She was born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 13 January, 1976. Her mother, Sophia, was a lounge singer in Malaysia when she met Joseph Runga, a Maori soldier on leave from Vietnam. They both then moved to New Zealand to live.
She grew up in a musical family, and started recording songs with her sisters when she was only four years old. This musical influence eventually led to the release of her album Drive in 1998. She proved herself to be a talented singer and songwriter. She moved to New York for a while, but then decided to move back to New Zealand, and now lives in Auckland. In 2000 she toured with Tim Finn and Dave Dobbyn and a live album of the tour (Together in concert) was released.
She released her second solo album Beautiful Collision in 2003, and this became the best selling album ever in New Zealand.
External links