Renowned entertainer and Maori youth leader Howard Morrison was born in Rotorua in 1935 and educated at Te Aute College. In 1955, while working as a surveyor's chainman, he started putting together vocal groups to entertain at rugby club socials in Rotorua. In 1956 he toured Australia as a member of the Aotearoa Concert Party.

On his return, he heard guitarist Gerry Merito and put together a group with him and two others, named the Howard Morrison Quartet. In 1958 they became part of Benny Levin's touring 'Pop Jamboree.' A recording they made of "Hoki Mai/ Po Karekare Ana" sold well, and in 1959 their parody of "The Battle Of New Orleans," written by Gerry Merito and recorded as The Battle Of The Waikato, became one of their biggest hits.

In 1960 they were so popular their managers released 13 singles, 3 EP's and 2 LP's. Another parody of Lonnie Donegan, "My Old Man's A Dustman" became "My Old Man's An All Black." This was highly topical because of the huge controversy over Maoris not being allowed to tour South Africa with that year's All Blacks.

Moving into 1962, two more of their singles were parodies, with Ray Steven's "Ahab The Arab" becoming "Mori The Hori" and an Australian convict/bushranger song, "The Wild Colonial Boy," becoming "George The Wilder Colonial Boy," celebrating the exploits of escaped convict George Wilder. Half way through the Quartet's version, Howard himself did a gimmick intervention, singing a brief falsetto piece of "Come home Speedy George Wilder" in imitation of Pat Boone's "Speedy Gonzales."

Due to the constant touring and absence from families, the quartet disbanded in 1965. Howard then worked as a solo entertainer and became very popular singing in Hilton hotels in Asia, and later in Hawaii.

But this gave him a strange sense of non-fulfillment as just a 'singer of songs.' In 1976 became a consultant on youth development for the Department Of Maori Affairs, undertaking a program of school visits designed to improve Maori pupil's sense of self esteem, and to encourage them to move on to higher levels of learning. He also developed wananga or education programs on marae.

For six years, Howard became a scarce commodity on the entertainment scene. But in July 1982 he took part in a Television Special. An LP called "Howard Morrison" was made from this, and sold in huge quantities with Howard's versions of "Begin the Beguine," "Granada" "Howie the Maori" etc. But the real highlight was Howard's version of "How Great Thou Art."

While at a Tu Tangata hui in Auckland one day, he heard the hymn, "How Great Thou Art" or "Whakaaria Mai" being sung during the opening prayers. His hair stood on end and he knew at once that this was his song. It was a stunning success when released as a single, holding the number one position on the National charts for five weeks and remained in the charts for over six months.

In April 1990 Howard was nominated for a Knighthood and in October the ceremony was held at Howard's home marae of Ohinemutu where he became Sir Howard Morrison.