Herbs frontman Dilworth Karaka dies

Karaka’s whānau confirmed his death in a statement shared on social media.

Combining the influences of Bob Marley and the music of their Polynesian heritage, Herbs were pioneers of a Pacific reggae sound.

Born in 1950, Karaka co‑founded the band in Auckland in 1979 with Toni Fonoti, Spencer Fusimalohi and Fred Faleauto.

He was the band’s regular guitarist and lead singer for the next 40 years.

Herbs collaborated with some big local names including Tim Finn (‘Parihaka’), Annie Crummer (‘See What Love Can Do’) and most successfully with Dave Dobbyn on the hit single ‘Slice of Heaven’, off the movie soundtrack Footrot Flats.

It shot to no.1 in October 1986 and stayed there for eight weeks, AudioCulture reported.

A film about Herbs, a group that grew out of the social activism of the late 1970s and 1980s, was released in 2019, called Herbs: Songs of Freedom.

Herbs were inducted into APRA’s New Zealand Hall of Fame in September 2012.

In the social media post his family say Karaka will be taken to Ōrākei Marae on Monday, 9 March, where he will lie in state for one night before being taken to Whaatapaka Marae, where he will lie for two further nights. His burial will also take place there.