Portal:Music of Australia/Selected article/10

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Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, and led by New Zealand musician and singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is widely recognised as the primary songwriter and creative direction of the band having led the group through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand (Neil Finn, Tim Finn and Eddie Rayner), Australia (Paul Hester, Nick Seymour, Peter Jones and Craig Hooper) and from America (Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod).

Though the band owe their original success to the Australian live music scene, the common references to New Zealand people and places (Auckland, Kare Kare, Te Awamutu) in several songs pay homage to Finn's personal roots. The success of the group's third album Woodface and the general success of Crowded House and Split Enz prompted Queen Elizabeth II of the Commonwealth in June 1993 to bestow the Order of the British Empire on both Tim Finn and Neil Finn for their contribution to the music of New Zealand. (more...)