Shona Laing is a 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...

 musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

. She has had several hits in her native country, as well as a few minor international hits, most notably "(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy" and "Soviet Snow". Laing also contributed to the Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Manfred Mann's Earth Band is a British progressive rock group formed in 1971 by Manfred Mann.-Formation:Having started in the 1960s with a British band that had such hits as "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "The Mighty Quinn", then moving on to Jazz Fusion with Manfred Mann's Chapter Three, Manfred's third...

 album Somewhere in Afrika

Somewhere in Afrika

Somewhere in Afrika is an album released in 1983 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band.- Track listing :Side one#"Tribal Statistics" – 4:16#"Eyes of Nostradamus" – 3:28#"Third World Service" – 5:18#"Demolition Man" – 3:45...

. Laing also contributed music to, and appeared in, the 1985 action film Shaker Run.

Currently she resides in New Zealand and occasionally plays live shows, enjoying a small but devoted fan base.

Musical career

Laing first came to prominence in 1972 as a 17-year-old schoolgirl, winning the television talent show "New Faces" with her song 1905. Signed to a recording contract with Phonogram, her first two singles, 1905 and Show your Love both certified gold and both peaked at number 4 on the New Zealand charts. In 1973 she won two Rata awards: Best New Artist and Recording Artist Of The Year.
Laing twice represented New Zealand at the Tokyo, in 1973 (with the song Masquerade) and 1974.
In 1975 she travelled to Britain and was based there for the next seven years, where in 1982, she was a vocalist for Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Manfred Mann's Earth Band is a British progressive rock group formed in 1971 by Manfred Mann.-Formation:Having started in the 1960s with a British band that had such hits as "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "The Mighty Quinn", then moving on to Jazz Fusion with Manfred Mann's Chapter Three, Manfred's third...

 alongside fellow 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...

er, Chris Thompson.

Private life

During a concert on July 18, 1996, Shona Laing came out as bisexual and noted that she was in a relationship with another woman.

Singles

• "1905" (1972)
• "Show Your Love" (1973)
• "Masquerade" (1973)
• "Someone To Be With" (1973)
• "One In A Miilion" (1985)
• "(Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy" (1986) #2 NZ, #14 U.S. Modern Rock
• "Drive Baby Drive" (1987) #45 NZ
• "Soviet Snow" (1987) #32 U.S. Dance
• "Caught" (1987)

Albums

• Whispering Afraid (1972)
• Shooting Stars Are Only Seen At Night (1974)
• Tied To The Tracks (1982)
• Genre (1985)
• South
  South (Shona Laing album)
  South is a 1987/1988 album by New Zealand musician Shona Laing and her most commercially successful release to date. It was released twice; in 1987 as a worldwide release, and again in 1988 in the United States. Laing reprised three of the tracks from her 1985 album Genre for the U.S...
  
   (1987)
  • Virgin Records
    Virgin Records
    Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
    
     release, original version of album
  • Epic Records
    Epic Records
    Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
    
    release, different set of tracks / track order
• 1905–1990 Retrospective* (1991)
• New on Earth (1992)
• Shona (1994)
• Roadworks (1997)
• The Essential Shona Laing* (2002)
• PASS THE WHISPER 2007

External links

• Interview
• Shona Laing Biography