Opetaia is recognised as one of the South Pacific's most influential cultural and musical ambassadors. He is the frontman and songwriter for renowned Polynesian Band Te Vaka and a songwriter for Moana and Moana 2.
From the outset of his career he has been on a mission to tell the stories of his seafaring ancestors and to share their culture and stories with the world, and in the 30 years of his career thus far he hasn’t wavered, consistently writing music in the languages of Tokelau, Tuvalu and Samoa with topics highlighting stories and concerns from his part of the world.
Opetaia was born in a Tokelau settlement in a small village called Alamagoto in Samoa, to parents from Tokelau and Tuvalu. Growing up, he was surrounded by traditional rhythms, songs and dances which laid the foundation for his music today.
His family immigrated to New Zealand when he was 9 years old. As a teen he was exposed to Western music and fast became a Jimi Hendrix fan, but in 1994 he discovered his own sound and entered the World Music scene.
Opetaia's first demo, "Ki Te La" featured a rearrangement of a traditional Tokelauan song and resulted in a fresh new sound that caught the attention of many in the industry.
In 1997, Opetaia released his debut album Te Vaka (meaning "the canoe") and the Te Vaka band made its international debut with a 3 month European tour. Within a year, they were playing major festivals, including the Wintershall Charity Rock Concert, with Ringo Starr, Gary Brooker, Peter Frampton, Roger Taylor, Bob Geldof, Jack Bruce and other rock legends. They received rave reviews for their performances at WOMAD Festivals around the world. Opetaia and Te Vaka continued their winning streak in 1998 with performances in New Zealand, Europe, England and New Caledonia, highlighted by an appearance at SXSW in Austin, Texas. They appeared twice on local Texas TV news programs and were favourably reviewed by the New York Times .
Ki Mua, the second Te Vaka album, was released in 1999. Foa’i wrote and produced the record and saw the single, “Pate Pate” go to No.1 on radio stations around the Pacific and into the Top 10 on World Music Charts around the world. They finished the year with a nomination for “Best International Achievement” at the New Zealand Music Awards.
In 2002, Foa’i wrote the third Te Vaka album, Nukukehe which received a nomination from BBC Radio 3’s World Music Award for "Best Artist" in the Asia/Pacific category.
In 2003, while working on Tutuki, the fourth Te Vaka album, American film producers, John Garbett and Steve Ramirez approached Opetaia. They’d already licensed 2 Te Vaka tracks for a film they were making, The Legend of Johnny Lingo and requested that Foa'i write a theme song for the movie that was in English and was a love song - a request Opetaia was unwilling to fulfil either part of due to his dedication to writing about the Pacific in pacific languages. The producers persisted however, and so was born the bilingual hit Tamahana.
Tutuki was released in 2004 and entered the European World Music Chart at No. 4 and won “Best Pacific Album” in the New Zealand Music Awards.
After 4 more albums, The Creative New Zealand "Senior Pacific Artist" award for his contribution to the Pacific Arts, 2 "Best Pacific Album" New Zealand Music Awards (Olatiaand Amataga), 2 “Best Pacific Group" Pacific Music Awards (2008 & 2010), an Australian Songwriting Awards "Best International Song" (Tamahana), an ISC first place (Tamahana), Hawaiian Music Award "Polynesian Category" (Haoloto) and 2 “Best Pacific Language Song” Pacific Music Awards (Haoloto and Amataga), Opetaia was approached by Walt Disney Animation Studios to be a songwriter for the animated musical feature film, Moana.
After signing the contract with Disney in 2013, Opetaia went to work alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator of hit Broadway musical Hamilton) and Grammy-winning film composer Mark Mancina (Speed, Tarzan, The Lion King). Opetaia's songs in the film include Tulou Tagaloa, Logo te Pate, An Innocent Warrior and We Know the Way (English Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda) plus other collaborations with the music team. He also used the Te Vaka vocalists and drummers for the songs and the movie score.
The Moana movie and soundtrack were a huge success; the soundtrack album spending 23 weeks in the Top 10 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart (peaking at no. 2) and a single from it - We Know the Way spending 2 weeks on the Billboard Top 100 (a proud moment for Opetaia due to the fact that he sang the first verse in Samoan and the chorus in Tokelauan - an historic moment to see his languages on the Pop music charts).
In November of 2017, Moana won "Top Soundtrack" in the American Music Awards (AMAs) and was nominated in the 60th Grammy Awards for "Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media". In 2018 it won "Top Soundtrack" at the Billboard Music Awards.
Opetaia and Te Vaka performed at the World Premiere of Moana at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood in 2016 and in 2017 Opetaia received the "Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement Award" at the Pacific Music Awards and the "International Achievement Award" at the New Zealand Music Awards.
In August of 2017, Foa'i signed to Walt Disney Records to release "Te Vaka's Greatest Hits - Songs that Inspired Moana", an album of Opetaia's songs, handpicked by John Lasseter: the head of Disney and Pixar Creative.
Opetaia is known for addressing important subject matters in his music and interviews, including human rights violations (such as the horrific continuing genocide in West Papua), environmental issues (Climate change and his work with Greenpeace) and other humanitarian concerns. As such, giving back and improving the state of his Pacific Island neighbourhood is at the top of his agenda.
In 2023 Opetaia reprised his role as a songwriter on the much anticipated sequel Moana 2. Contributing new songs and reimagined versions of songs from the first film which he recorded with his Te Vaka singers and musicians in Australia.
In 2025 Opetaia was nominated for the Lifetime Acheivement Awards at the Pacific Music Awards
Opetaia resides in Sydney, Australia with his wife and is the father of 4. He continues to create music and is currently working on a new Te Vaka album.
From the outset of his career he has been on a mission to tell the stories of his seafaring ancestors and to share their culture and stories with the world, and in the 30 years of his career thus far he hasn’t wavered, consistently writing music in the languages of Tokelau, Tuvalu and Samoa with topics highlighting stories and concerns from his part of the world.
Opetaia was born in a Tokelau settlement in a small village called Alamagoto in Samoa, to parents from Tokelau and Tuvalu. Growing up, he was surrounded by traditional rhythms, songs and dances which laid the foundation for his music today.
His family immigrated to New Zealand when he was 9 years old. As a teen he was exposed to Western music and fast became a Jimi Hendrix fan, but in 1994 he discovered his own sound and entered the World Music scene.
Opetaia's first demo, "Ki Te La" featured a rearrangement of a traditional Tokelauan song and resulted in a fresh new sound that caught the attention of many in the industry.
In 1997, Opetaia released his debut album Te Vaka (meaning "the canoe") and the Te Vaka band made its international debut with a 3 month European tour. Within a year, they were playing major festivals, including the Wintershall Charity Rock Concert, with Ringo Starr, Gary Brooker, Peter Frampton, Roger Taylor, Bob Geldof, Jack Bruce and other rock legends. They received rave reviews for their performances at WOMAD Festivals around the world. Opetaia and Te Vaka continued their winning streak in 1998 with performances in New Zealand, Europe, England and New Caledonia, highlighted by an appearance at SXSW in Austin, Texas. They appeared twice on local Texas TV news programs and were favourably reviewed by the New York Times .
Ki Mua, the second Te Vaka album, was released in 1999. Foa’i wrote and produced the record and saw the single, “Pate Pate” go to No.1 on radio stations around the Pacific and into the Top 10 on World Music Charts around the world. They finished the year with a nomination for “Best International Achievement” at the New Zealand Music Awards.
In 2002, Foa’i wrote the third Te Vaka album, Nukukehe which received a nomination from BBC Radio 3’s World Music Award for "Best Artist" in the Asia/Pacific category.
In 2003, while working on Tutuki, the fourth Te Vaka album, American film producers, John Garbett and Steve Ramirez approached Opetaia. They’d already licensed 2 Te Vaka tracks for a film they were making, The Legend of Johnny Lingo and requested that Foa'i write a theme song for the movie that was in English and was a love song - a request Opetaia was unwilling to fulfil either part of due to his dedication to writing about the Pacific in pacific languages. The producers persisted however, and so was born the bilingual hit Tamahana.
Tutuki was released in 2004 and entered the European World Music Chart at No. 4 and won “Best Pacific Album” in the New Zealand Music Awards.
After 4 more albums, The Creative New Zealand "Senior Pacific Artist" award for his contribution to the Pacific Arts, 2 "Best Pacific Album" New Zealand Music Awards (Olatiaand Amataga), 2 “Best Pacific Group" Pacific Music Awards (2008 & 2010), an Australian Songwriting Awards "Best International Song" (Tamahana), an ISC first place (Tamahana), Hawaiian Music Award "Polynesian Category" (Haoloto) and 2 “Best Pacific Language Song” Pacific Music Awards (Haoloto and Amataga), Opetaia was approached by Walt Disney Animation Studios to be a songwriter for the animated musical feature film, Moana.
After signing the contract with Disney in 2013, Opetaia went to work alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator of hit Broadway musical Hamilton) and Grammy-winning film composer Mark Mancina (Speed, Tarzan, The Lion King). Opetaia's songs in the film include Tulou Tagaloa, Logo te Pate, An Innocent Warrior and We Know the Way (English Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda) plus other collaborations with the music team. He also used the Te Vaka vocalists and drummers for the songs and the movie score.
The Moana movie and soundtrack were a huge success; the soundtrack album spending 23 weeks in the Top 10 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart (peaking at no. 2) and a single from it - We Know the Way spending 2 weeks on the Billboard Top 100 (a proud moment for Opetaia due to the fact that he sang the first verse in Samoan and the chorus in Tokelauan - an historic moment to see his languages on the Pop music charts).
In November of 2017, Moana won "Top Soundtrack" in the American Music Awards (AMAs) and was nominated in the 60th Grammy Awards for "Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media". In 2018 it won "Top Soundtrack" at the Billboard Music Awards.
Opetaia and Te Vaka performed at the World Premiere of Moana at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood in 2016 and in 2017 Opetaia received the "Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement Award" at the Pacific Music Awards and the "International Achievement Award" at the New Zealand Music Awards.
In August of 2017, Foa'i signed to Walt Disney Records to release "Te Vaka's Greatest Hits - Songs that Inspired Moana", an album of Opetaia's songs, handpicked by John Lasseter: the head of Disney and Pixar Creative.
Opetaia is known for addressing important subject matters in his music and interviews, including human rights violations (such as the horrific continuing genocide in West Papua), environmental issues (Climate change and his work with Greenpeace) and other humanitarian concerns. As such, giving back and improving the state of his Pacific Island neighbourhood is at the top of his agenda.
In 2023 Opetaia reprised his role as a songwriter on the much anticipated sequel Moana 2. Contributing new songs and reimagined versions of songs from the first film which he recorded with his Te Vaka singers and musicians in Australia.
In 2025 Opetaia was nominated for the Lifetime Acheivement Awards at the Pacific Music Awards
Opetaia resides in Sydney, Australia with his wife and is the father of 4. He continues to create music and is currently working on a new Te Vaka album.