Alex Casey recaps the highlights of the Aotearoa Music Awards 2026, including a standing ovation for Lynda Topp and Stan Walker\u2019s toilet snafu.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last night the Civic Theatre in T\u0101maki Makaurau hosted the 61st Aotearoa Music Awards, a celebration of the last year in local music to cap off the end of Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa, New Zealand Music Month. Hosted by RNZ\u2019s Kara Rickard and comedian Tom Sainsbury, the evening had all manner of glittering stars present including Suzy Cato, Troy Kingi and Erin Simpson, and I\u2019m told by a veteran attendee that it was easily \u201cthe most emo\/special ever\u201d. Here are some of the moments that made it so.<\/p>\n
Lynda Topp unleashed a blistering battle cry\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last night will likely be remembered for an electric seven-minute speech from Dame Lynda Topp, delivered less than a week after her twin sister Jools passed away from cancer. Following an ensemble tribute performance of \u2018Untouchable Girls\u2019 from the likes of Tami Neilson, Reb Fountain and Kaylee Bell, Topp took the stage in dark glasses to the first of several standing ovations. \u201cIts going to be hard to say a few words to you all,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve cried for a whole week, and a year before that, and another year to come.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reflecting on 40 years of performing alongside her sister, without a single rehearsal between them, Topp emphasised the importance of keeping local live music venues alive and providing better funding for young artists. \u201cWe need support for artists in this country. We need a government that says the arts is more important than a defence budget,\u201d she said, referencing the $27m cut to the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage and the $1.6bn boost to defence announced in the budget yesterday. \u201cWhat the fuck?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lynda Topp speaks at the AMAs. Photo: Stijl \/ Emma Beavis<\/p>\n
\u201cI see young artists struggling not because they\u2019ve got a gig on Friday night, but because they are trying to put through some crazy motherfucking arts submission to get a few lousy dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued. \u201cIf someone invades Aotearoa, what are we going to do? We\u2019ve got three tanks and two of them are set in concrete in Waiouru.\u201d Directing a message straight to \u201cMr Goldstein\u201d [Paul Goldsmith, in attendance], Topp then laid down a rousing battle cry. \u201cYou give it [the $1.6 billion] to us. You put Alien Weaponry up the front and you put Dick Move right in beside them, and you put Hori Shaw on a horse in behind them and I\u2019m going to be at the top of the hill \u2013 ain\u2019t nobody going to get through us baby!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone appeared to be up and down out of their seats like whack-a-moles throughout the searing speech, where Topp closed out with this: \u201cTonight, in honour of my beautiful twin sister who I will never ever ever stop missing \u2013 be strong, never give up, play your instrument loud and sing at the top of your lungs. Remember that music makes us human.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But wait, there was more<\/p>\n
That was not the the only reference to the government over the course of the night. Paying her own tribute to Jools Topp, Tami Neilson thanked the Topp Twins for \u201ctheir activism, their fearlessness and their deep sense of justice\u201d over their careers. \u201cWhat would they say about some Temu MAGA definition of a man and a woman?\u201d she pondered, referencing NZ First\u2019s recent bill. \u201cQueer, trans and non-binary people have existed since the dawn of time, so love your neighbour as you love yourself, and mind your own damn business,\u201d Neilson concluded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tami Neilson (Photo: Stijl \/ Emma Beavis)<\/p>\n
Later on in the evening M\u0100, who won best alternative artist, also shouted out the coalition government during her live performance of \u2018TrapsJam\u2019. \u201cLuxon, what you doing brother? Seymour, what you doing bruv? Winston, what you doin\u2019?\u201d she sang. \u201cWhat you doin\u2019? Where you taking me? Where you taking us? Where you taking me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marlon Williams cleaned house<\/p>\n
Taking out album of the year for Te Whare T\u012bwekaweka, single of the year for \u2018Aua Atu T\u0101\u2019 and best solo artist, it was a very good night for Marlon Williams and his very good embroidered suit. He appeared visibly emotional as the kapa haka roopu from Te Kura Kaupapa o Hoani Waititi Marae honoured him during the final prize of the night. \u201cI\u2019m absolutely humbled by what a beautiful night this has been,\u201d he said. \u201cI was already fucked before that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marlon Williams accepts one of many awards. Photo: Stijl \/ Emma Beavis<\/p>\n
Acknowledging Lynda Topp for \u201cspeaking in the wake of your grief\u201d, Williams also brought out his band the Yarra Benders and yarned about the importance of going on tour. \u201cLive music is the way, it\u2019s the one,\u201d he said. With so many te reo M\u0101ori artists winning awards and performing over the course of the evening, from Alien Weaponry to TAWAZ, and his own album Te Whare T\u012bwekaweka the first te reo M\u0101ori album to debut at #1, he acknowledged the rise not as a trend, but as how things should be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not M\u0101ori music having its day,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is just a day in M\u0101ori music.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lorde beamed in from Cushion Town<\/p>\n
Accepting two awards for best pop artist and best international achievement, it certainly looks like someone has upgraded from \u201ca chair and a bed\u201d if you know what I mean.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
No lectern, but so many phones<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can tell they got no funding for arts because they cut the podium out,\u201d joked Tom Scott while picking up the award for best soul\/RnB album for Anitya. Earlier that night, Marlon Williams too had struggled with the lack of furnishings for award winners. \u201cWhere\u2019s my lectern,\u201d he begged. \u201cWhere do I put my phone?!\u201d The answer, as artists proved time and time again, was to simply hold their phone up to the heavens and read from the Notes app as if it were an ancient scroll. Sign of the times? Yes. Hate it? Yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fat Freddy\u2019s Drop became Aotearoa chart icons<\/p>\n
And the award was presented to them by promoter Brett Eccles, dressed up as what can only be described as Colonel Sanders going to the gym.<\/p>\n
In the words of Lorde, what was that?<\/p>\n
The hosts had just one (!) outfit change<\/p>\n
Speaking of outfits, there is no stronger indication that we are in economic hell than the reduction in host outfit changes from FOUR last year to just ONE this year. After half time, Kara Rickard swapped her luxe purple gown for a sheer bedazzled number, and Tom Sainsbury exchanged his glittering badges for an exquisite corsage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
M\u0100 summed up being \u2018alternative\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAlternative feels pretty crack up,\u201d said the winner of best alternative artist. \u201cIt feels like what I\u2019m like when I go to Christmas with my family \u2013 I\u2019m that cousin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Te Wehi kept things short and sweet<\/p>\n
Te Wehi preferred to let his sublime cowboy hat do the talking when he won best roots album. \u201cThis is crazy wh\u0101nau, out of it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnyone you forgot?\u201d asked Rickard. \u201cYour mum?\u201d \u201cNah, she\u2019s alright,\u201d replied Te Wihi. \u201cShe knows.\u201d Taking the stage again to accept best breakthrough artist, Te Wehi decided to add a few more people to his thank you list. \u201cShout out to my brother Hori Shaw, thank you to my beautiful wife and thank you to my mum, I love you.\u201d My cowboy hat is off.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Riiki Reid put on a pop extravaganza<\/p>\n
There were so many memorable live performances throughout the night from Geneva AM and Great South joining Tom Scott to Dick Move screaming in the face of old men, but nobody turned it out quite like Rikki Reid, who won radio airplay record of the year for \u2018Over Romantic\u2019 earlier in the night. Storming the Civic stage with an enormous dance troupe in tiny tops and big ol\u2019 jeans, it was a moment of choreographed Y2K-inspired pop perfection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stan Walker had a toilet snafu<\/p>\n
Another perfect live moment came when Stan Walker won the mana reo award, just as he had left to use the bog. With his wife Lou Tyson taking the stage on his behalf \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m going to kill him when we get home\u201d \u2013 Walker came running back through the stalls and onto the stage, utterly breathless. <\/p>\n
More like Stan Runner!<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know what this is for,\u201d he laughed, soon misunderstanding it to be best M\u0101ori artist. \u201cThere\u2019s no best M\u0101ori artist, every M\u0101ori is the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry I\u2019m out of breath,\u201d he added. \u201cI just finished having a shet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Che Fu closed out the night<\/p>\n
Newly-minted hall-of-fame inductee Che Fu topped off festivities with a medley of his hits. Blasting through \u2018Chains\u2019 and \u2018Fade Away\u2019, complete with a Niuean takalo\u00a0and a bit of record scratching to boot, he then glided into \u2018Misty Frequencies\u2019. I was reminded of something John Campbell observed on RNZ earlier that day: is there a more soothing opening to any song ever than \u201clocal boy, neighbourhood, easy as the breeze in springtime\u201d? It was the ideal way to end a night positively brimming with legacy, laughter, and something that felt a lot like hope.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Casey recaps the highlights of the Aotearoa Music Awards 2026, including a standing ovation for Lynda Topp…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[228962,156,32586,79690,111,139,69,49184,1066,229313],"class_list":["post-450521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-aotearoa-music-awards","tag-entertainment","tag-lorde","tag-marlon-williams","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-nz-music","tag-pop-culture","tag-stan-walker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}