Neil Mullane Finn OBE (b. May 27, 1958) is a singer and songwriter and one of New Zealand's foremost musicians.
Born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, he finished school in 1977. He decided at the age of 12 to become a musician, and throughout school performed in prisons, hospitals, as well as at home gatherings. He attended school both at Sacred Heart College (a Catholic boarding school), and Te Awamutu College. In 1976, he formed a group known as After Hours (with Mark Hough, Geoff Chunn and Alan Brown).
Not long after the debut performance of After Hours, Neil was invited to London to join Split Enz, the band formed by his elder brother, Tim Finn. By 1981, Neil was sharing lead-singer's duties in Split Enz; he wrote their first international hit, I Got You and contributed significantly to all their later albums, briefly assuming leadership of the band after Tim left in 1983.
When Split Enz broke up in 1984, Neil formed a new band called The Mullanes (Mullane was his mother's maiden name) with Split Enz drummer Paul Hester, guitarist Craig Hooper of The Reels and bassist Nick Seymour, younger brother of Hunters & Collectors leader Mark Seymour.
Hooper left just before they recorded their first album, at which time the band was renamed Crowded House, after the rented accommodation they shared while recording in Los Angeles. They went on to enormous success worldwide, with two major hits: Don't Dream It's Over ( U.S. #2, 1987) and Weather With You ( U.K. #7, 1992). After releasing four albums, Crowded House, Temple of Low Men, Woodface, and Together Alone, the group broke up in 1996 during the promotion effort for their Best-Of album Recurring Dream, and Neil Finn went solo.
