Shona Laing

Shona Laing is a New Zealand musician and singer/songwriter. She was born on October 9, 1955, in New Zealand, and had several hits in her home country, as well as a few minor international hits, most notably "(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy" and "Soviet Snow". Laing spent much of her early teens writing and practicing songs at home, commenting on her early songwriting influence, “the thing that made me stop in my tracks and fall in love with music was ‘It’s Too Late’. I became a dedicated Carole King fan.” Shona composed all her own material, she first came to fame in 1972 as a 17-year-old runner-up in the television talent show New Faces with her original song "1905". Known for her insightful lyrics, rich vocal tone, and passionate singing style she was promptly signed to the record label Phonogram, where she released her first album, that year Whispering Afraid, a folk record that spawned two Top Five hits including her debut single "1905" and the follow-up, "Show Your Love,” both certified gold and peaked at number 4 on the New Zealand charts. A third single, "Masquerade," reached number 11. Later that year, Shona entered the Studio One television competition with a song called 'If Only', but failed to place. Laing was awarded two Recording Arts Talent Awards in 1973 for Best New Artist and Recording Artist Of The Year.

Shona was selected to represent New Zealand at the Tokyo Music Festival, in 1973 with the song "Masquerade". At her second visit to the Tokyo Song Festival in 1974, she met Roberto Danova, an Italian producer, he urged her to go to London to further her career. She released one more album with Phonogram, the 1974 Shooting Stars Are Only Seen at Night, before parting ways with the label and relocating to the U.K. In 1975, Laing relocated to Britain and was based there for the next seven years, she continued to perform at folk clubs and recorded an album that was never released. During this time she released a number of singles and an album, Tied to the Tracks (1981) which adopted a more pop/rock-oriented style. She also joined Manfred Mann's Earth Band for two years, Shona had recorded a song called 'Don't Tell Me' which received a lot of airplay in Britain on Radio 1. Manfred heard it and got in touch with her because he wanted to record the song. As a result, she ended up singing for him and during that time learned a lot about synthesizers, sequencers, and similar equipment. She worked alongside English musician Chris Thompson for the album Somewhere in Afrika, Shona is featured prominently on the tracks, 'Eyes of Nostradamus', 'Third World Service and Demolition Man', and on the single 'I Who Have Nothing'. Though Shona left the band before the corresponding tour, in an interview with Manfred, he described Shona as “a great singer with a great voice”.

Laing continued to perform and write throughout the 90s, in 1991 she released a greatest hits album, The compilation 1905-1990: A Retrospective. In 1992 Laing signed to Epic Records and released the grittier work New on Earth, the album behind three Top 40 singles, it reached number four on New Zealand's album chart. After moving to TriStar, her seventh studio LP, 1994's Shona, marked her final appearance in the Top 40. She followed it with the acoustic album Roadworks in 1997. She reached the Top Five of the album chart in her native New Zealand with the more adult-oriented rock of 1992's New on Earth. She eventually settled into an alternative folk sound by her ninth studio album, 2007's Pass the Whisper. Though Laing's recording output slowed, she continued to perform shows in New Zealand. The Essential Shona Laing album was released in 2004, and she returned to her folk roots for 2007's Pass the Whisper, her first original material in over a decade.

Forty years after winning Best New Artist at the New Zealand Music Awards, she received their Legacy Award in 2013. Laing was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame as the Legacy Award recipient at the 2013 New Zealand Music Awards in November 2013.