John Rowles

Who is John Rowles?

John Edward Rowles OBE is a New Zealand singer. He was most popular in the 1970s and early 1980s, and best known in New Zealand for his song Cheryl Moana Marie, which he had written about his kid sister.

Rowles was born in Whakatane, New Zealand, and is part Māori. His father, Eddie Hohapata Rowles, played for the 1938 Māori All Blacks. His mother was Pākehā. He was brought up in Kawerau, in the North Island of New Zealand. Rowles' birth name was simply John Rowles; he added the middle name "Edward" after his brother of that name died at a young age.

Rowles is best known in New Zealand and Australia, though he has also performed in the United States, particularly Las Vegas, Nevada and Hawaii, where he was managed by Kimo Wilder McVay. In the United Kingdom he was best known for the hit "If I Only Had Time", which reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart in spring 1968, and stayed in the chart for eighteen weeks. This was a cover version of the French song "Je n'aurai pas le temps" with which the French singer Michel Fugain, had a hit in 1967.

Rowles had another Top 20 hit in the UK with "Hush... Not a Word to Mary", also in 1968.