How do you celebrate winning one of the biggest awards of your career so far? If you’re RIIKI REID, by dropping one of your best singles yet.
The Te Whanganui-a-Tara pop star released “Sauna” last Friday (May 29th), and it’s both her first release of the year and first as an independent artist.
“Sauna” follows a challenging year for REID. “I lost my father, my house flooded, I went through a breakup, and parted ways with my major label,” she explains.
After taking time to focus on the people and things that matter most to her, she began creating “Sauna”, co-written with Robby De Sa, to start afresh.
“I made a deal with myself that I wouldn’t wallow anymore and that I would do everything I could to focus on the things that recharge me, energise me, and allow me to live my happiest life so that in return, I could really show up for the people I care about, show up for my craft and do my best effort to add something positive to the world,” REID says.
“I hope this song reminds people that they deserve to find all the happiness in the world, not to take life too seriously, to appreciate the journey and to be the change they want to see in the world,” she adds.
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“Sauna” is REID’s first release since her 2025 EP Drench.
REID’s new single dropped just after she collected the Radio Airplay Record of the Year gong at last week’s 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards. She won the award for “Over Romantic”, her first single of 2025.
REID also put on one of the best performances of the night at the ceremony inside Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s Civic Theatre.
Check out the full list of 2026 AMA winners here.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone AU/NZ ahead of her appearance at CubaDupa 2026, REID opened up about her transition into being an independent artist.
“Honestly, I am good,” she told us. “People assume that you aren’t all good after getting ‘dropped,’ but that is a lie, for me at least anyway. I knew it was time to leave and move on, the times were simply changing for me. I have not a bad word to say about my journey as a signed artist the past five years — I have so much respect for that chapter of my life and the people that were in it, but it felt like the right time to part ways.
“I haven’t been independent for five years, but I am remembering that I was independent for two years before I signed to a major and in that time my friend (acting manager) and I learnt how to do absolutely everything on our own. That was how we got a deal in the first place and to be honest, that was where all the fun was.”
RIIKI REID’s “Sauna” is out now.
