Eddie Low | |
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 Low in the early 1970s | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edward Robert Low |
| Born | 14 May 1943 Rotorua, New Zealand |
| Died | 21 September 2024 (aged 81) Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Genres | Country |
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| Years active | 1964–2024 |
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| Website | eddielow |
Edward Robert Low MNZM (14 May 1943 – 21 September 2024) was a New Zealand country singer and musician, with a career spanning over 60 years. Low released a number of successful country albums and singles throughout the 1970s and 80s and has performed in a number of groups since the 1960s including The Quin Tikis and the New Zealand Highwaymen. Low continued to record and release music throughout his life, enjoying a second wave of success in the 2010s after releasing the career overview album The Voice In A Million (2011) which went platinum. He was awarded Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Low began his career in the early 1960s with his brother in the Auckland-based group The Chevronaires, where he met John Rowles. The pair moved to Australia performing Beatles covers before moving to Sydney and becoming part of The Sundowners, joining the Miller's brewery circuit. Low later joined The Truetones for a period before becoming part of The Quin Tikis in the mid-1960s, performing in Australia and New Zealand for several years and appearing regularly in the annual tours of Miss New Zealand Extravaganza organised by Joe Brown. Low was encouraged by Brown to go solo, dubbing him "the voice in a million", and signed to Joe Brown Records, releasing his debut solo album Presenting The Golden Voice Of Eddie Low in 1970.
In the 1970s, Low collaborated with John Hore, releasing Eddie Low and John Hore Live (1971) and We Should Be Together (1972). Low went on to tour North America and released several albums and EPs including The Voice In A Million (1970), Eddie Low (1973), and Eddie Low in USA and Canada (1976). Following the tour, he entered a recording hiatus. Low returned in 1980, signing to RCA Records and releasing Eddie Low Sings (Songs of Home). Throughout the 1980s, he released a number of singles and several more albums including Easy Temptations (1981), Blue Smoke (1982), Country Greats (1984) and Heart and Soul (1984), and periodically returned to Christchurch to appear in That's Country hosted by Ray Columbus.
In 1986, Low launched his own record label, MAL Records, which he used to publish personal projects including "I Am Me", a single about his feelings around being labelled handicapped, and the albums Turning Back The Clock and Land of my Mother, Land of my Father, the latter reflecting his mixed Scottish and Māori heritage. Low continued recording music and performing throughout the 1990s through RCA Records, BMG and Sony Music, including Eddie Low (1992). In the 2000s, Low toured with the New Zealand Highwaymen and continued writing music, and moved to live in Christchurch in 2008.
In 2011, Low's compilation album The Voice In A Million (The Very Best Of Eddie Low) spent twenty-two weeks on the chart and peaked at number two, going platinum. He followed up in Icon (2012) and This Could Be the Last Time (2017), the latter published under EdRab Music, a new label he created for his later projects, and returned to touring with the New Zealand Highwaymen in a series of successful shows. Despite ailing health from a cancer diagnosis, Low continued to record music and tour until his death in 2024, with albums such as Paint Me a Memory (2020) and When I Sing About You (2021).
During his lifetime, Low was a celebrated country music singer, receiving extensive radio play on country stations, and won numerous awards including New Zealand Entertainer and Songwriter of the Year, the Variety Artists Club Scroll of Honour, the Country Music Legend Award, the Benny Award, and the Rockonz International Star Award, among others.[1]