Iconic New Zealand music line-up for Lions series

Tiki Taane will brings his unique style to Rotorua on June 17 for the Maori All Blacks and Lions match.

A host of acclaimed Kiwi entertainers will provide pre-match and half-time entertainment during the British and Irish Lions tour over June and July.

Included in the line-up are Kings, Hollie Smith, Tiki Taane, Maala and the return of ZED for their first appearance since 2011.

Taane will bring his unique style to Rotorua on June 17 when the Maori All Blacks face the Lions, looking to repeat their famous 2005 victory.

New Zealand Rugby general manager of the DHL New Zealand Lions Series, Nigel Cass, said the line-up of entertainment would deliver a perfect package of music and top-class rugby.

"British and Irish Lions fans like to get to the game early and we wanted to put on a great show for them and locals from when they first arrive at our stadiums. The series only comes around once every 12 years so we're pulling out all the stops to give fans a taste of fantastic Kiwi entertainment."

Stan Walker accompanied by Troy Kingi and Maisey Rika kick-off the series pre-match entertainment at Toll Stadium in Whangarei on June 3 when the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians host the Lions.

The celebrated singers will perform Aotearoa, which was created in 2014 to celebrate Maori Language week.

Five days later, Kings, whose debut single Don't Worry Bout It broke Lorde's record for most consecutive weeks at number one In New Zealand, will perform at Eden Park when the Blues host the visitors.

Soul singer and songwriter Hollie Smith will play to a full house at AMI Stadium in Christchurch while new music sensation Theia will open proceedings at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin when the British and Irish Lions take on the Highlanders.

2013's The X Factor star Bennie Tipene will hold centre stage at FMG Stadium Waikato when the Chiefs take on the Lions and Mitch James leads the entertainment at the final Super Rugby encounter when the Hurricanes host the visitors in Wellington.

Canadian-born and New Zealand-based country and soul singer/songwriter Tami Neilson, will entertain close to 50,000 fans at Eden Park for the first of three tests between the All Blacks and the Lions.

Vodafone New Zealand Music Award winner MAALA (Kind of Love) will do the honours at Westpac Stadium for the second test, while popular pop/rock four-piece band ZED reunite for the final Test of the series.

ZED lead singer Nathan King said the band was looking forward to playing in front of a full house at Eden Park.

"We haven't played together since the Rugby World Cup in 2011 so when the opportunity to share the field again with the All Blacks came up, we knew we had to grab it.

"It'll be exciting to spark things up and you never know where it might lead for ZED in the future."

A limited allocation of tickets are available for matches across the series at www.nzlionsseries17.com.