Ray Columbus OBE (4 November 1942 – 29 November 2016) was a New Zealand Benny Award-winning singer and songwriter, television host, music manager and entertainer, with a career spanning six decades. As the lead singer of Ray Columbus & the Invaders, his best-known hit was "She's A Mod".
Raymond John Patrick Columbus was born in Woolston, Christchurch, one of seven children to parents Jack and Cressey. At the age of nine he was selling icecreams at Christchurch's Avon Theatre, where he was wooed to rock'n'roll by Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock. He attended Xavier College in Christchurch and studied tap dancing but soon exchanged the dream of becoming Fred Astaire to rocking like the King.
In 1959 at the age of 17, he formed his first band, The Dominoes, but got his first break when he was asked to fill in for the lead singer in the Downbeats Band. He soon became the permanent lead singer and the band went on to become known Ray and the Drifters. His voice and charismatic stage presence brought local fame and in 1962 Columbus was offered his own TV show Club Columbus. He relocated to Auckland whereupon he changed the band's name to Ray Columbus & the Invaders in 1964.
The Invaders were known for their Fender guitars, dance moves and lavish clean-cut outfits. They split their time between Auckland and Sydney, building their profile. In 1964, the Invaders released their best-known song, "She's a Mod" The track was written by British musician Terry Beale for his group The Senators, but was not a hit. However, "She's A Mod" became a number one hit in Australia – the first song from a New Zealand group to reach the top of the charts in another country. Columbus even popped up on the big screen with The Invaders on the 1964 Kiwi thriller Runaway Killers, which also starred Barry Crump, Kiri Te Kanawa and 60s Bond girl Nadja Regin.
In 1965, the band released the single "Till We Kissed", which sold fifty thousand units. It was a re-titled version of "Where Have You Been (All My Life)", originally recorded by Arthur Alexander in 1962, and also performed by The Beatles during their Hamburg days. The Invaders' second album, Original Numbers, was the first album in New Zealand to include entirely self-composed songs.
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| Ray with Roy Orbison |
Columbus toured New Zealand and Australia with The Rolling Stones, Roy Orbison, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, The Hollies, Herman's Hermits and many other popular artists. When touring New Zealand with the Stones and Orbison in 1965, the Invaders performed as The Big O's backing band in addition to taking the stage as Ray Columbus & The Invaders. Although Ray Columbus and the Invaders only played together for another two years to 1966, they achieved lasting fame.
When the band split, Columbus spent two years living in the U.S. where he met and married his first wife Le'Vonne, with whom he had two children. He also toured the US with The Turtles and The Animals. During time spent in California he was offered auditions for both The Monkees and The Byrds, but turned both opportunities down. Returning to New Zealand, he hosted numerous television pop shows, including Ray Columbus presents New Faces, C'mon, Happen Inn and That's Country (which he co-created and helped sell to a US cable network). He was also a noted music manager, mentoring artists such as singer Suzanne Lynch.
Columbus seems to have won every major award going in the New Zealand entertainment world, including Entertainer of the Year, the Benny Award, the Apra Silver Scroll (twice), Top Entertainer on TV and Promoter/Manager of the Year.With his band The Invaders he also received The Legacy Award at the 2009 New Zealand Music Awards. Other career highlights include three Royal Command Performances and being an opening act of the 1974 New Zealand Commonwealth Games. He was also the first pop star in the British Commonwealth to receive an OBE. In the late 1990s, he managed the rock band Zed.
Columbus had suffered poor health since a heart attack in 2004 and strokes in 2008 and 2012 that left him partially paralysed. He released a biography in 2011, which stated that he had smoked for years and was a heavy drinker, which he managed to get under control with the help of his second wife, Linda whom he married in 1987.
Midway through 2013 he revealed he was terminally ill, suffering from an immune deficiency problem thought to have been brought on by the heavy medication he had to take due to the strokes.
Ray Columbus died peacefully at his Snells Beach, North Auckland residence in November 2016 aged 74.
(Edited from Wikipedia & Stuff.co.nz)