With insightful lyrics, a rich vocal tone, and a passionate singing style, Shona Laing scored folk successes in the 1970s with “1905” and new-wave traction in the 1980s via “Glad I’m Not a Kennedy,” then reached the New Zealand album chart’s upper reaches in 1992 with the adult-oriented rock of New on Earth. By her ninth studio release, 2007’s Pass the Whisper, she had shifted toward an alternative-folk approach. Four decades after claiming Best New Artist honors at the New Zealand Music Awards, she received the organization’s Legacy Award in 2013.
Laing entered the world in 1955 and, as a teenager, finished second on the New Zealand television talent show New Faces, an outcome that secured a 1972 contract with Phonogram. Her debut album, Whispering Afraid, issued that same year, introduced two Top Five singles—first “1905,” then “Show Your Love”—while a third 45, “Masquerade,” peaked at number 11. Those achievements earned her the New Zealand Music Awards for Best New Artist and Recording Artist of the Year in 1973. She delivered one additional Phonogram project, 1974’s Shooting Stars Are Only Seen at Night, before leaving the label and moving to the United Kingdom.
While based in England she played folk-club dates and completed an album that remained unreleased. A pivot toward pop and rock yielded the 1981 EMI set Tied to the Tracks. Manfred Mann soon took notice, inviting her to perform with his Earth Band for roughly two years; that association included her contribution to the group’s 1983 album Somewhere in Afrika.
Laing returned to New Zealand in 1985, the year she supplied vocals for the film Shaker Run and issued her fourth album, the synth-driven Genre. Although Genre failed to chart, it contained “Glad I’m Not a Kennedy,” a track later included on 1987’s South. The synth-pop single climbed to number two at home, appeared on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart, earned a New Zealand Music Award nomination for Single of the Year, and brought Laing the Best Female Vocalist prize. Follow-up “Soviet Snow” gained MTV exposure and registered on the U.S. dance chart. In 1988 South received an Album of the Year nomination while Laing again won Best Female Vocalist.
The 1991 compilation 1905-1990: A Retrospective preceded her Epic debut, the grittier New on Earth, which reached number four on the New Zealand album chart on the strength of three Top 40 singles. After signing with TriStar she released her seventh studio album, 1994’s Shona, her last Top 40 entry; Roadworks, an acoustic collection, followed in 1997.
Although new recordings became less frequent, Laing maintained a live presence across New Zealand. The Essential Shona Laing appeared in 2004, and she revisited her folk origins with Pass the Whisper in 2007—the first collection of original material in more than ten years—then embarked on a winery concert tour nationwide. In 2013 the five-time New Zealand Music Award recipient was presented with the Legacy Award.
