Kiwi kapa haka group performs INCREDIBLE a cappella cover of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in Te Reo Māori!

Publish Date
Monday, 25 February 2019, 12:08PM

Last year, the Hātea Kapa Haka group from Whangarei found online fame after their awesome cover of Queen's iconic hit 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in Te Reo Māori went viral on Facebook.

And now they've stunned crowds at Te Matatini - the national kapa haka festival that was held in Wellington over the weekend - with an incredible live a cappella performance of the legendary song.

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The group, who collaborated with internet sensation William Wairua, originally created the music video as a way to pay tribute to the band's lead singer, Freddie Mercury, and to celebrate the release of the Queen biopic, also titled 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

Hātea Kapa Haka head tutor Pauline Hopa said: "I have always loved the song, Bohemian Rhapsody. But never in my life did I think that we would be part of something this big."

"We only had two weeks to sort the song out with our group ... So we really had to get the team moulded because this was something new for us and some of our younger vocalists didn’t know the song. Once they did, it was like 'woah!'."

The music arrangement was conducted by David Tāpene, while the lyrics were translated by his daughter Te Amohaere Morehu, Otene Hopa and Raniera Harrison.

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