Neil Finn

For the football player, see Neil Finn (footballer).

Neil Finn, OBE (born 27 May 1958) is a rock singer. He was born in New Zealand. Together with his brother Tim, he was the lead singer for Split Enz. He is the frontman of Crowded House. He has released solo albums. He has created the 7 Worlds Collide project and the Pajama Club band.

Neil Finn OBE
Neil Finn at Calvin Theatre, 2007
Background information
Birth name	Cornelius Mullane Finn
Also known as	Neil Finn
Born	(1958-05-27) 27 May 1958 Te Awamutu, New Zealand
Genres	Pop, rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, ukulele, mandolin, keyboards, Bass Guitar, drums
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Columbia

Musical career

In the late 1970s he replaced singer songwriter Phil Judd in Split Enz. Split Enz was his brother Tim's band. Neil went on to write some of the biggest hits for the band. Examples are "One Step Ahead", "History Never Repeats", "I Got You" and "Message to My Girl". Split Enz broke up in 1984.

After that, Neil formed Crowded House with Split Enz's final drummer Paul Hester and bass player Nick Seymour in 1985. They became famous worldwide in 1987 when they released the single "Don't Dream It's Over". He ended Crowded House in 1996 to start a solo career.

Neil Finn has recorded two solo albums to date: Try Whistling This (1998) and One Nil (2001). (One Nil was released in the US and Canada – remixed, reordered and renamed One All – in 2002.) He has also worked together with his brother Tim on two Finn Brothers albums, Finn (1995) and Everyone Is Here (2004).

In 2001, he released a live album/DVD (7 Worlds Collide) with songs that were recorded at St James Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand. Other musicians that were on stage with him were Lisa Germano, Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing), Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway (Radiohead), Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Paul Jeffrey, Tim Finn, and Betchadupa.

In 2009, another album was released under the "7 Worlds Collide" name. This was The Sun Came Out. It was a charity studio record for Oxfam. This album has songs by Jeff Tweedy and three other members of Wilco, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, and New Zealand songwriters Don McGlashan and Bic Runga.

Finn has contributed solo music to various film and TV soundtracks including Rain, Boston Legal, Boston Public, The Waiting Game, Antz, and Sports Night.

In 2007, Finn reformed Crowded House with Beck's former drummer Matt Sherrod. They released two albums Time on Earth (2007) and Intriguer (2010).

In 2011, he has formed Pajama Club with his wife Sharon, New Zealand indie artist SJD and Alana Skyring. They released an album.

In 2014, Dizzy Heights, a Neil Finn solo album was released.

Personal life

Finn married Sharon Dawn Johnson, on 13 February 1982. The song "I Love You Dawn", available on Afterglow was written in her honour. Sharon makes chandeliers in her workshop in Auckland. She has appeared on backing vocals on various albums such as Crowded House and Alex Lloyd's Watching Angels Mend She also features prominently on the second 7 Worlds Collide project, co-writing (and sharing lead vocal) the track 'Little By Little' with her husband and sings on the track 'Isolation' on the new Crowded House album, Intriguer. In 2011, she becomes part of the Pajama Club band after a jam session with Neil.

They have two sons, Liam Mullane Finn (born 1983) and Elroy Timothy Finn (born 1989). Both sons have performed alongside their father. Liam had his own band, Betchadupa, originally based in Auckland, then London before releasing a solo album, I'll Be Lightning in 2008. He also plays in Crowded House's touring band lineup. Elroy Finn is drummer for the psychobilly band The Tricks and has been filling in on drums for Cut Off Your Hands.