US singer Teddy Swims busks at Auckland’s Commercial Bay ahead of Spark Arena show

Teddy Swims is performing at Spark Arena this weekend. He took to Auckland’s streets this afternoon, bringing a raw performance for a good cause.

United States singer-songwriter Teddy Swims has been busking on the streets of Auckland today.

The Lose Control crooner, who performed at Christchurch’s Town Hall last night, revealed on social media that he would be busking at Commercial Bay this evening to raise money and awareness for Cure Kids NZ and Red Nose Day.

Taking to the Warner Music NZ Instagram account, Swims wore a giant red ball on his nose as he exclaimed: “Yo. It’s Teddy Swims!”

“So this evening, Commercial Bay, I’m popping down, I’m gonna do a little busking. We’re gonna be raising money for Red Nose Day.”

He added: “So I hope to see you there and come sing a song or three with me and I love you”.

“Can’t wait to hang”, Swims concluded.

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The Door singer - who gained popularity in New Zealand after covering Six60′s hit Rivers in 2019 - set up shop at the central shopping precinct at 5.30 pm, providing some after-work tunes for Aucklanders heading home.

In March, Swims gushed to The Herald about his love for Aotearoa, saying: “There’s always been the most love for me there”.

“I think we’re just similar in a lot of ways”, he shared. “You know, I think just good-hearted people being good people and caring about the innate good in people.”

However, he also expressed his regret at not seeing a lot of Tāmaki Makaurau in the past and revealed his hopes to discover more of the city during his I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy tour.

“I’m super excited to have time there though because last time I was there [in Auckland], I got to see pretty much like just a little bit of the city, but didn’t get to explore or see too much of the culture or go out to the bar one night and meet some people,” he says.

“I wanna do the whole thing. You know, I wanna be a Kiwi for a couple days.”

Red Nose Day is annually celebrated in July and calls on Kiwis to do something fun and silly to raise awareness and funds for children battling cancer.

Money raised helps children’s health in a number of ways, funding research in everything from childhood cancers and infectious diseases to adolescent mental health.

Teddy Swims fans can donate to Red Nose Day here.

Megan Watts is a lifestyle multimedia journalist for the NZ Herald whose passions include pop culture deep dives, backstage band chats and doing things for the plot.