Brian Ringrose
ROCKONZ New Zealand Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Member
New Zealand Achievement Award
Musician and vocalist: guitar, flute, keyboard

Brian began his professional career at the age of thirteen at St David’s Bible Class Social 1st May 1958 for the princely sum of 10 shillings and six pence. Later he was invited to join the Wildcats and played with them for 18 months. He moved on to join Ray Columbus with his band then known as the Downbeats and started playing at the Spencer Street Dance, the largest teenage dance in Christchurch at that time. The band changed it’s name to “Ray Columbus and the Invaders” which then moved on to play at a local venue called “The Plainsman”. Ray and the Invaders moved on to Auckland and international fame but due to Brian’s extreme youth (he was too young to leave High School) he was unable to travel with them.

Brian went on to join up with Phil Garland and after 6 months successful playing in Christchurch, the Playboys were invited to take Max Merrit and the Meteors place at a venue in Auckland. Brian went with the band to Auckland along with two vocalists who went on to international fame, Dave Millar (The Byrds) and Dinah Lee. While in Auckland, “The Playboys” performed at most of the top night spots and backed artists such as The Howard Morrison Quartet.

After returning to Christchurch, Brian continued on in the music business as a professional up to the present day. He has played on tours/residencies/TV shows such as “Come On”, “Happen In”, “That’s Country”, “McPhail and Gadsby”, “A week of it”, “Opportunity Knocks”, “What Now”, plus many Telethons for charity.
 
Brian is a prolific writer and producer of children’s music and has sold over 250,000 albums of children’s music that included many of his original songs.

Brian has just released a CD “Now & Then”, a varied collection of original music and old favourites.

Career Highlights:

• Playing for Gene Pitney at his 21st birthday party
• Working with the Howard Morrison Quartet on tour
• Reaching number 7 on the Lever Hit Parade in 1965 with Dave Millar’s and Brian’s record release
• Receiving a Gold Record in 2003 for 50,000 units sold of his guitar album twenty years after its release in 1975