Sharon Lea O'Neill[1] (born 23 November 1952)[2] is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and pianist, who had an Australasian hit single in 1983 with "Maxine" which reached No.
[3][4][5] Sharon O'Neill is a self taught musician who learned to play guitar by ear and started composing at an early age, by putting chords to her poetry.
In 1977, encouraged by Shiner guitarist and future husband Brent Thomas, O'Neill began concentrating on song writing.
In 1978, O'Neill performed the track "Luck's on Your Table" on the New Zealand TV show The Entertainers, where she finished third.
It reached number 27 on the New Zealand singles chart and was included on her debut album This Heart This Song, which was released in February 1979.
That same year she received an APRA Silver Scroll Award for the song "Face in a Rainbow" from her debut album.
O'Neill joined Jon Stevens on a duet called "Don't Let Love Go", which reached number 5 in New Zealand in March 1980.
[1] She wrote "Blood Red Roses" for the movie soundtrack of "Street Hero" and music for "Dancing Daze".
O'Neill met American keyboardist and songwriter Alan Mansfield on Dragon's Body and the Beat Tour of New Zealand in 1984—they later became domestic and professional partners.
[10] In October 1987, O'Neill returned with her fifth studio album Danced in the Fire on Polygram,[2] which featured some biographical songs about her legal wrangles with CBS.
In 2018, O'Neill performed a duet with Ben Ransom titled "Young Years", the song she co-wrote for the group Dragon.