The three-time Grammy-nominated United States recording artist and Emmy winner is playing mainly smaller venues in her "Unplugged & Intimate" tour.
Childs is best known for songs Don't Walk Away, Stop Your Fussin', House of Hope, I've Got to Go Now and Because You're Beautiful.
Her late '80s album Union was one of three to go platinum in New Zealand.
The southern shows will see Childs roll out all the old blockbuster hits, as well as performing songs from her soon-to-be-released album, Citizens of the Planet.
"I am looking forward so much to singing in Dunedin. I am a citizen of the planet, and my purpose is to inspire, so I hope this visit will raise the fun level in people's lives and blast the doors off the hinges to our personal cages of limitation," Childs said.
The new album is being financed by fans, and it was estimated New Zealand supporters would have contributed more than $120,000 by the time she played the first gig of the tour, in Matakana, last night.
• Catch her
Childs plays the Westpac Mayfair Theatre in Dunedin on Friday, December 9, and Moonlight Country and Stables, Queenstown on December 10.
