"Do what you love, not what others tell you is right," says Georgia Lines of New Zealand.
I spoke with the 24-year-old singer-songwriter earlier this month about her rise to fame. In 2022, Lines was named breakthrough artist of the year at the annual Aotearoa music awards ceremony. Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand, an island country in the Pacific Ocean that is home to more than 5.1 million people.
Lines makes success look easy, but she has worked hard to perfect her skills. "I love what I do," she told me. "I love it when I get lost in the music, and everything works together."
Already Lines has opened for pop singer George Ezra. She hopes "to open for Harry Styles one day," she added.
Lines has written more than 20 songs and worked together with several top artists including Jack Burton, Alex James, and Cassie Henderson. "I love working with other people and cooperating," Lines said. "I find I work better when I'm with others so we can bounce ideas off each other."
When asked about her musical ambitions growing up, Lines smiled. "I was never a musical genius as a child," she said. "But I always loved singing and music."
In recent years, Lines has drawn enthusiastic crowds for her concerts. The video for her hit song, "No One Knows", won best music video of the year in New Zealand in 2021.
As for her future goals, Lines said that she wanted "to have a sustainable (可持续的) career and to keep doing what I love." That means, focusing on her own career and artistic achievements. "Comparison is the robber of success," she said. "If I had stopped to compare myself with others, I wouldn't have made it as far as I have."
