‘You Remain’: Betty-Anne steps out solo, finds voice through heartbreak and healing

After four decades as one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most beloved voices, Betty-Anne (Ngāiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Tūwharetoa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua, Tainui) is opening a new creative chapter in her career.

The music icon has released You Remain, the first single of her long-awaited solo career. It is a deeply personal beginning shaped by heartbreak, healing, and whānau.

Known as the powerhouse voice of Aotearoa’s Poly-Fonk pioneer band, Ardijah, Betty-Anne helped shape the sound and identity of modern Māori and Pacific music.

From early talent quests in South Auckland to touring across the Pacific, Australia, South Africa, and the United States, her voice became synonymous with a generation.

Songs like Give Me Your Number, Time Makes a Wine, and Watchin’ U became enduring favourites. Ardijah’s 1999 cover of Silly Love Songs hit number one on the New Zealand charts, cementing her place in Aotearoa music history. In 2023, Betty-Anne was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to music.

Despite this legacy, she never imagined she would stand as a solo artist at 60 years old.

“We were just young Māori P.I carving out where we fit,” she tells Pacific Days. “Ardijah’s my heart, it’s a big part of who I am and taught me lots. It’s been a wonderful journey.

“Things happen in your life and I never thought I would be here in this position, honestly. I thought my life was already sorted, I thought it was going to be…cool, golden years.”

What brought her to this point is a song that struck her during a moment of intense vulnerability. You Remain was written by a close whānau friend, Shaylise Potini, but its story of loss, presence, and emotional endurance struck a chord with Betty-Anne.

Watch Betty-Anne's full interview below.

“It’s a heartbreaking song, you know, we get minced a bit in life,” Betty Anne says. “I was going through some real heavy, heavy stuff. It was the lyrics that connected to me, first and foremost.”

That connection is felt throughout the track, which has a jazzy, syncopated rhythm that mimics the feeling of being caught between holding on and letting go - without reaching any resolution.

The song’s warmth and honesty come to life with Betty-Anne’s tamariki on backing vocals, creating a cherished full-circle moment for her. In the studio though, she insists that they are “peers”.

“They’ve got the stuff, I wouldn’t ask them if I didn’t think they had the stuff. My three sons and my daughter…it’s a time of sharing and we’re trying to find arrangements for vocals.

“We really do respect each other as musicians and artists in our own right. Because I want them to continue what they do, this project’s not the be all and end all for them. They’ve got stuff better than this.”

You Remain also signals a bold shift, a departure from the comfort zone built over her 40-year career. People have already told her it “sounds different”, something she welcomes.

“It’s okay. Change is okay. We evolve,” she says, acknowledging that this journey has meant reintroducing herself as an artist, not just as the iconic voice of a band.

A te reo Māori version of the single, Pūmau Tonu Koe, created alongside Numia Ponika-Rangi (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou), a language expert, is set to be released on 5 December.

For Betty-Anne, it is another step in a long and proud reo journey. Raised in a generation when te reo Māori wasn’t widely spoken, she has spent more than a decade reconnecting with the language.

“It is deep, reo has meaning,” she says. “It’s poetry too. I’m so very proud of that work.”

Betty-Anne's debut solo album 'Slow Burn' will come out in 2026. Photo/Supplied

Behind this song lies a bigger project: her debut solo album Slow Burn, due out in 2026. A body of work that will define her evolution as a storyteller, shaped by the life she has lived, the heartbreak she has endured, and the resilience that keeps her moving.

“I didn’t know what was going to unfold,” Betty-Anny says about the writing process and finding her voice again.

“The songs talk about the pain, the three or four of them I wrote taught me that certain things in our lives, even though it was for many, many years, don’t necessarily define who we are.

“And I’m okay to step out, a bit uncomfortable for me, the word ‘solo’...that’s my heart, is to be truthful to who I am.”

You Remain is available on all major streaming platforms now. Pūmau Tonu Koe will follow on 5 December, with the album, Slow Burn, set for release in 2026.