Impossible: My Story

For the first time, the incomparable R&B superstar Stan Walker tells his story of hurt, hope and courage. After definitively winning the 2009 season of Australian Idol at the age of 19, R&B sensation Stan Walker’s career went from strength to strength. His first album, Introducing Stan Walker, went platinum in Australia and triple platinum in New Zealand; his second; From the Inside Out, debuted at number one on the New Zealand Albums Charts and number two on the ARIA charts. He’s won multiple New Zealand Music Awards, been a judge on The X Factor NZ, and played starring roles in films Mt Zion and Born to Dance.

Yet few knew what he had had to overcome reach these dizzying heights.

Before Australian Idol, Walker had survived a childhood marred with poverty, domestic violence and sexual abuse; dabbled in crime and drug use; and suffered his own personal tragedy. For the first time, he speaks candidly about his rags-to-riches story – and the trials and tribulations he’s had to deal with since.

The trans-Tasman R&B superstar’s raw and open memoir is a lesson that no matter how many setbacks, no matter the odds, you will succeed if you have the courage and belief to do so.

Author Biography

Stan Walker is a trans-Tasman musician, performing artist and actor. He was born in Melbourne and grew up between Tauranga, New Zealand, and Ocean Shores, New South Wales. Walker was the winner of the seventh and final season of Australian Idol in 2009, and was a judge on the first and second season of The X Factor NZ, in 2013 and 2015. Over the past decade Walker has become one of Aotearoa’s most respected figures, and continues to devote much of his life to his family, his people, and to maoritanga.

Stan has earned eight gold and five platinum singles as well as one double platinum and one triple platinum single in New Zealand. Along the way, Walker has received eight New Zealand Music Awards and five ARIA Music Award nominations. He’s won the Waiata Maori Award for Radio Airplay Record of the Year five times, in 2010, 2011 and then three consecutive years in a row from 2013 to 2015. Walker has also appeared in the feature films Mount Zion (2013), Born to Dance (2015) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). He currently lives in Auckland, New Zealand.