The finalists for the 2025 Aotearoa Music Awards

Stan Walker and CHAII are leading the nominations for the 2025 Aotearoa Music Awards.

Soulful pop artist Walker is up for five awards including Best Solo Artist and Best Māori artist. He is also in the running for Single of the Year for ‘Māori Ki Te Ao’, Best Soul RnB Artist, and the Mana Reo, an award that recognises recordings that are at least 50 percent in te reo Māori.

The varied sound of Persian-New Zealand rapper CHAII has earned her nominations for Album of the Year and Best Producer thanks to her first full-length album Safar. She is nominated for Single of the Year for 'We Be Killing It' and Best Video Content for her self-directed music video ‘Nights Likes This.’ CHAII is also up for Best Electronic Artist.

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Kaylee Bell, a country music sensation in New Zealand and overseas, is nominated for four awards including Album of the Year, Best Solo Artist and Best Country Music Artist for Nights Like This. Bell is in the running for Single of the Year with ‘Cowboy Up...’ At last year’s awards, Bell, along with Walker, won the inaugural Te Manu Mātārae, which recognises international success. The Waimate-born singer is based in Auckland and Nashville, the country music capital of the world, and has had a string of successes in Australia.

Singer-songwriter Georgia Lines has four nominations after winning ‘Best Pop Artist’ last year. Lines, known for her lush vocals and deep, layered sounds, is in the running for Album of the Year, Best Solo Artist and Best Pop Artist for her debut album The Rose of Jericho.

Lorde has one nomination for Single of the Year thanks to her collaboration with Charli xcx, arguably the breakthrough global artist of 2024. They collaborated on ‘Girl, so confusing featuring lorde.’

Aaradhna, a soul and RnB singer who draws on her Indian and Samoan heritage, is nominated for Album of the Year and Best Solo Artist for Sweet Surrender, her first album where she took full creative control over writing and producing. She is nominated for Best Soul/RnB Artist, an award she helped create. In 2016, she won the award for Best Urban/Hip Hop Album, but refused to accept it, protesting what she said was the racial categorisation of “brown artists”. The Aotearoa Music Awards responded the following year by making two new categories - one for soul/RnB and one for hip hop.

Other nominees for Album of the Year include singer-songwriter Anna Coddington for Te Whakamiha, which delves into her deeper journey into te reo Maori, and Troy Kingi for his rock album Leatherman & the Mojave Green.

Coddington is also up for Best Māori Artist. Other nominees include Corrella for Skeletons and Jordyn with a Why for Hibiscus Moon, Love & Justice.

The awards will take place on Thursday 29 May in Auckland and will be live streamed on RNZ.

2025 marks the 60th anniversary of music awards in New Zealand, says Jo Oliver, from award organiser Recorded Music NZ CEO.

“The awards is a key part of our musical heritage and has evolved over the years to reflect our unique cultural identity. AMA 2025 will recognise special artists and waiata of the past and present; and create new moments to inspire the next generation of artists.”

“The finalists illustrate the breadth and depth of musical talent we have here in Aotearoa, and the impact these artists and music are having both at home and beyond.

Aaradhna – Sweet Surrender

Anna Coddington – Te Whakamiha

CHAII – Safar

Fazerdaze – Soft Power

Georgia Lines – The Rose Of Jericho

Jordan Rakei – The Loop

Kaylee Bell – Nights Like This

L.A.B – L.A.B VI

Mel Parsons – Sabotage

MOKOTRON – WAEREA

Tami Neilson – Neilson Sings Nelson

Troy Kingi – Leatherman And The Mojave Green

Cassie Henderson – ‘Seconds To Midnight (11.59)’

CHAII – ‘We Be Killing It’

Fazerdaze – ‘Cherry Pie’

Georgia Lines – ‘The Letter’

JessB – ‘Power’ (feat. Sister Nancy & Sampa the Great)

Kaylee Bell – ‘Cowboy Up’

Lorde – ‘Girl, so confusing featuring lorde’ (Charli xcx, lorde)

MOKOMOKAI – ‘KUPE’ feat. MELODOWNZ

Reb Fountain – ‘Come Down’

Stan Walker – ‘Māori Ki Te Ao’

Theia – ‘BALDH3AD!’

Troy Kingi – ‘Silicone Booby Trap’

Corrella – Skeletons

DARTZ – Dangerous Day To Be A Cold One

Earth Tongue – Great Haunting

Foley

L.A.B – L.A.B VI

SKILAA – Tiger In The River

Aaradhna – Sweet Surrender

Fazerdaze – Soft Power

Georgia Lines – The Rose Of Jericho

Kaylee Bell – Nights Like This

MOKOTRON – WAEREA

Stan Walker

Anna Coddington – Te Whakamiha

Haami Tuari – Taku Kaenga

Jordyn With a Why – ‘Reia’

Stan Walker – ‘Māori Ki Te Ao’

TAWAZ – ‘Tātarakihi’ (feat. MOHI)

Tuari Brothers – ‘Higher’

Anna Coddington – Te Whakamiha

Corrella – Skeletons

Jordyn With a Why – Hibiscus Moon, Love & Justice

MOHI

Stan Walker

TAWAZ

Jim Nothing – Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn

Louisa Nicklin – The Big Sulk

Vera Ellen – heartbreak for jetlag

Jian Liu – Where Fairburn Walked

Justin DeHart – Towards Midnight: NZ Percussion Vol 2

Michael Houstoun – The Well-Tempered Clavier

Barry Saunders and Delaney Davidson – Happiness Is Near

Kaylee Bell – Nights Like This

Tami Neilson – Neilson Sings Nelson

CHAII – Safar

Lee Mvtthews – EXIT

MOKOTRON – WAEREA

Holly Arrowsmith – Blue Dreams

Kerryn Fields – The Folk Singer

Mel Parsons – Sabotage

David Dallas – Vita

Jujulipps – Superstar

RNZŌ

Lucien Johnson – Ancient Relics

Thabani Gapara – Dzindza

Umar Zakaria – Family Music

Cassie Henderson – The Yellow Chapter

Frankie Venter

Georgia Lines – The Rose Of Jericho

DARTZ – Dangerous Day To Be A Cold One

Devilskin – Surfacing

Troy Kingi – Leatherman And The Mojave Green

Christoph El Truento – Dubs From The Neighbourhood

Corrella – Skeletons

Lomez Brown

Aaradhna – Sweet Surrender

Sam V

Stan Walker

Emma Hercus – Sabotage (Mel Parsons)

Matt Sinclair – Neilson Sings Nelson (Tami Neilson)

Natalie King, Chris Schmelz – Uneven Ground (Death and the Maiden)

Emily Wheatcroft – Snape, Amelia Murray – Soft Power (Fazerdaze)

Nic Manders – The Rose Of Jericho (Georgia Lines)

Simon Gooding – Safar (CHAII)

CHAII – ‘Night Like This’ (CHAII)

Night Watch – ‘Nightshift’ (Jujulipps)

Oscar Keys, Ezra Simons, Kristin Li – ‘Paradise’ (DARTZ)

CHAII, Frank Keys – Safar (CHAII)

Nic Manders – The Rose Of Jericho (Georgia Lines)

Rory Noble