The first rock'n'roll hit by a New Zealand was Ray Columbus 's hit 'She's a Mod'. However, Kiwi rock's birth can probably best be dated to The Fourmyula 's release of 'Nature'.

In the 1970s Kiwi rock began to take off, and some of the more influential bands were The Dudes and Dd Smash (who both featured Dave Dobbyn), and Split Enz, fronted by brothers Neil Finn and Tim Finn.

The 1980s saw the emergence of many bands from the Flying Nun label in Dunedin.