Fat Freddy’s Drop will earn a major honour at the forthcoming 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards (AMA).
At this year’s ceremony at The Civic in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on Thursday, May 28th, the beloved Kiwi group will be presented with the Aotearoa Charts Icon award.
Fat Freddy’s Drop will become only the second-ever recipient of the award, following Six60 in 2025.
The Aotearoa Charts Icon taonga acknowledges the group’s success in the Official Aotearoa Music Charts over the course of their career, a run that has included eight studio albums, four of which went to No. 1 on the top 40.
Today’s news follows the recent announcement that Fat Freddy’s Drop’s debut album, Based on a True Story, is the best-selling Aotearoa album on vinyl since 2003.
In other news, Che Fu was revealed last week as the newest inductee into the Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa | New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
Announced by Recorded Music NZ on May 14th, the Aotearoa hip-hop legend will be officially inducted at the 2026 AMA ceremony, which will feature a live medley performance by Che and his band The Kratez.
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A true hip-hop pioneer in Aotearoa, Che is best known for hits such as “Chains” and “Misty Frequencies”, the former of which was included in our Best Australian & New Zealand Songs of the 21st Century So Far list last year.
It’s the ideal time for Che’s Hall of Fame induction, with his second album, Navigator, celebrating its 25th birthday this year. A limited edition 25th anniversary silver vinyl reissue of Navigator is set for release on May 22nd.
He was previously inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of Supergroove in 2014.
The finalists for the 2026 AMA were revealed last month.
Marlon Williams leads the way with seven nominations thanks to Te Whare Tīwekaweka, his first fully te reo Māori album. Williams’ record is also in the running for this year’s Taite Music Prize.
Global pop superstar Lorde is nominated in multiple categories, including Album of the Year (Virgin) and Single of the Year (“What Was That”).
Check out the full list of finalists here.
