Queen of the South Pacific

Taumaranui-born soprano Rhonda Bryers has passed away aged 55 at her home in Hawaii. Bryers was one of NZ’s best known singers in the late 1980s, when she won the country’s Entertainer of the Year award four years in a row. “She was an incredible talent,” said Aucklander John McGough, who toured with Bryers 25 years ago. “Classically trained, she sung mainly popular music,including a lot of her own songs.” Bryers was one of a group of NZ entertainers,including Sir Howard Morrison and John Rowles, who developed a strong following in Hawaii. She made her Honolulu debut at the Monarch Room of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1989, and became known thereafter as the “Queen of the South Pacific”.

Rhonda Bryers: died September 2007