The 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards turned into a landmark night for the country’s music when Marlon Williams won Album of the Year for a record sung entirely in te reo Māori, the Māori language. It was the first time a fully te reo album had taken the top prize in the awards’ history.
Williams, who is from Lyttelton and of Kāi Tahu and Ngāi Tai descent, went into the ceremony with seven nominations, more than any other artist, and turned three of them into wins at The Civic in central Auckland on Wednesday night. Alongside Album of the Year for Te Whare Tīwekaweka he collected Single of the Year for “Aua Atu Rā” and Best Solo Artist. The album had already won the Taite Music Prize and the 2025 Silver Scroll, so the recognition was not a surprise, but the scale of the sweep still made it the story of the evening.
Accepting the album award, Williams framed the moment as part of a longer story rather than a one-off. “This is not Māori music having its day, this is just a day in Māori music,” he told the room, according to RNZ.
Te Whare Tīwekaweka, released in April 2025, was made with rapper and language advocate KOMMI, also known as Kommi Tamati-Elliffe, a fluent speaker and lecturer in te reo Māori. It is the first time Williams has recorded a whole album in the language, and he has spoken about wanting to write and sing in the reo of his tūpuna, his ancestors. The record is guided by the proverb “Ko te reo Māori, he matapihi ki te ao Māori”, which translates as the Māori language is a window to the Māori world. Engineer Mark Perkins, who worked on the album, was named Best Engineer on the same night.
The win carries extra weight because it arrived during NZ Music Month, the annual celebration of local artists held every May. For years te reo songs were treated as a category of their own, recognised but kept slightly apart from the main awards. An album made entirely in the language winning the night’s biggest prize, judged against every other release of the year, marks a clear shift in how that music is heard and valued by the wider industry.
Williams was not the only big name to leave with a trophy. Lorde took Best Pop Artist and the International Achievement Tūī after a year built around her album Virgin, while The Beths were named Best Group. Tami Neilson won Best Country Music Artist for Neon Cowgirl and Ny Oh was named Best Folk Artist for Wildwood. Stan Walker collected the Mana Reo award for “Mō Āke Tonu”, and TAWAZ was named Best Māori Artist, underlining how much of the night reflected music made in and about the language.
There was room for newer acts as well. Te Wehi had a breakout night, walking away with Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Best Roots Artist, and Borderline won the People’s Choice Tūī, the one award decided by public vote rather than a judging panel. The spread of winners across folk, pop, country, hip-hop and reo music gave the ceremony a sense of range that organisers were keen to highlight.
Two of the night’s biggest honours looked backwards rather than forwards. Hip-hop and soul artist Che Fu, whose songs have been part of New Zealand summers for a quarter of a century, was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. Dub and soul collective Fat Freddy’s Drop, one of the most successful live acts the country has produced, were recognised as the Aotearoa Charts Icon. Dame Lynda Topp also delivered a speech that moved much of the audience to tears, one of the emotional high points of the evening.
The ceremony was hosted by Kara Rickard of RNZ’s Music 101 and comedian Tom Sainsbury, who steered a show that mixed live performances with the awards themselves. The Civic, with its ornate ceiling and faux night sky, has become a regular home for the event and gave the night a sense of occasion that suited the milestone being marked.
For Williams, the timing is bittersweet. He has announced an extended break from touring, with a final run of shows under the banner Tā te Manawa, a phrase that translates roughly as heart at rest, before he steps back from the road. The Aotearoa Music Awards became, in effect, a farewell as much as a celebration, sending him into his hiatus on the back of the most decorated release of his career.
What made the night significant went beyond any single artist. An album recorded entirely in te reo Māori winning Album of the Year is the kind of moment that tends to be remembered, a marker of how far the language has travelled in popular music. Williams summed it up best in the line that drew the loudest response, casting the win not as a special occasion for Māori music but as proof that it now simply belongs in the mainstream.
Were you watching the Aotearoa Music Awards this year, and which winner pleased you most? Have a favourite te reo song or a Marlon Williams album you keep coming back to? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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