Virginia Claire Wigmore (born 6 June 1986) is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Featured on the Smashproof single “Brother” in 2009, Wigmore went on to release four albums Holy Smoke (2009), Gravel & Wine (2011), Blood to Bone (2015) and Ivory (2018), with the first three having been chart-toppers on the New Zealand Albums Chart. She is known for her high pitched and raspy voice.

Inspired by David Gray’s album White Ladder, Wigmore wrote her first song, “Angelfire”, at the age of 14. Two years later her father died of cancer and Wigmore stopped writing and playing music. She went to Argentina on an exchange program to teach at a kindergarten. On her return to New Zealand, she wrote “Hallelujah”, a tribute to her father.[6] Her sister entered the song in the US-based International Songwriting Competition in 2004, and Wigmore beat 11,000 songwriting aspirants from 77 countries to become the youngest and only unsigned Grand Prize winner in the history of the competition. She also won the Teen category with “Angelfire”.

Hallelujah was my way of telling my family I had dealt with dad’s passing and honestly, I didn’t want to share these feelings with anyone else. I wanted the moment for myself and my family.

Extended Play was Wigmore’s first EP. It was produced by Tony Buchen (Blue King Brown, The Whitlams, Macromantics, Kid Confucius) and contains the tracks “Hallelujah”, “These Roses”, “SOS”, “Under My Skin”, and “Easy Come Easy Go”. Australian musician John Butler played ukulele on song “SOS”. Released in 2008, the EP peaked at number ten in the New Zealand charts. It was certified Platinum in New Zealand on 2 May 2010, selling over 15,000 copies.

Extended Play was released in Australia on 2 August 2008 by Island Records. Wigmore was the first artist signed with Island Records, a partner company with Universal Music Group, Australia. She toured with Australian artist Pete Murray on his national tour in August/September 2008. Wigmore toured in 2008, including at the Cross Town Revue in Auckland, and in December 2008, toured with musicians John Mellencamp and Sheryl Crow in New Zealand. Her hit single “Under My Skin” was featured on an Air New Zealand advertising campaign, Nothing to Hide.

Wigmore featured in the 2009 song and video of “Brother” by new group Smashproof, also from Auckland.

In 2009, Wigmore released her debut full-length album Holy Smoke, recorded with The Cardinals of Ryan Adams & the Cardinals fame. The first single from the album, “Oh My”, debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number twenty-one on 24 August 2009, moving to number seven the following week. It peaked at number four.

Three other singles were released during 2010, “I Do” charted at no. 14 on the Official New Zealand Singles Chart, while third single “Hey Ho” missed out on a top 20 position by charting just outside at no. 21. The fourth single taken from Holy Smoke was “Too Late For Lovers”, and despite hitting no. 3 on the NZ40 Airplay chart, the single failed to crack the national Top 40. During the week of 30 May 2010, all four of Wigmore’s singles from Holy Smoke appeared on the NZ40 Airplay Chart ‘Too Late For Lovers’ #7, ‘Oh My’ #23, ‘Hey Ho’ #24, ‘I Do’ #37

The single “Oh My” is the theme track for the series The Almighty Johnsons. Wigmore’s single “Hey Ho” appeared during the closing scenes of the Weeds Season 6 Finale. In September 2011, Home Improvement Retailer Lowe’s began a new brand campaign featuring Wigmore’s single “Don’t Stop”. Her song “Stealing Happiness” appeared in the TV movie “Tangiwai”.

Wigmore travelled for two months in Mississippi and Alabama to get a Southern United States inspiration for her second album which would be recorded in California under producer Butch Walker. In September 2011, Wigmore revealed the title and release of her new album Gravel & Wine on her official Facebook page. The first single “Black Sheep” was released 26 September 2011, debuting at #13 in the Official New Zealand Music Chart. The album was released on 7 November 2011. It debuted atop the New Zealand charts, and at #29 on the Australian Albums Chart. Wigmore also released music videos for “Man Like That” and “If Only”.

“Black Sheep” appeared in episode 12, season 8 of television series Grey’s Anatomy, in episode 2, season 2 of Teen Wolf, in episode 5, season 5 of The Good Wife, and in episode 1 season 1 of Wynonna Earp. She appeared singing it on Gift of Revenge, a segment of ABC’s television show Revenge season 2, episode 7. The song was also used in television commercials for Guinness Black Lager and Nissan Rogue Midnight Edition (2017) in the United States.