Bret McKenzie

Bret McKenzie
McKenzie at the Muppets Most Wanted premiere on 11 March 2014
McKenzie at the Muppets Most Wanted premiere on 11 March 2014
Background information
Birth nameBret Peter Tarrant McKenzie
Also known asRhymenoceros
Born (1976-06-29) 29 June 1976 (age 48)
Wellington, New Zealand
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
Years active1994–present
LabelsSub Pop
Member ofFlight of the Conchords
RelativesDeirdre Tarrant (mother)
Peter McKenzie (father)

Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie ONZM (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an oft-lauded American television series, which aired for two seasons on HBO. Active since 1998, the duo released their most recent comedy special, Live in London, in 2018.

Primarily a musician, McKenzie has worked as a songwriter and music supervisor for film and television since the 2010s. He served as music supervisor for two Muppet films, The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014), the former of which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Man or Muppet". In the 2000s, McKenzie was part of reggae fusion band The Black Seeds and Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, and, in the 2010s, he began performing solo material. His debut album Songs Without Jokes was released in August 2022.

As an actor, he portrayed elves in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies: in the first he remained unnamed with fans naming him Figwit, a character originally cast as an extra who gained attention thanks to the trilogy's fan community. He later appears in The Hobbit as Lindir, a minor character who originally appears in the book of The Fellowship of the Ring.

The two men sit on stools facing out to an audience with guitars and mics and glowing lighting. McKenzie is pensively looking up.
Bret McKenzie with collaborator Jemaine Clement performing as Flight of the Conchords in 2007