Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and seven New Zealand Music Awards. Her musical influences range from Prince and Minnie Riperton to Björk and Jeff Buckley.
Kimbra's debut album, Vows, was released in Australia in 2011. Singles from the album include "Settle Down", "Cameo Lover" (which won an Australian Recording Industry Association Award), "Good Intent" and "Two Way Street". A reworked version of the album was released in Europe and the United States in 2012. It featured several new songs, including "Come into My Head", "Warrior" (on which Kimbra was joined by musicians Mark Foster from Foster the People and DJ A-Trak), and a cover of Nina Simone's "Plain Gold Ring". Vows reached the top 5 in New Zealand and Australia. In May 2012, the album was released in North America, debuting at number 14 on the Billboard 200, her highest-charting album.
Vincent Fantauzzo's portrait of Kimbra was a finalist for the 2012 Archibald Prize. The portrait was painted in conjunction with the making of a video featuring her song "The Build Up". She was featured on the 2011 multi-platinum single "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye, which became her first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and earned them two awards at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, including for Record of the Year, making her the third New Zealand singer to win a Grammy Award. Her second studio album, The Golden Echo, was released in 2014 to positive critical reception, and her third album, Primal Heart, was released in 2018. Her fourth album, A Reckoning, was released on 27 January 2023.
