Much-loved entertainer Eddie Low (Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue) has died aged 81 after a battle with cancer.
Blind from birth because of German measles, Low was born in Rotorua on 14 May 1943.
His mother, who contracted German measles and Tuberculosis during her pregnancy with him, died a few weeks after Low was born.
“The odds were stacked against Dad from the beginning, but he beat them one by one,” daughter Maria Low said in a media release on behalf of whānau.
Low started his first band at the age of thirteen, with two friends from the New Zealand Foundation for the Blind.
His career of almost 60 years took him around the world and onto stages with some of music’s greats including Johnny Cash, Charlie Pride, Freddie Fender and Kenny Rogers.
“He never thought of his blindness as a disability - it was just something he happened to have.
“His only fear was that people would think he couldn’t do something because of his sight, but if anything, it made him even more stubborn, more determined, to prove he could do anything others could do, and more.”
Low was named New Zealand Entertainer and Songwriter of the Year in 1980 and inducted into New Zealand’s Country Hands of Fame in 1993.
In 2006, he received a New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music.
Three years later, Low received the Variety Artists of New Zealand’s Benny Award to mark his lifetime achievement in the entertainment industry.
“He never knew how talented he was and how much he inspired all of us as well as other singers and musicians.”
Low is survived by three children, five grandchildren, one great grandchild and partner of five years, Kerry.
A service, which will be livestreamed, will be held in Christchurch.
