Ray Columbus

Raymond John Patrick Columbus OBE (4 November 1942 – 29 November 2016) was a New Zealand Benny Award-winning singer and songwriter, television host, music manager and entertainer, with a career spanning six decades. As the lead singer of Ray Columbus & the Invaders, his best-known hit was "She's A Mod".

Columbus attended Xavier College in Christchurch, studied tap, but was more interested in the rock 'n' roll of the era and formed his first band, The Dominoes, in 1959.

Columbus got his big break playing with the Downbeats Band which later became Ray and the Drifters. He relocated to Auckland when he was offered a TV show titled Club Columbus, whereupon he changed the band's name to Ray Columbus & the Invaders in 1964. The Invaders were known for their Fender guitars, dance moves and lavish clean-cut outfits. In 1964, the Invaders released their best-known song, "She's a Mod" The track was written by British musician Terry Beale for his group The Senators, but was not a hit for his group. "She's A Mod" became a number one hit in Australia—the first song from a New Zealand group to reach the top of the charts in another country. In 1965, the band released the single "Till We Kissed", which sold fifty thousand units; this was actually a retitled version of 'Where Have You Been All My Life?' released years earlier and even performed by The Beatles in their Hamburg days

The Invaders' second album, Original Numbers, was the first album in New Zealand to include an entirety of self-composed songs.

After disbanding the Invaders, Columbus relocated to the United States for two years. Returning to New Zealand, he hosted numerous television pop shows including Ray Columbus presents New Faces, C'mon, Happen Inn and That's Country (which he co-created and helped sell to a US cable network). He was also a noted music manager, mentoring artists such as singer Suzanne Lynch. In the late 1990s he managed the rock band Zed.

As a solo artist, Columbus toured with The Rolling Stones, Roy Orbison and The Newbeats, as well as playing Royal Variety Performances and being an opening act of the 1974 New Zealand Commonwealth Games.

Columbus released a biography in 2011, which stated that he smoked for years and was a heavy drinker. He suffered a heart attack in 2004, and a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralysed. In April 2014, he was reported to be terminally ill, from an immune deficiency condition caused from medication.

Columbus died at his Snells Beach, North Auckland residence in November 2016 aged 74, after a "four year battle with ill health". He was survived by his wifeand two children.

Solo albums

• The Ray Columbus Album (1966)
• Hit Tracks (1969)
• Jangles, Spangles & Banners (1972)

Compilation albums

• Ray Columbus – His 14 Greatest Hits (1974)
• Ray Columbus – The Solo Years (2004)

In 1973, Columbus received the Benny Award from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc, the highest honour available to a New Zealand variety entertainer. In the 1974 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment. In 1990, Columbus received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal for his promotion of New Zealand overseas.