Born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand in 1958, singer and songwriter Neil Finn is most associated with being a member of the band Spit Enz and as the founder and frontman of Crowded House. With numerous hits over the course of his career, Finn is one of the most successful musicians to have hailed from New Zealand.
Neil Finn learnt to play the piano at a fairly young age and, inspired by the likes of Neil Young and David Bowie, his interest in music grew substantially in the early ‘70s. Neil's elder brother Tim was one of the chief members of Split Enz, who were popular in Australia at the time, and in 1977 he asked Neil to join the band. The younger Finn brother soon became an important member of the group and wrote their biggest-selling hit “I Got You,” which broke Split Enz internationally.
After Split Enz broke up in 1985, Neil Finn went on to form Crowded House. With Finn as the main creative force, Crowded House enjoyed huge international success with hits such as “Don't Dream It's Over,” “Weather with You” and “Fall at Your Feet.” In 1996, the album Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House, topped the UK album charts. In that same year, Finn decided to dissolve the band in order to concentrate on a solo career. Crowded House would eventually reform in 2006 and embarked on lengthy world tours in both 2007 and 2010 to promote new albums.
In addition to two albums recorded with his brother Tim under the name The Finn Brothers, Neil Finn has enjoyed much success as a solo artist with albums such as Try Whistling This and One Nil. The live releases The Sun Came Out and 7 Worlds Collide featured guest appearances from a number of artists, including the likes of Johnny Marr of The Smiths and Philip Selway from Radiohead. In 1998, Finn recorded a cover of the song “I Can See Clearly Now” for the hit animated film Antz. In 2012, Neil Finn contributed to the soundtrack of the smash hit film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, writing and performing the track “Song of the Lonely Mountain,” which played over the film's closing credits.