Sharon Lea O'Neill was born on 23 November 1952 and is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and pianist, who had an Australasian hit single in 1983 with "Maxine" which reached No 16 on both the Australian Kent Music Report and Recording Industry Association of New Zealand charts.
21 Facts About Sharon O'Neill
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Sharon O'Neill is a self taught musician who learned to play guitar by ear and started composing at an early age, by putting chords to her poetry.
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Sharon O'Neill began playing the acoustic guitar around Nelson in the 1960s.
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Between 1972 and 1977 Sharon O'Neill joined New Zealand band Chapta, a covers band called Jessica, and a rock-pop band called Shiner.
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In 1977, encouraged by Shiner guitarist and future husband Brent Thomas, Sharon O'Neill began concentrating on song writing.
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Sharon O'Neill was featured on the track "If There's Still a Little Love" on Mark Williams' 1977 album Taking It All in Stride, with the song featuring on Mark Williams Greatest Hits compilation album released in late 1977.
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In 1978, Sharon O'Neill performed the track "Luck's on Your Table" on the New Zealand TV show The Entertainers, where she finished third.
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Sharon O'Neill subsequently signed to CBS Records and released "Luck's on the Table" in September 1978.
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In June 1979, Sharon O'Neill released "Don't Say No to Tomorrow", which was featured on a Telethon.
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Sharon O'Neill won best female artist at the New Zealand Music Awards in 1978, and 1979.
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In February 1980, O'Neill released her second studio album titled Sharon O'Neill, which peaked at number 3.
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At the 1980 New Zealand Music Awards, Sharon O'Neill won her third Female Artist of the Year as well as her first Album of the Year.
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Sharon O'Neill joined Jon Stevens on a duet called "Don't Let Love Go", which reached number 5 in New Zealand in March 1980.
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Sharon O'Neill supported Boz Scaggs on his Australian tour before she moved to Australia to settle.
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Sharon O'Neill provided the soundtrack to Roger Donaldson's 1982 movie Smash Palace.
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Sharon O'Neill was always out there working at 3am when we'd get home bleary-eyed from a gig.
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In October 1987, Sharon O'Neill returned with her fifth studio album Danced in the Fire on Polygram, which featured some biographical songs about her legal wrangles with CBS.
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In 1988, CBS Records released a series of four-track EPs; Volume 18 was Sharon O'Neill and featured four of Sharon O'Neill's greatest hits.
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In 1990, Sharon O'Neill released her sixth studio album Edge of Winter.
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In 2006 and early 2007, Sharon O'Neill again toured Australia supporting Leo Sayer.
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In 2018, Sharon O'Neill performed a duet with Ben Ransom titled "Young Years", the song she co-wrote for the group Dragon.