Six60 are the first recipients of New Zealand’s newest music award.
The Aotearoa Charts Icon award, introduced by Recorded Music NZ, celebrates artists who’ve dominated the Official Charts over time.
The chart-conquering band picked up the inaugural award at the Aotearoa Music Awards last night, where they also claimed the Te Taumata o te Hokona | Highest Selling Artist Tūī , a title they’ve now secured a record seven times.
“I don’t know if hold music is part of the charts, but that’s probably why we are standing here,” joked bassist Chris Mac on-stage. “And for that, I apologise.”
Six60 have been a constant on the charts for 15 years. No other Kiwi act comes close when it comes to volume: 28 Top 40 singles, three #1s, four chart-topping albums. Their tracks have spent 586 combined weeks on the Singles Chart; their albums, a staggering 1,232 weeks on the Albums Chart. Add to that 38x platinum album certs and 48x platinum singles, and the scale starts to sink in.
Their first chart-topper, “Rise Up 2.0”, landed in 2010. “Special” followed in 2014. “All She Wrote” hit #1 in 2021. Fan favourites like “Don’t Forget Your Roots” (#2), “White Lines” (#5), and “Don’t Give It Up” (#4) all climbed high.
The new award is a stunner. Designed in glass by internationally renowned artist Te Rongo Kirkwood, it features a kōtuku feather, a nod to the whakataukī “He kōtuku rerenga tahi” (a white heron’s flight is seen but once), symbolising prestige and rarity in te ao Māori.
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“Six60’s achievements in the Charts are iconic,” says Recorded Music NZ CEO Jo Oliver. “We are very pleased to be able to recognise them with this new award in 2025 as we celebrate 50 years of the Official Music Charts in Aotearoa.
“The Charts and AMA are key touchstones in our musical heritage and have evolved over the years to reflect our unique cultural identity. Going forward, the Aotearoa Charts Icon award will serve as a wonderful complement to the Tūī presented by Recorded Music NZ and will provide opportunities to recognise and celebrate our most successful charting artists.”
