Margaret Urlich emerged on the scene as co-lead singer of Peking Man, scoring a No.1 single in 1985 with ‘Room That Echoes’. The following year, following a chance meeting at the Aotearoa Music Awards, Margaret joined the When The Cat’s Away,
In the summer of 86-87 the Cats embarked on multiple national tours. In June 1987 a gold-selling live album was released, followed by signature tune Melting Pot reaching No.1. The subsequent tour saw the Cats playing to over 100,000 people and winning Best Group at the Aotearoa Music Awards.
In 1988, Margaret also found time to guest on the Dave Dobbyn single and video ‘Love You Like I Should’ from his Loyal album as well as touring with the fellow Hall of Famer in Australia.
Spreading her solo wings, Margaret signed with Sony in Australia and based herself in Sydney. Her first solo single, ‘Escaping’, was released in 1989 going straight to No.1 on the Official NZ Music Charts, and the album Safety In Numbers was certified Platinum in New Zealand. Margaret dominated the 1989 Aotearoa Music Awards, winning Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Best Female Vocalist and Best Album Cover. Margaret was also a winner in the Best Group category with When The Cat’s Away.
Meanwhile her Australian success began to take off with singles charting across the ditch, whilst also winning Best Breakthrough Artist for the album Safety in Numbers at the ARIA Awards in 1991. Safety In Numbers continued to sell by the truck-load, and ended up being certified Triple Platinum. To date the album has sold over a quarter of a million copies in Australia alone.
After the massive success of Safety In Numbers Margaret travelled to London and Los Angeles to complete work on her second album Chameleon Dreams, which became another platinum album on both sides of the Tasman.
Having relocated to Bowral in the southern highlands of New South Wales with her family, Margaret released Second Nature in 1999, a collection of Aotearoa classics and yet another platinum-selling record. This was followed shortly after by a Cats reunion in 2001 which resulted in a live album being released, also certified as Platinum. With 15 Tuis across solo and groups, she is one of our most decorated and beloved artists.
Margaret frequently returned to New Zealand to tour, most recently in 2019. Sadly however, Margaret passed away in August 2022 after a long illness that has robbed us of one of our most cherished performers.
