Andrew Fagan (born 1962) is a New Zealand writer, singer-songwriter and long-distance solo sailor. He grew up in Wellington. He gained fame in New Zealand in the 1980s as the lead singer of the pop group The Mockers.The Mockers, music.net.nz. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
Following the success of The Mockers' 1985 hit "Forever Tuesday Morning", Fagan won the RIANZ 1985 award for Top Male Vocalist of the Year. Since The Mockers broke up, he has recorded and performed as a solo artist under the name Fagan (releasing his debut solo album Blisters in 1994); and with his band LIG. Owner of the yacht Swirly World In Perpetuity, he has written three accounts of solo voyages he's undertaken; Swirly World, the Solo Voyages (2003); Swirly World Sails South (2012); and Swirly World: Lost at Sea (2024), plus several collections of poetry, being included in anthologies/magazines, and a poetry CD (2018), touring with John Cooper Clarke.Fagan, Andrew (1984). Take the Chocolates and Run. Lower Hutt, NZ: David Cohen Publications. Fagan, Andrew (1987). Salt Rhythms. Christchurch, NZ: Hazard Press. Fagan, Andrew (1991). Serious Latitudes. Christchurch, NZ: Hazard Press. Mark Pirie ed. (1998). New Zealand Writing: The NeXt Wave. Dunedin, NZ: Otago University Press. Mark Pirie (2002). "Between the Land: An Account of the Poetry of Andrew Fagan". Wellington, NZ: JAAM 17, p. 50-64. Mark Pirie and Michael O’Leary eds. (2004). JAAM 21: Greatest Hits: An Anthology of Writing 1984-2004. Wellington, NZ: JAAM/HeadworX/ESAW. Riddell, Ron and Saray Torres eds (2005). Towards the Impossible: 3rd Wellington International Poetry Festival Anthology. Upper Hutt, NZ: Casa Nueva Publishers/Poetry Education Trust. Mark Pirie ed. (2006). Poetrymath: Winter Readings. Paekakariki, NZ: Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop. Fagan, Andrew (2006). Overnight Downpour. Wellington, NZ: HeadworX. Fagan, Andrew (2018). It was always going to be like this. NZ: Plus1 Ltd [CD]. Mark Pirie ed. (2020). Broadsheet: New New Zealand poetry: Featuring the Poetry of Andrew Fagan. Wellington, NZ: The Night Press, p. 14-22. He has also been involved with the TVNZ Intrepid Journeys television series.
Fagan has lived in London and now resides in Auckland. He is married to the writer and television/radio broadcaster Karyn Hay.Karyn Hay and Andrew Fagan, Screen Talk interview, NZ On Screen. (Available under a CC BY-NC licence.) Retrieved 31 March 2010. He co-hosted a talkback show with Hay on Radio Live from 7 pm to 10 pm on week nights from 2008 to 2015, with Hay continuing as a solo host until 2017.
Fagan performs regularly around New Zealand with his band Andrew Fagan and the People, including a seven-date North Island tour in April 2021. The band has released two critically praised albums; Admiral of the Narrow Seas (2011) and Act Normal (2020). In 2025, he released a retrospective of his solo work Passage of Time: 1991-2025.
Discography
Albums
Year Title Details Peak chartpositions NZ 1994 Blisters Label: Sony — 1997 Bacterial Activity (as Lig) Label: Abstract Sounds — 2011 Admiral of the Narrow Seas (as Fagan and the People) Label: Aeroplane —2020Act Normal (as Andrew Fagan and the People) Label: Big Ear Music —2025Passage of Time: 1991–2025 Label: Big Ear Music 25 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Album NZ 1991 "I Still Want You" 47 Blisters 1994 "Jerusalem" 39 "Exciting" — 1995 "Now You Know" — 1997 "Empty" (with Lig) — Bacterial Activity 2011 "Religion" (with Fagan and the People) — Admiral of the Narrow Seas2020On Channel Me (with Andrew Fagan and the People) —Act Normal2020"Act Normal" (with Andrew Fagan and the People) —Act Normal "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
References
External links "Jerusalem", by Andrew Fagan, 1994 music video, New Zealand Film Archive
CD Review Andrew Fagan Passage of Time 1991-2025 Poetry Archive of New Zealand Aotearoa