Kimbra

Kimbra
Kimbra performing in 2023
Kimbra performing in 2023
Background information
Birth nameKimbra Lee Johnson
Born (1990-03-27) 27 March 1990 (age 34)
Hamilton, New Zealand
OriginHamilton, New Zealand
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active2000–present
Labels
Websitekimbramusic.com

Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealander singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and seven New Zealand Music Awards.

Kimbra's debut album, Vows, was released in 2011. Singles from the album include "Settle Down", "Cameo Lover" (which won an Australian Recording Industry Association Award), "Good Intent" and "Two Way Street". A reworked version of the album was released in Europe and the United States in 2012. It featured several new songs, including "Come into My Head", "Warrior" (on which Kimbra was joined by musicians Mark Foster from Foster the People and DJ A-Trak), and a cover of Nina Simone's "Plain Gold Ring". Vows reached the top 5 in New Zealand and Australia. In May 2012, the album was released in North America, debuting at number 14 on the Billboard 200, her highest-charting album.

Vincent Fantauzzo's portrait of Kimbra was a finalist for the 2012 Archibald Prize. The portrait was painted in conjunction with the making of a video featuring her song "The Build Up".[3][4] She was featured on the 2011 multi-platinum single "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye, which became her first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and earned them two awards at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, including for Record of the Year, making her the third New Zealand singer to win a Grammy Award[citation needed]. Her second studio album, The Golden Echo, was released in 2014 to positive critical reception, and her third album, Primal Heart, was released in 2018.[5] Her fourth album, A Reckoning, was released on 27 January 2023. She recorded a fifth studio album with several other collaborators, titled Idols & Vices (Vol. 1), which was released in September 2024.

  1. ^ a b c Collar, Matt. "Kimbra". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brandle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Kimbra (The build up) by Vincent Fantauzzo, 2012 Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of NSW
  4. ^ Kimbra – "The build up" (Portrait by Vincent Fantauzzo for Archibald 2012), Youtube.
  5. ^ "Kimbra Announces New Album 'Primal Heart', Previews New Music in Email To Fans". Music Feeds. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.