2026 Aotearoa Music Awards

2026 Aotearoa Music Awards
2026 Aotearoa Music Awards
	The stage at the 2024 awards ceremony
Awarded for	Excellence in New Zealand music
Date	28 May 2026
Location	Civic Theatre
Presented by	Recorded Music NZ
Reward	Tūī trophy
Website	Official website
Television/radio coverage
Network	Radio NZ
	← 2025 · Aotearoa Music Awards · 2027 →

The 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards is the annual ceremony featuring awards for New Zealand music recording artists. The ceremony took take place on 28 May 2026 at the Civic Theatre in Auckland.^[1]

The award were streamed live by Radio New Zealand.^[2]

Nominees and winners

The finalists for the awards were announced on 16 April 2026.^[3]^[4] Marlon Williams, who lead the nominations with seven,^[2] won three awards on the night, and made history when Te Whare Tīwekaweka became the first entirely te reo Māori album to win Album of the Year.^[5]

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).^[6]

Album of the Year Te Tino Pukaemi o te Tau	Single of the Year Te Tino Waiata Tōtahi o te Tau
Marlon Williams – Te Whare Tīwekaweka‡ Geneva AM – Pikipiki Kaylee Bell – Cowboy Up Ladi6 – Le Vā Lorde – Virgin MĀ – Blame it on the Weather Mokomokai – PONO Reb Fountain – How Love Bends Tami Neilson – Neon Cowgirl The Beths – Straight Line Was a Lie Tom Scott – ANITYA Troy Kingi – Troy Kingi Presents: Night Lords	Marlon Williams – "Aua Atu Rā"‡ Alien Weaponry – "Mau Moko" Fazerdaze – "Motorway" Hori Shaw, Te Wehi – "Ready To Ride" Ladi6 – "LightBulb" Lorde – "What Was That" Paige – "twenties" Tami Neilson – "Neon Cowgirl" (feat. Neil Finn) The Beths – "Metal" The Phoenix Foundation – "Vampire Class" There's A Tuesday – "Margo" Tom Scott – "till then"
Best Solo Artist Te Tino Reo o te Tau	Best Group Te Tino Kāhui Manu Taki o te Tau
Marlon Williams – Te Whare Tīwekaweka‡ Geneva AM – Pikipiki Ladi6 – Le Vā Lorde – Virgin Tami Neilson – Neon Cowgirl Tom Scott – ANITYA	The Beths – Straight Line Was A Lie‡ Alien Weaponry – Te Rā Dick Move – Dream, Believe, Achieve Mokomokai – PONO Phoebe Rings – Aseurai Ringlets – The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies)
International Achievement Tohu Tutuki o te Ao	Te Manu Mātarae
Lorde‡	Balu Brigada‡
Best Māori Artist Te Manu Taki Māori o te Tau	Mana Reo Te Māngai Pāho Mana Reo
TAWAZ – various‡ Hori Shaw – various MĀ – Blame It On The Weather Marlon Williams – Te Whare Tīwekaweka Te Wehi – various	Stan Walker – "Mō Āke Tonu" (feat. Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke)‡ Hamo Dell – "Tā Roha" Marlon Williams – "Te Whare Tīwekaweka" MOHI – "Ka Rea" (feat. Pare) Nikau Grace – "He Aha Te Aha" (feat. Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue) Rob Ruha, Troy Kingi, Kaylee Bell – "Matariki Hunga Nui"
Breakthrough Artist of the Year Te Iti Rearea o te Tau	Best Alternative Artist Te Manu Taki Whanokē o te Tau
Te Wehi‡	MĀ – Blame It On The Weather‡ Grecco Romank – Arts Colony Phoebe Rings – Aseurai
Best Classical Artist Te Manu Taki Tuauki o te Tau	Best Country Artist Te Manu Taki Tuawhenua o te Tau
Michael Norris – Rerenga‡ Jade String Quartet, Anthony Ritchie – Melencolia Moth Quartet – Tundra	Tami Neilson – Neon Cowgirl‡ Jenny Mitchell – Forest House Kaylee Bell – Cowboy Up
Best Electronic Artist Te Manu Taki Tāhiko o te Tau	Best Folk Artist Te Manu Taki Ahurea o te Tau
Caru, Brandn Shiraz – Back 2 Back‡ Geneva AM – Pikipiki Sanoi – Augenblick: Side A	Ny Oh – Wildwood‡ Mel Parsons – various Nadia Reid – Enter Now Brightness
Best Hip Hop Artist Te Manu Taki Ātete o te Tau	Best Jazz Artist (Te Kaipuoro Tautito Toa)
Mokomai – PONO‡ Diggy Dupé, choicevaughan – Brown Velvet Troy Kingi – Troy Kingi Presents: Night Lords	Louisa Williamson – Groundwork‡ Clear Path Ensemble – Black Sand Darren Pickering Small Worlds – Three
Best Pop Artist Te Manu Taki Arotini o te Tau	Best Rock / Metal Artist Te Manu Taki Rakapioi / Rakatū Pāorooro o te Tau
Lorde – Virgin‡ Benee – Ur an Angel I'm Just Particles Borderline – Chrysalis	Alien Weaponry – Te Rā‡ Beastwars – The Ship // The Sea Dick Move – Dream, Believe, Achieve
Best Roots Artist Te Manu Taki Taketake o te Tau	Best Soul / RnB Artist Te Manu Taki Manako o te Tau
Te Wehi – various‡ Hori Shaw – various Three Houses Down – Lovers Roots	Tom Scott – ANITYA‡ A.R.T – Blank Canvas Sam V – Take A Chance On V: Deluxe

Artisan awards

Best Album Artwork Te Taumata o te Toi	Best Music Video Content Te Taumata o te Ataata
*Nick Keller – The Ship // The Sea* (Beastwars)*‡ Elliot O'Donnell, Jamie Robertson – New Tomorrows* (Sola Rosa) Laura Williams – ANITYA (Tom Scott)	Stella Reid – "Scared Old Men" (Dick Move)‡ Stan Walker, Abe Mora – "Mō Āke Tonu" (Stan Walker feat. Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke) Tom Grut – "Ed’s Sun" (Aidan Fine)
Best Producer Te Taumata o te Kaiwhakaputa	Best Engineer Te Taumata o te Pūkenga Oro
*Ben Lawson – ANITYA* (Tom Scott)*‡ Leroy Clampitt – various (Lily Allen) Marlon Williams, Mark Perkins – Te Whare Tīwekaweka* (Marlon Williams)	*Mark Perkins – Te Whare Tīwekaweka* (Marlon Williams)*‡ Ben Lawson – ANITYA* (Tom Scott) James Goldsmith – The Ship // The Sea (Beastwars)

Other awards

Highest Selling Artist Te Taumata o te Hokona	Radio Airplay Record of the Year Te Taumata o te Horapa
Six60‡	Riiki Reid – "Over Romantic"‡
People's Choice Tā te Iwi	Aotearoa Charts Icon
Borderline‡	Fat Freddy's Drop‡
New Zealand Music Hall of Fame Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa
Ché Fu‡

References

^ "Marlon Williams, Lorde, Tami Neilson: Aotearoa Music Awards 2026 finalists revealed". RNZ. 16 April 2026. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
^ ^a ^b Hageman, Mitchell (16 April 2026). "Marlon Williams tops Aotearoa Music Awards nominations ahead of farewell tour". NZ Herald. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
^ "Presenting the finalists for the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards". Aotearoa Music Awards. 16 April 2026. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
^ "2026 Tūī finalists". Aotearoa Music Awards. 16 April 2026. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
^ Emhail, Isra'a (28 May 2026), "Marlon Williams makes history at Aotearoa Music Awards before hiatus", RNZ, retrieved 28 May 2026
^ Lochrie, Conor (28 May 2026), "2026 Aotearoa Music Awards: Check Out the Full Winners List", Rolling Stone Australia, retrieved 28 May 2026

External links

Official website

[1] "Marlon Williams, Lorde, Tami Neilson: Aotearoa Music Awards 2026 finalists revealed". RNZ. 16 April 2026. Retrieved 16 April 2026.

[Hageman-2] Hageman, Mitchell (16 April 2026). "Marlon Williams tops Aotearoa Music Awards nominations ahead of farewell tour". NZ Herald. Retrieved 16 April 2026.

[finalists-3] "Presenting the finalists for the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards". Aotearoa Music Awards. 16 April 2026. Retrieved 16 April 2026.

[4] "2026 Tūī finalists". Aotearoa Music Awards. 16 April 2026. Retrieved 16 April 2026.

[5] Emhail, Isra'a (28 May 2026), "Marlon Williams makes history at Aotearoa Music Awards before hiatus", RNZ, retrieved 28 May 2026

[6] Lochrie, Conor (28 May 2026), "2026 Aotearoa Music Awards: Check Out the Full Winners List", Rolling Stone Australia, retrieved 28 May 2026

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