop-rock based album than their first. After the release of four singles between 2001 and 2003, the band took an extended break due to different band members' solo projects before reforming. 2006 saw the release of their third album '' Something Like Strangers'', producing the singles " Whiplash" and " For a While", the latter featuring Andy Lovegrove of the band

Breaks Co-Op Breaks Co-Op is a New Zealand band, formed in 1997, initially recorded with Deepgrooves Entertainment and more recently with EMI. Band The band members are Andy Lovegrove, Zane Lowe, and Hamish Clark (musician), Hamish Clark. Lowe had collab ...

. The band then returned to their solo projects before reuniting for one last time in October 2010 for the release of ''The Best of Stellar*''. The band recently reformed in 2017, playing a cover of

Sharon O'Neill Sharon Lea O'Neill (born 23 November 1952) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and pianist, who had an Australasian hit single in 1983 with "Maxine (Sharon O'Neill song), Maxine" which reached No. 16 on both the Australian Kent Music Report and Re ...

's 1983 single'' "Maxine''" at the New Zealand Music Awards that same year. Since then, Stellar have been playing in gigs such as the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival in 2019, and the Peachy Keen music festival in 2021. In 2025, the band toured New Zealand, celebrating the 25th anniversary of their album Mix to sold out shows. The show saw the band playing Mix from back to front, as well as encore signature songs such as All it Takes and One More Day.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official site
(Currently inactive)

hijacked domain, no longer owned by Bic Runga as of 2014-06-08 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stellar APRA Award winners New Zealand pop music groups New Zealand pop rock groups Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 2010