Phillipa Margaret "Pip" Brown[1] (born 13 July 1979), better known by her stage name Ladyhawke, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

In 2007 she moved to London, around 2013 to Los Angeles,[2] and then subsequently relocating back to her native New Zealand after the release of her third album, Wild Things.

At age ten she contracted erysipeloid, a disease that is common in seagulls and sharks but had not been seen in humans in New Zealand for twenty years.

Her allergies to antibiotics and antihistamines greatly complicated treatment efforts and almost put her into a coma, and she came close to dying.

[10][11] She believes that the large amount of her childhood she spent absorbed in music, be it listening to the radio or to her mother's Beatles and Pretenders albums, was attributable to this syndrome.

[13][14] She cites her experience playing the notorious New York City club CBGB with Two Lane Blacktop as being a defining moment.

[14] In 2003 Two Lane Blacktop disbanded when their lead singer, Matt Harrop, and drummer, Phil Smiley, both quit the band two days prior to a scheduled tour of Australia with Modey Lemon, after which they were due to play at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

[14] Some time after Brown's move to Melbourne, Sydney-based musician Nick Littlemore of Pnau (he later formed Empire of the Sun) heard of her relocation and asked her if she was interested in joining an art rock band he had started called Teenager.

Mess + Noise's Craig Mathieson described the album as "a pop record, albeit a particularly exotic species that equally suggests creative guile and hints of self-indulgence ... 'Pony' is the closest the album comes to cheap genre holidaying, approximating rock attitude when the organic and desperate growth of 'Bound And Gagged' is so much more impressive".

So we jumped in the car, and he drove me out to his parents' house, and we recorded that song ... that was the start for me, where he helped me get the confidence.Still close with Littlemore, Brown decided to leave Teenager to focus on a personal project she had been developing for some time, a persona she had dubbed Ladyhawke.

She says: "I wanted to make music that could put a smile on people's faces and give them a feeling of nostalgia even though they may be hearing my songs for the first time.

[26] In August 2009 it was announced that she would co-headline a North American tour with Ida Maria, starting 10 September in Atlanta and concluding 3 October in Los Angeles.

[34] In an interview with Digital Spy, Ladyhawke said "I've made an album I'm really proud of, so I just can't wait to start playing with the band again, and touring and having some fun.

"[35] "Black White & Blue" was released as Anxiety's lead single on 24 January 2012, the song was featured in the soundtracks of the video games Forza Horizon, FIFA 13, and Sleeping Dogs.

[44] Ladyhawke stated how she was "....lucky and privileged to be alive and in a room making music" after being diagnosed with Clark's level-four melanoma soon after the birth of her daughter.

She started the recording process for Time Flies during the COVID-19 pandemic, with sessions taking place during video calls with producers Tommy English and Josh Fountain.

[47] The Charlatans' Tim Burgess said in September 2010 that he is collaborating with Ladyhawke and members of The Horrors and Klaxons on his second solo album.

"I've been working with Josh [Hayward], the guitarist from The Horrors and Stefan [Halperin], the drummer from the Klaxons and right now we can only do stuff when our other bands aren't doing things.

"[48][49] In December 2011, Burgess revealed that he had collaborated with Ladyhawke on a song entitled "Just One Kiss",[50] which was eventually released on his 2018 album As I Was Now.

[54] Pnau vocalist Nick Littlemore spoke of their experience working together again, stating "It seems every time we’ve collaborated with her it’s been incendiary.

[55] In August 2024, Lawyhawke on stage in Sydney playing her self titled debut in full confirmed she had been working with Nick Littlemore on their 2007 project Teenager with new music to be released.

[62] Ladyhawke's music has also been likened to that of Cyndi Lauper,[57] Pat Benatar, Kim Wilde, Annie and New Young Pony Club.

Labels were illustrated by Sydney-based artist Sarah Larnach, who lived with Ladyhawke back when she was first getting started on her music career.