Mahinārangi Tocker, MNZM

New Zealand Order of Merit

The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...

 (1955 - 15 April 2008) was a singer-songwriter from New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

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She wrote more than 600 songs in a 25-year career. Her vocal style has been compared to that of Joan Armatrading

Joan Armatrading

Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...

 and Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...

 
She also gave lectures around New Zealand about the use of music and creativity to boost learning and self-esteem, and was an adult literacy tutor, writer and poet.

Tocker was born in Taumarunui

Taumarunui

Taumarunui is a town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 4 and the North Island Main Trunk Railway....

 and was of Ngāti Raukawa

Ngati Raukawa

Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupo and Manawatū/Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa.- Early History :...

, Ngāti Tūwharetoa

Ngati Tuwharetoa

Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua at Matata across the central plateau of the North Island to the lands around Mount Tongariro and Lake Taupo.The iwi is identified...

, Ngāti Maniapoto

Ngati Maniapoto

Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa back to people who arrived in New Zealand on the waka Tainui...

, Jewish and Celtic ancestry. She was an open

Coming out

Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

 lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

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For her services to music, she became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2008 New Year's Honours List.

Tocker died on 15 April 2008 in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

's North Shore hospital following a severe asthma attack. She was 52.

Discography

Albums

• 1985 Clothesline Conversation
• 1987 I'm Going Home
• 1996 Mahinarangi
• 1997 Te Ripo
• 2002 Hei Ha!
  Hei Ha!
  Hei Ha! is a 2002 album by New Zealand singer Mahinarangi Tocker. The songs were written by Tocker, with the exceptions of Raukawa, Takiri and Ko Te Nau Pararahi which are traditional songs, while Nga Hau E Wha and I'll Breathe You were co-written with David Downes.-Track listing:#"E Te Matua" –...
  
  
• 2002 Touring (With Charlotte Yates)
• 2005 The Mongrel in Me