Hollie Smith debuts tribute song to Helena McAlpine

Helena McAlpine, left, with Hollie Smith and Ladi 6 at the 2014 New Zealand Music Awards. Photo/Norrie Montgomery

Hollie Smith has debuted a heartfelt song written about and dedicated to her "best friend" Helena McAlpine.

McAlpine, a well-known Auckland TV presenter and personality, died in September last year at the age of 37 after a long battle with breast cancer.

Kiwi songstress Hollie Smith today released a song called Helena, "a tribute to Hollie's best friend who sadly passed away after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer".

The video opens with a note saying Smith wrote the song with McAlpine's husband Christopher Barton for their wedding ceremony in December 2014.

"I managed to finish recording it on the evening of September 22 2015 and I played it to her the next morning," the note says. McAlpine died the next day.

The note ends with the message: "I lost my best friend."

- nzherald.co.nz