| Bic Runga | |
|---|---|
Bic Runga performing on the 2010 Winery Tour, in Auckland, New Zealand. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Briolette Kah Bic Runga |
| Born | 13 January 1976 |
| Origin | Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Genres | Pop, folk |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, drums |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | SonyBMG New Zealand |
Briolette Kah Bic Runga MNZM (born 13 January 1976) is a New Zealand pop recording artist whose first solo album, Drive, debuted at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ charts. She has since become one of the highest-selling New Zealand artists in recent history. Runga has also found success internationally in Australia, Ireland and to some extent in the UK.
In January 2006, the Queen made Runga a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Zealand New Year's Honours List.
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"'You say it Bec, rather than Bic,' explains New Zealand singer-songwriter Bic Runga. 'It's Chinese, it's a strange vowel sound which doesn't seem to translate in Australia. It means the colour of jade, which might mean green.'"[1] The "strange vowel" is a checked tone. For the meaning of "colour of jade", Bic is "碧" in Chinese characters.[2]
Runga was born in Christchurch. Her mother, Sophia Tang, was a Chinese Malaysian lounge singer in Malaysia when she met Joseph Runga, a Māori soldier on leave from Vietnam. They moved to New Zealand to live.
Runga grew up in Hornby, Christchurch surrounded by a musically-inclined family, and started recording songs with her sisters, Boh and Pearl, when she was only four years old. Runga's older sister Boh is now a vocalist in the New Zealand rock group Stellar*, while Pearl is a session singer.
She learned how to play drums at the age of eleven, and guitar at about fourteen. Runga also learned to play the keyboard around this time. She attended Cashmere High School[3][4], joining high school bands and performing with local jazz groups by her mid-teens.
Runga and Kelly Horgan entered the 1993 smokefreerockquest in Christchurch under the name of "Love Soup". They won third place and a music contract with Pagan Records. Using a QE II Arts Council grant, Runga recorded the first Drive EP in Wellington. Unsatisfied with the direction that her music was being taken, she moved to Auckland in 1994 and spent a year writing and performing.
In 1995, she sent a new demo of "Drive" to Sony Music, who signed Runga in September of that year and bought her Wellington recordings from Pagan Records. Sony had her re-record the song with more instruments, but it was eventually her demo that was used on the upcoming album. It entered the Top 10 in New Zealand and won her the Silver Scroll Songwriting Award in 1996. She next released "Bursting Through", her first single from her upcoming album, also entitled Drive.
Early success eventually led to the release of her album Drive in 1997. Runga's song "Sway", along with a duet with Dan Wilson of Semisonic called "Good Morning Baby", were used in the films American Pie and Cruel Intentions. Six singles were released from the album, while "Sway" was released in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
Runga has recorded two songs called "Drive". The first was her own, which appeared on her debut album of the same name. The second was a 1999 collaboration with fellow New Zealanders Strawpeople, providing guest vocals for their cover of The Cars' classic 1984 hit.
In 2000, she toured with Tim Finn and Dave Dobbyn, resulting in a release of a live album of the tour.
Runga released her second solo album, Beautiful Collision, in 2002. It entered the New Zealand charts at number one.
Her third studio album, Birds, was released in New Zealand on 28 November 2005. It was her third studio album in a row to enter the New Zealand charts at number one. The first single, "Winning Arrow", can be heard at her official site. Birds has currently gone triple platinum.
Released on 24 November 2008 in her native New Zealand, Try to Remember Everything contains 14 unique recordings. Three years on from the recording of Birds, Try to Remember Everything brings together a collection of unreleased, new and rare Bic Runga recordings from 1996 to 2008. The album was certified Gold in New Zealand on 14 December 2008, selling over 7,500 copies.[5][6]
Bic contributed to the score and soundtrack to New Zealand filmmaker Roseanne Liang's debut feature film My Wedding and Other Secrets (2011). In addition to featuring "Say After Me" from Birds, the film also includes two unreleased tracks ("Hello, Goodbye" and "This Girl's Prepared for War") from Bic's forthcoming fourth album.
Belle is the fourth studio album to be released in November 2011.[7][8] The first track from the album, "Hello, Hello", was released as a free download in early September. Bic will tour New Zealand extensively in November and December.[9]
Runga, born in New Zealand, has lived in New York for two years, Paris for a year, and London for a year. She has since returned home to New Zealand, where she lives with her son Joe, and partner Kody Nielson.
| Year | Album details | Chart peak positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [10] |
NZ [11] |
UK [12] |
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| 1997 | Drive
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49 | 1 | — |
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| 2002 | Beautiful Collision
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41 | 1 | 55 |
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| 2005 | Birds
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26 | 1 | 154 |
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| 2011 | Belle
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5 | |||
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [10] |
NZ [11] |
UK [12] |
IRL | |||
| 1996 | "Drive" | — | 7 | — | — | Drive |
| "Bursting Through" | — | 33 | — | — | ||
| 1997 | "Sway" | 10 | 7 | 93 | 26 | |
| "Suddenly Strange" | — | 26 | — | — | ||
| "Roll into One" | — | 48 | — | — | ||
| 1998 | "Hey" | — | — | — | — | |
| 1999 | "Good Morning Baby" | — | 15 | — | — | Single-only |
| "Sorry" | — | — | — | — | Drive | |
| 2002 | "Get Some Sleep" | 92 | 3 | 78 | 27 | Beautiful Collision |
| "Something Good" | — | 4 | 107 | — | ||
| 2003 | "Listening for the Weather" | — | 14 | — | — | |
| 2005 | "Winning Arrow" | — | 23 | — | — | Birds |
| 2006 | "Say After Me" | — | — | — | — | |
| 2011 | "Hello Hello" | — | — | — | — | |
Runga played a 'Vietnamese lounge singer' in the 2005 film Little Fish, and covered Gene Pitney's "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart".
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