Songbroker welcomes Chris Sanders

Songbroker is very pleased to welcome Chris Sanders to the fold.

Chris Sanders is a New Zealand singer-songwriter with more than 10 number 1 hit singles and albums to his name.

A late starter to music, Chris picked up guitar aged 19 and started singing at age 23, covering for a sick band member in a covers band and consequently got ‘the bug’ for performing live.

In his mid-twenties, Chris started songwriting.  The very first song he wrote, ’21 and You Changed My Mind’ was included on a NZ on Air Hit Disc with the likes of Neil Finn and The Topp Twins. He went on to release an EP ‘Home Away From Home’ in 2007 and played support for Tim Finn (Crowded House), Anika Moa, Dave Dobbyn, Evermore and many more.

 In 2013 Chris wrote and released ‘I Wanna Live Forever’ after an encounter with a highly regarded American scientist called Dr. Bill Andrews who was trying to make people live forever. The song became so popular amongst the scientific community that Chris was flown to San Diego in 2016 and 2017 to perform at a scientific medical conference in front of over 1000 delegates.  The song also went on to feature in all 9 episodes of the highest ever rating Norwegian TV (NRK) documentary viewed by over half a million per episode.

In his mid-thirties, Chris’s songwriting career took a sharp turn, which he puts down to becoming a dad. Drawing on inspiration from his 2 daughters he started to write books with music. It is in children’s music that Chris has seen his greatest success.

In 2016 he self-published and released his first picture book with music ‘Angel Star.’ Written about his eldest daughter’s wish for a sibling, the story sees the little girl pick the brightest star in the sky and guide it on an adventurous journey to the family home.  The book and song was an instant hit, with the song reaching #1 in iTunes and was sold through all book retailers in New Zealand. 

‘Angel Star’ went on to feature on the NZ on Air funded #1 hit iTunes album ‘These Memories Make You and Me’ released in 2018.

In 2018 Chris was commissioned by the National Ambulance service St John NZ to write a catchy song teaching kiwi children how to react in a medical emergency and call 111.  The ‘111 Ambulance Song’ became the highest-charting kiwi kids song that year, reaching #1 across all children’s charts and #2 in the all-genre iTunes chart. 

Written to support St John in Schools programme and to help them reach 1 million kiwi kids in schools to teach first aid by 2022, the song is a core part of their marketing strategy and is also sung by St John educators when they visit schools and Kindergartens. 

The subsequent book published by Chris called ‘Call For The Ambulance’ also went on to be a top seller with over 6000 copies sold in 18 months. He also completed a nationwide 80 show school tour performing to over 20,000 kids in just 20 days.

In December 2019 the Chris performed the ‘111 Ambulance Song’ with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra (APO) in a free concert for 500 children from lower decile kindergartens at the Manukau Events Centre.

Due to the success of the book and song, St John committed to working with Chris through to 2022 to develop more children’s content.

In January 2020 they released the ‘Who Wants to Be a Superhero’ stage show musical which debuted with 18 fully booked out shows at Whoa Studios.  Set in an ambulance station the full-scale production includes audio/visual and 3D special effects, costumes, props, and more new songs. The show was also supported by NZ on Air. 

The album ‘Who Wants to Be a Superhero’ also reached #1 in all kids charts and across all genres in Google Play.

At the premiere of the show for St John staff and sponsors Chris was given the honour ‘The Order of St John Priory Vote of Thanks’ from the Right Honourable Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy for extraordinary services to the work of St John.  This is a Royal Order of Chivalry with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as its Sovereign Head, and as such is an independent part of the New Zealand Honours System.

Chris intends to tour the show in 2020 as well as having other performers take on the role both in New Zealand and overseas.  In fact, Chris has already released variations of the ‘111 Ambulance song’ in the USA (911), UK (999) and Australia (000). 

To date, Chris has released 4 picture books with music, his latest being ‘The Lonely Book.’ He has sold more than 11,000 physical copies of his books in 3 years. Outside of writing children’s music and books, Chris also continues to write more “grown-up” songs. 

To listen to Chris Sanders, head over to the Songbroker Search Engine.