Kimbra

Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter.

Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and seven New Zealand Music Awards.

Her musical influences range from Prince and Minnie Riperton to Björk and Jeff Buckley.

Kimbra Lee Johnson was born on 27 March 1990 and grew up in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Her father, Ken Johnson, was the head doctor at the University of Waikato's student health centre, and her mother Chris was an orthopaedic nurse.

At the age of 10, Kimbra began writing songs.

When she was 12, her father bought her a guitar and after a few years of lessons, she was on stage, performing with her guitar tutors.

Early public performances by Kimbra included singing at the Waikato Times Gold Cup race meeting in 2000 as a 10-year-old and singing the New Zealand national anthem before 27,000 people at the 2002 NPC rugby union final.

Kimbra attended Hillcrest High School, competing in the national schools' musical competition Rockquest for three years running, where she was awarded second place in 2004 at the age of 14.

An early recording of hers from 2004, "It Takes Time" was featured by Play It Strange, a New Zealand organization showcasing young singers and songwriters.

Kimbra made her first music video, "Smile", for the children's TV show What Now.

Kimbra was a member of the Hillcrest High jazz choir, Scat.

In 2007, after winning the Juice TV award for Best Breakthrough music video for her second single "Simply on My Lips", she came to the attention of ex-Independiente Records boss Mark Richardson (Jamiroquai, Paula Abdul) and his newly formed management company and independent label Forum 5 in Melbourne, Victoria.

She signed with Richardson and in 2008 she moved to Melbourne.

In June 2010, Kimbra's first single on Forum 5, "Settle Down", was released.

She had started writing the track four years earlier – it was finished with François Tétaz.

The music video was directed by Guy Franklin.

Perez Hilton featured the track on his website citing "[i]f you like Nina Simone, Florence & the Machine and/or Björk, then we think you will enjoy Kimbra – her music reminds us of all those fierce ladies!"

On 10 December, the Australian 'indietronica' group Miami Horror released their single, "I Look to You" featuring Kimbra's vocals.

Kimbra also stars in its music video, which features wide-angle and kaleidoscope shots of her in face paint and dresses walking through golden fields.

Kimbra's debut album, Vows, was released in Australia in 2011.

Singles from the album include "Settle Down", "Cameo Lover" (which won an Australian Recording Industry Association Award), "Good Intent" and "Two Way Street".

She was featured on the 2011 multi-platinum single "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye, which became her first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and earned them two awards at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, including for Record of the Year, making her the third New Zealand singer to win a Grammy Award.

Early in 2011, Kimbra's song "Cameo Lover" was a finalist for the 2011 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition and eventually won the competition.

In March she issued "Cameo Lover" as her next single, its music video was released in April and was directed by Franklin.

On 13 March, Kimbra went to perform for Moomba Festival and ChillOut Festival in Sydney at Oxford Arts Factory to welcome the release of her next single, "Cameo Lover".

On 15 July 2011, "Cameo Lover" won the songwriting competition, ahead of third placed song, "Somebody That I Used to Know", written by Australian musician Gotye.

On 7 June Kimbra signed to Warner Bros. Records New Zealand for distribution in New Zealand and Australia, as well as a worldwide deal for other territories with Warner Bros. Records in the US.

On 5 July Kimbra sang in Gotye's single, "Somebody That I Used to Know", which was mixed by Tétaz.

Tétaz had recommended Kimbra to Gotye after a 'high-profile' Australian female vocalist had withdrawn from the collaboration.

On 29 August 2011, Kimbra's debut album, Vows, was released in New Zealand and 2 September in Australia.

In its first week of release it charted at No. 3 in New Zealand, No. 5 in Australia and No. 14 in the US.

A reworked version of the album was released in Europe and the United States in 2012.

It featured several new songs, including "Come into My Head", "Warrior" (on which Kimbra was joined by musicians Mark Foster from Foster the People and DJ A-Trak), and a cover of Nina Simone's "Plain Gold Ring".

Vows reached the top 5 in New Zealand and Australia.

In May 2012, the album was released in North America, debuting at number 14 on the Billboard 200, her highest-charting album.

Vincent Fantauzzo's portrait of Kimbra was a finalist for the 2012 Archibald Prize.

The portrait was painted in conjunction with the making of a video featuring her song "The Build Up".

Her second studio album, The Golden Echo, was released in 2014 to positive critical reception, and her third album, Primal Heart, was released in 2018.

Her fourth album, A Reckoning, was released on 27 January 2023.