Stan Walker

Stan Walker; born 23 October 1990) is an Australian New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh season of Australian Idol. He subsequently signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia. It was on December 2009, Walker released his debut studio album, Introducing Stan Walker, which included the hit single, "Black Box". The album debuted at number three on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). It also appeared on the New Zealand Albums Chart at number two and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ).

Walker has compared his early life to that portrayed in the 1994 New Zealand film, Once Were Warriors, which tells the story of an urban Māori family and their problems with poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence.

His father was repeatedly jailed for beating his wife, April, and five children, including him.

This led to Walker smoking marijuana and thieving.

He was also sexually abused by a relative over a nine-month period.

His parents were drug dealers and both have spent time in jail for drug offences.

At the age of 15, Walker started going to church, after hearing a testimony of a girl who had a similar family background to his.

Walker says his passion for music and church made him a "good boy" again.

After several violent episodes, Walker and his family moved back to Australia and settled in Coolangatta, Queensland.

In 2009, Walker lost a daughter when his then-girlfriend suffered a miscarriage.

He had planned to call his baby, Ataahua, which is Māori for "beautiful", and wears her name as a tattoo on his neck.

Before Walker had entered Australian Idol, he was a shop assistant at a menswear shop in Coolangatta.

Walker says that moving to Australia helped him get over the shame buzz and pursue a career in entertainment.

In 2009, Walker auditioned for the seventh season of Australian Idol, singing John Legend's "Ordinary People" at his Brisbane audition.

He received praise from the judges and progressed through to the theatre rounds receiving more recognition from the judges, with Kyle Sandilands saying, "You are the only person after the audition that I ever told anyone about family, friends other people that I run into. I only told them about you."

After all three theatre rounds were over, it was announced that Walker had made it into the top twenty four semi-finals.

Walker was a part of the first group to perform in the semi-finals.

The following evening, it was announced that the first two contestants to be put through to the final top twelve according to viewer votes, were Walker and fellow contestant Kate Cook.

Throughout the season, Walker was praised continually for his voice and for the daring song choices he took with his performances.

One of his most highly praised performances on the show was of the Prince song, "Purple Rain", which received a standing ovation from the judging panel and the audience.

The grand final was held on 22 November 2009 at the Sydney Opera House.

After the viewer votes had been tallied, it was announced that the winner was Walker.

He is the first person of New Zealand descent to win Australian Idol.

After coming out of Australian Idol as the winner, Walker signed to Sony Music Australia and received an artist's development fund worth $200,000.

During this time, he established his own company called, Stan Walker Music Pty Ltd, which is run by his mother, April.

The company was set up in order to negotiate his contract with Sony Music and not end up like past Australian Idol contestant Damien Leith, who claimed he did not make any money from his Winners Journey release.

Walker's debut single, "Black Box", was released digitally following his win on Australian Idol on 22 November.

The song peaked at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 140,000 copies.

It also peaked at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), for selling 30,000 copies.

In 2010, Walker released his second studio album, From the Inside Out, which spawned the hit singles, "Unbroken" and "Choose You".

The album debuted at number one on the New Zealand Albums Chart and number two on the ARIA Albums Chart.

In November 2011, Walker released his third studio album, Let the Music Play, which debuted at number 18 on the ARIA Albums Chart and number 12 in New Zealand, and spawned the hit single "Loud".

During his career, Walker has won five New Zealand Music Awards and has received five ARIA Music Award nominations.

Walker was a judge on the first and second season of The X Factor NZ in 2013 and 2015.

He made his acting debut in the New Zealand film, Mt Zion (2013), and played the role of Benjy in the 2015 New Zealand film, Born to Dance.

Walker's sixth studio album, Te Arohanui was released on 17 September 2021 and was his first in te reo Māori.

Stan Walker parents are Ross and April Walker.

He is Māori, of Tūhoe, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Porou descent.

Walker grew up on a marae in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand.

There he attended Fairfield Intermediate and Hamilton Boys' High School in Hamilton, and boarded at New Plymouth Boys' High School.