“You left us way too soon”: Tributes flow for Margaret Ulrich
Margaret Ulrich, the New Zealand singer best known for her vocals on Daryl Braithwaite’s hit The Horses, has died aged 57 after battling breast cancer for two and a half years.
The songstress passed away peacefully at her home in the NSW Southern Highlands on Monday, surrounded by her family.
Tributes to Ulrich have since poured in from fans, artists, and TV stars from Australia and New Zealand.
“RIP Margaret Ulrich. Such a beautiful singer. My heart goes out to George and her family. You left us way too soon,” Aussie icon Jimmy Barnes tweeted.
“One of the most beautiful voices to come out of New Zealand has fallen silent,” Project co-host Angela Bishop wrote.
😢THAT Voice, THAT fashion style for a tom-boy like me. I got to do an Advert with other female artists for TVNZ.I was a 13 yr old nerdy kid. SHE was super gorgeous. 🕊Margaret Urlich an absolute icon from that beautiful melting pot of talent. Moe mai ra beautiful💔🎵 #Escaping pic.twitter.com/XW7O1FchxM
— TheBlackSheep.com (@74MasterBlaster) August 22, 2022
“The beautiful Margaret Ulrich… one of the most unique vibratos and NZ voices,” TVNZ journalist Indira Stewart shared.
“Vale #margaretulrich Much love to George and the family … and immense respect for the beautiful and talented artist who blazed a trail. R.I.P. Margaret 💔,” Channel Nine’s Richard Wilkins added.
“Margaret Ulrich, trailblazer & wonderful human. I was in awe of her as a kid. Aroha (love) to all hurting from this loss,” New Zealand singer-songwriter Hollie Smith said.
Ulrich began her career as the vocalist for the band Peking Man, before joining When The Cat’s Away, a Kiwi all-girl pop group.
She later made history as the first solo female artist to take the number one spot in the official New Zealand Music Charts with her hit song Escaping, which came from her 1989 debut album Safety in Numbers.
Her follow-up album, Chameleon Dreams (1992), spawned the hits Boy in the Moon and Burnt Sienna.
But, Ulrich’s Aussie music fame came after she was a guest vocalist on Braithwaite’s 1991 hit, which spent 12 weeks in the Top 10 and 23 weeks in the Top 50 Australian charts and has since been recognised as a beloved national anthem.
In 2016, Ulrich admitted she regrets not appearing in the music video, which was being filmed while she was recording an album in London.
“I could have come back to do the video but I was doing my own thing by that stage,” she told News Corp.
“A lot of people know it's my singing, but they don't put two and two together that it's not me in the video.
“In retrospect, it was probably a little bit silly because the song was so huge. But at the time I was young and a bit stupid, I did what I thought was right. But it was absolutely no disrespect to Daryl.”
That same year, Braithwaite claimed in an interview commemorating 25 years since The Horses was released that Ulrich pulled out of the video at the last minute.
Image: Twitter