A beloved musical icon of Aotearoa New Zealand, Sir Dave Dobbyn is the hand and voice behind classic Kiwi hits like Loyal, Welcome Home and Slice of Heaven.
The musician, singer–songwriter and record producer formed his first band, Th’ Dudes, in the late ‘70s, going on to lead his second band, DD Smash in the early ‘80s. He launched his hugely successful solo career by writing the soundtrack music for the animated feature film Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale in 1986. The soundtrack’s hit Slice of Heaven spent eight weeks at No 1 in New Zealand, and four in Australia where Dobbyn lived for 10 years until the early 1990s. In 1988 Dobbyn released his debut album, Loyal, at No 1. The album’s title song has topped top-100 polls year on year.
Dobbyn has penned many other hits, including Beside You, Be Mine Tonight, Language, Outlook for Thursday, Whaling, Kingdom Come, It Dawned On Me, Guilty, Devil You Know, Magic What She Do and Oughta Be in Love. He holds the most Silver Scroll awards for song writing. In 2001, Dobbyn was given a lifetime achievement award by the New Zealand recording industry.
After his decade in Australia, Dobbyn returned to his home country and continued to surprise and delight the nation with new tours, collaborations and songs.
In late 2020, Dobbyn was appointed a Knights’ Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to music. He was first named an Officer in 2003.
From pubs and living rooms to national memorial events, Dobbyn’s songs are woven into everyday life in Aotearoa New Zealand. With this stamp issue, we take a moment to appreciate how much Sir Dave Dobbyn has contributed to our culture and musical landscape.
Date of issue: 3 June 2026