Martin Phillipps, frontman of New Zealand band The Chills, dies at the age of 61

Formed by Phillipps in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1980 and signed to the venerable Flying Nun Records, the Chills rose to regional – and a decade later, international – fame on the back of acclaimed albums such as 1987’s Courageous words and 1990s Submarine bellswhich reached the top of the album charts in their home country.

The latter album’s “Heavenly Pop Hit” became, fittingly, the group’s most successful single in America, where a cult following developed around the Chills over the following decades:

The Chills disbanded sporadically in the late 1980s and 1990s, with Phillipps – as frontman, songwriter and the group’s only permanent member – bringing the project back with changing line-ups. After a 19-year break between LPs, the Chills released Silver Bullets in 2015, followed by Snowbound.

Although Phillipps has struggled with health problems in recent years – he once suffered from hepatitis C due to drug use and was close to death – the band remained active and released their album Chaotic in 2021 and a rare tour of the USA the following year.

“Although I no longer have hepatitis C, only about 20 percent of my liver is functioning,” Phillipps told RNZ in 2019.

“So we’re taking everything carefully and booking the tours carefully. It’s not quite like we’re taking it one day at a time, but I guess there are no plans to take over the world anymore. At the same time, we’re on such a good wave that we’re just going to ride the straits and see what happens.”