Who is Fred Again and why are young Kiwis so obsessed?

In recent years, English DJ Fred Again has become a global sensation – and it's undeniable that young Kiwis are especially in love with him.

While his popularity isn’t a surprise to fans, his sharp rise to fame has left many New Zealanders struggling to understand who he is, and how an unassuming 30-year-old can sell out two Spark Arena shows in less than an hour.

To put it simply, Fred Again is a record producer, DJ, singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has a unique style of blending house, pop, UK garage and hip-hop.

Although he only released his first album in 2020, he’s been on the production side of the music scene for some time – and worked with artists such as Stormzy, Charli XCX, and K-Pop band BTS in the past.

In fact, according to The Tab, about 30% of 2019's number one singles in the UK were produced by him.

Last year, he also headlined Coachella – replacing Frank Ocean who pulled out of the second week.

However, all of this doesn’t explain "the buzz".

It’s not exaggerating to say Gen-Z Kiwis have been put under a spell by the English DJ.

Over 45,000 people were waiting in a digital queue to buy tickets for just one of his shows in Auckland this week.

The excitement surrounding Fred Again’s gigs can be put down to his last-minute announcements.

He typically keeps shows close to his chest, often announcing and selling tickets on the spot on his social media with no fancy marketing or build-up.

These concerts can also be incredibly small. He has a track record of performing shows with only a few hundred people despite his capability to sell out stadiums.

Recently, Fred Again had been touring Australia, selling-out arenas within minutes of making an announcement.

These appearances had Kiwis speculating about his potential return to New Zealand.

All of this tied together with cryptic messages – such as posting a crewmember watching a Jonah Lomu compilation before flying to Wellington – only helped build the hype and speculation.

Fred Again is not shy about expressing his love for Aotearoa.

In 2023, he played at Wellington’s Shed 6, and was scheduled to play at Laneway Festival in Auckland until it was cancelled due to flooding.

Wasting no time, Fred Again stayed in Wellington, where he expressed his undying love for the city, and organised a small concert at Club 121 to help raise funds for Auckland's flood victims.

While the fundraiser was a display of his character, the floods also meant many Kiwis missed out last year, and have been waiting for his return ever since.

It’s not often you can be roaming around Wellington and bump into someone who headlined at Coachella. But that’s Fred Again.

Not only that, he also has his own pub quiz team at Wellington’s Welsh Dragon Bar, and often goes out of his way to give his time to fans who approach him.

Yesterday, Stuff reported the star was also seen at Wellington’s Maranui Café, playing an unannounced show to a small group of people who just happened to be there.

One of his more famous moments included his forgiving reaction to a fan who accidentally stopped his live Boiler Room set.

For context, Boiler Room is a London-based broadcaster and promoter which live streams their shows, often to massive huge numbers.

At the time of writing, his set was the third most streamed of all time at 31 million views.

Needless to say, it was an important performance and the mistake led to a funny, very human moment.

But it's these moments, along with his professed love of New Zealand, that have left fans obsessed.

Fred Again performs tonight in Wellington at Waitangi Park. Here's what you need to know about the show: