Performance

These days Rikki's main stage is Th' Dudes. He first toured with them as their 18-year-old sound engineer in 1979, his late brother Ian co-wrote many of their songs, and since the 2020 Bliss tour he has been part of the band alongside Peter Urlich, Bruce Hambling, Lez White and Brett Adams. He still plays the occasional solo show, too.

Rikki has been performing since he was seven. At eight, he and his older brother Ian won the 1ZB Talent Quest singing The Seekers' 'Walk With Me', live on air. The prize was $10 cash and $6 worth of groceries from Four Square.

His professional start came in 1981 with The Crocodiles. His fifth gig with the band was in front of 35,000 people at Sweetwaters. After 'Nobody Else' went to number one he toured the country twice supporting When The Cat's Away, then sang backing vocals for Jimmy Barnes, supported Bread and Hootie & the Blowfish, and toured with Tony Hadley and Paul Young.

He has played hundreds of corporate events for clients like Air New Zealand, Vodafone, Coca-Cola, TVNZ, Sky TV and NZ Rugby, as a solo act, in a duo with Chris Sanders or Chet O'Connell, or with one of his bands.