SZA’s New Zealand shows spark heartwarming confession as she arrives in Auckland

The Kill Bill hitmaker gushed about her love for Aotearoa ahead of her weekend of shows. Photo / Getty Images

Grammy-winner SZA has landed in New Zealand, gushing about how her last visit ‘changed her life’.

Kiwis have been waiting in anticipation for Grammy-winner SZA to return to New Zealand shores with her catalogue of hits.

Now, the Kill Bill singer has arrived in Auckland and publicly shared her love for Aotearoa.

SZA is performing on Saturday, April 13; Monday, April 15 and Tuesday, April 16, all at Auckland’s Spark Arena.

The R&B artist last performed in NZ in 2018.

Dubbed “electric” by SZA herself, she brought a “superstar” performance to Auckland’s Logan Campbell Centre and left a lasting impression on concertgoers, who have patiently waited six years for her return to the Kiwi stage.

Now, it seems the Good Days hitmaker is just as fond of us as we are of her, sharing a sweet message with her NZ fans.

Ahead of her latest shows, the excited star shared a heartwarming post on her Instagram.

SZA shared a sweet post on Instagram boasting of her love for New Zealand. Photo / @sza

Accompanied by a clip which shows her hugging a member of the audience, she wrote: “The first time I ever played NZ... it changed my life”.

She went on: “I’ve waited years to come back here.. Yearsssss! This is the most magical place on earth.”

“I can’t wait to give you all of me again” before revealing: “Just landed”.

SZA — born Solana Imani Rowe — revealed in February that she would be returning to NZ for a slew of shows.

The announcement came off the back of SZA’s hugely successful sophomore album, SOS, which was released in December 2022 and earned the superstar the record for the largest streaming week for an R&B album in the United States.

The album not only launched SZA onto the international stage by claiming 10 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart — the most among albums by women in seven years — but earned her nine Grammy nominations and three Grammy wins.

SOS marks the first time the star has toured arenas and many music critics have praised the singer for her show-stopping production.

Rolling Stone said: “SZA lives up to all the anticipation,” while the New York Times called her Madison Square Garden headlining debut “vigorous, confident, theatrical and intimate — the sort of show that manages the rare trick of feeling both vibrantly communicative and also protectively insular”.

Now, the Snooze hitmaker has been announced as the headline act at Glastonbury this year, and will also be taking to the stage at Lollapalooza in Chicago and the Governor’s Ball in New York.