Disco legends Boney M bring greatest hits to Rotorua

The Boney M Greatest Hits Tour is coming to Rotorua. Photo/Supplied

Disco legends Boney M are coming to Rotorua as part of a nationwide tour to celebrate their hit songs.

Boney M were a phenomenon in the 1970s, and to this day their hits - including Daddy Cool, Ma Baker, Rivers of Babylon and Rasputin - are still the life and soul of the party.

They are coming to New Zealand for an eight-date Greatest Hits tour in June.

Their Rotorua performance will be at the Energy Events Centre on Wednesday, June 14.

They have sold 150 million records worldwide and continue to play live. Boney M have 18 Platinum and 15 Gold LPs, along with more than 200 Gold and Platinum singles, to their name.

Boney M singer Maizie Williams told the Rotorua Daily Post they had performed in Christchurch about two years ago.

"It's a pleasure to come to New Zealand again."

She was looking forward to meeting the fans and delivering the show to the best of their ability.

"Hopefully we will have the audience singing with us. It will be fun."

Williams said the best part was when they were performing on stage and saw the fans supporting their music.

"I still get butterflies in my stomach - a happy fluttering."

She said when Boney M first formed they were all strangers and came from different worlds.

Williams said she was not sure what their itinerary would allow them to do in terms of sightseeing but she would like to have a look around Rotorua and mix with the culture.

"Hopefully when we leave there the people will have great memories. Hopefully we will have a ball and a big party."

Boney M's journey began after German record producer Frank Farian recorded the single Baby Do You Wanna Bump?.

In 1974 he created Boney M to support the song, bringing in four West Indian vocalists working as session singers in Germany - Marcia Barrett, Liz Mitchell, Williams and Bobby Farrell.

Their first appearance in Germany was a performance of the song Daddy Cool in the then famous TV show Musikladen in 1976. That led to about 100,000 singles a week flying off shelves and the astounding success of their album Take the Heat off Me.

By 1978, Boney M were at the height of their popularity with Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring, which became the second-biggest selling single in UK chart history.

Rivers of Babylon also was Boney M's only US Top 40 hit.

• Tickets to the Rotorua show are available from Ticketmaster, priced from $79 to $99.