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Jason Kerrison

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Jason Kerrison

Jason Mark Kerrison MNZM (born October 15, 1976) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter, producer, and former radio broadcaster, best known as the lead singer of the band Opshop.

Kerrison's albums with Opshop have gone multi-platinum and received critical acclaim. He received the 2008 APRA Silver Scroll Award for the hit single "One Day". In 2011, Kerrison was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. In 2015, he received the Southland Music Ambassador award at the ILT Southland Entertainment Awards.

In addition to Opshop, Kerrison has worked on side projects including The Babysitters Circus, and has embarked on a solo career, collaborating with other artists and actively performing in concerts and charity events. Formerly a broadcaster for Mai FM and involved in the setup of Kiwi FM, Kerrison has also appeared on television as the host of XVenture Family Challenge alongside Kate Freebairn, and as a judge on New Zealand's Got Talent, among other media appearances. In 2021, he was the winner of series 1 of The Masked Singer NZ, appearing as tuatara.

Kerrison's fringe beliefs and doomsday prepping have earned him notoriety in the media, with some journalists branding him a conspiracy theorist. In particular, Kerrison's views on government and media reactions to COVID-19 mandates, his belief in the 2012 phenomenon, and his project to construct of an off-grid bunker home, have been the subject of interviews and commentary. In 2022, Kerrison said that his public views had created a strain in his relationships with other members of Opshop, and that it would be difficult for the band to reunite.

Kerrison was born in Invercargill to parents Judith Moir, a nurse from a farming family, and Francis "Frank" Kerrison, who was a freezing worker and jazz musician. His father is of Ngāpuhi heritage, while his mother has a mixed European ancestry from Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia.

Kerrison's family moved to Christchurch when he was an older child. He attended St Theresa's school and St Bede's College, then later moved to Hillmorton High School. After leaving school, Kerrison went on to study broadcasting at Christchurch Polytech, which later became the New Zealand Broadcasting School at the Ara Institute of Canterbury. He went on to study Bachelor of Arts at Auckland University in Ethnomusicology.

Kerrison played the violin and bass at school. He was also exposed to the piano and drums from his grandmother and father, respectively. His father was a musician in his own right, popular in Invercargill for his dance hall band Three Plus One. Despite this influence, Kerrison doesn't claim to be a multi-instrumentalist and instead sees himself as a singer-songwriter, once claiming he is "not good at anything with an instrument."

At Hillmorton, he played in multiple school funk bands and participated in Rockquest, where he made friends with other musicians. His circles eventually came together to create the band Gorilla Biscuit, which took up residency at Dux De Lux, playing regular gigs.

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