Herbs

About Herbs

Founded in Ponsonby, Auckland in 1979 by members of Polynesian, Māori, and Cook Islands background, Herbs were the band that proved reggae could be a Pacific Islander music. Their 1982 song French Letter, protesting French nuclear testing in Mururoa, became one of the most important political songs in New Zealand history. Through the 1980s they backed Bob Marley's UB40 tour, opened for Toots and the Maytals, and built the template for every Pasifika reggae band that came after them.