Biography
From Split Enz to Crowded House and beyond. singer/songwriter/guitarist Neil Finn saw respectable commercial success, long-running cult-hero status and great critical acclaim. He grew up in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, graduating high school while his brother Tim started Split Enz as a theatrical art-rock band. In 1977 a still-teenaged Neil joined the band at Tim's request, a move that coincided with the band's taking on a more straightforward pop sound. Though Neil did little writing on his first two albums with them, 1980's True Colors included the single he wrote, "I Got You." An immensely catchy track, it became an Australian chart-topper and Split Enz' best-known song in the U.S. (though not an actual hit single, peaking at #53). From then on Neil's songs were usually picked as the singles and he gradually assumed more of a frontman's role; brother Tim was gone altogether on the last Split Enz album (1984's See Ya Round), having already left for a solo career. As the title indicated the band was then breaking up; Neil took its last drummer Paul Hester and recruited bassist Nick Seymour for his next band, Crowded House. Initially planned as a stripped-down band (and dubbed the Mullanes after his own middle name, a name that didn't stick), Crowded House wound up extending the lusher pop side of Split Enz, with Neil's love ballad "Don't Dream Its Over" becoming the biggest hit of their (and his) career. The group refined its sound over four albums (including Woodface with Tim as a member), bowing out with 1993's moody and atmospheric Together Alone. After the first of two Finn Brothers albums with Tim, Neil launched his solo career with 1998's Try Whistling This. True to its title it was more challenging than before, with Midnight Oil member Jim Mognie cowriting and producing, and the lyrics dealt with weightier philosophical concerns-- a trend that would continue in his solo work. During 2001 he played a series of shows with special guests including Eddie Vedder and Johnny Marr; these were compiled on a live album, 7 Worlds Collide. Between solo projects he did numerous other collaborations, with Tim in the Finn Brothers, with his wife Sharon in the Pajama Club, and with his singer/guitarist son Liam (the two recorded Lightsleeper together in 2018). There were also a couple of one-off Split Enz reunions, and a full-time regrouping of Crowded House between 2006-11. 2018 brought the surprise news that Finn had been tapped, along with ex-Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, to replace Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac. 2018-19 found him on a high-profile tour with that band, whose new setlist included both "I Got You" (sung as a duet with Stevie Nicks, who claimed it was among her favorite songs) and "Don't Dream It's Over."
