Canadian Artists on Canadian Artists – Happy 150th Birthday Canada!
Canada. Look at you, you beautiful country all filled with great people and poutine! How about those artists? Tom Cochrane, Bryan Adams, Rush, The Tragically Hip… there’s too many to list here so we invited a few talented artists to our studios to rhyme off a few more.
Watch our latest video below celebrating this beautiful country’s 150th birthday. Plus we’ve put together a list of our favourite 150 Canadian Music moments. Check out the list and let us know what we missed (comment at the bottom).
Happy 150th Canada!
150 Greatest Canadian Musical Moments
Musician |
Other Musicians Involved |
Song |
About the Moment |
|
| Prince | Purple Rain | Prince marries a Canadian woman and moves to Toronto | ||
| Parachute Club | Rise Up | Parachute Club “Rise Up” becomes gay anthem | ||
| The Rolling Stones | Jumping Jack Flash | The Stones play CNIB charity concerts in Oshawa as part of Keith Richards sentence for heroin possession. | ||
| Stompin’ Tom Connors | The Hockey Song | Stompin’ Tom Connors records The Hockey Song | ||
| Gordon Lightfoot | Sundown | Gordon Lightfoot “Sundown” goes to #1 | ||
| Led Zeppelin | Man-Pop Festival in August 1970 features Led Zeppelin, Chilliwack, Iron Butterfly, and others | |||
| Trooper | Raise a Little Hell | In 1978 Trooper release “Thick as Theives”, featuring their only US chart hit (and an arena classic) “Raise a Little Hell” | ||
| Rush | Rush inducted into RRHoF | |||
| Bryan Adams | Summer of 69 | “Summer of ’69” goes to #1 | ||
| Loverboy | Turn Me Loose | Loverboy releases debut album in 1980, featuring “The Kid is Hot Tonite” and “Turn Me Loose” | ||
| Sarah McLachlan | Sweet Surrender | Sarah McLachlan creates “Lilith Fair” | ||
| Aerosmith | Angel | Aerosmith starts comeback in Vancouver to record new album | ||
| Sarah McLachlan | Adia | Sarah McLachlan releases “Surfacing” and wins two Grammy Awards (1997) | ||
| John Lennon | The Beatles | Give Peace a Chance | John Lennon bed in (Montreal) and records “Give Peace a Chance” | |
| Sheryl Crow | Tragically Hip | All I Wanna Do | The Hip create Another Roadside Attraction festival | |
| Triumph | Rik Emmett leaves Triumph in 1988, after playing the Kingswood Stage at Canada’s Wonderland. He wrote many of the band’s songs, including their biggest hit “Somebody’s Out There” | |||
| The Guess Who | No Time | First JUNO Awards 1970 | ||
| The Band | Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan meets The Band | ||
| U2 | Daniel Lanois is invited to produce “Achtung Baby” for U2 | |||
| The Guess Who | American Woman | The Guess Who’s American Woman goes to #1 | ||
| Neil Young | Neil Young comeback with “Harvest Moon” | |||
| The Rolling Stones | Start Me Up | SARS Concert in 2003 features Rush, AC/DC, Justin Timberlake, The Guess Who, and The Rolling Stones. Becomes largest ticketed event in Canadian history (450k to 500k people) | ||
| Gordon Lightfoot | Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald | Gordon Lightfood records “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” | ||
| The Police | Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic | The Police record their classic “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” at Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec. The song goes to #1 in the UK and #3 in the US. | ||
| Fiest | Fiest song 1-2-3-4 takes off after use in Apple iPod Nano commercial, becomes one of the top songs of 2007 | |||
| Tragically Hip | Tragically Hip “discovered” at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern | |||
| The Band | Bob Dylan | Like a Rolling Stone | The Band backs Bob Dylan as he goes electric | |
| Tragically Hip | Neil Young | Rocking in the Free World | Live 8 concert in Barrie, ON features Deep Purple, Tragically Hip, Neil Young (July 2, 2005) | |
| The Rolling Stones | Honky Tonk Woman | Stones play the El Mocombo | ||
| Jann Arden | Jann Arden goes to top 10 in the USA with “Insensitve” in 1994 | |||
| Jeff Healey | Jeff Healey’s “Angel Eyes” goes to #5 in the US | |||
| Max Webster | Kim MItchell | Paradise Skies | Max Webster plays UK “Top of the Pops” TV show, performing “Paradise Skies” (1979) | |
| Mamas & The Papas | California Dreamin | Denny Doherty forms Mamas & The Papas | ||
| Tragically Hip | Grace, Too | The Hip play SNL in 1995 (Grace Too) | ||
| Barenaked Ladies | Brian Wilson | Stephen Page leaves Barenaked Ladies | ||
| The Guess Who | In 2000, founding members Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman tour again as The Guess Who for the first time since Bachman left the band in 1970 | |||
| Tragically Hip | Tragically Hip plays Woodstock ’99 | |||
| Bob Marley | Waiting in Vain | Bob Marley writes several of his greatest songs about Cindy Breakspeare, a Canadian model and Miss World 1976. She inspires “Waiting In Vain” and “Turn Your Lights Down Low”, and is mother to Grammy award winning reggae artist Damian Marley | ||
| Rush | Rush releases “2112” | |||
| Glass Tiger | Bryan Adams | Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone) | Glass Tiger teams up with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart | |
| Roger Daltry | Bryan Adams | Let Me Down Easy | Bryan Adams meets Jim Vallance in 1978. | |
| Platinum Blonde | Doesn’t Really Matter | Platinum Blonde dominate MuchMusic and MTV with videos for “Standing In The Dark” and “Doesn’t Really Matter” from their 1983 debut album | ||
| Neil Young | Neil Young plays Live Aid in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985 both as a solo act and with CSNY | |||
| U2 | With or Without You | Daniel Lanois produces Joshua Tree | ||
| Tragically Hip | Wheat Kings | The Hip form in Kingston | ||
| U2 | I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For | U2 launches their worldwide “Joshua Tree” anniversary tour in Vancouver (May 2017) | ||
| Andy Kim | Sugar Sugar | Andy Kim writes “Sugar Sugar” for The Archie, and it becomes the biggest song of 1969 | ||
| Max Webster | Kim Mitchell | Kim Mitchell disolves Max Webster after a show in Memphis opening for Rush (April 1981) | ||
| Robbie Robertson | The Band | Robbie Robertson solo debut | ||
| Heart | Magic Man | Heart dodges the draft and comes to Canada | ||
| Northern Lights | Tears Are Not Enough | Northern Lights for Africa release “Tears Are Not Enough” in 1985 | ||
| Neil Young | Neil Young releases “Harvest” | |||
| Neil Young | Buffalo Springfield inducted into RRHoF | |||
| Rush | Rush biggest crowd ever in Brazil | |||
| BTO | Roll On Down The Highway | Bachman Turner Overdrive goes #1 in the US with “Not Fragile” album | ||
| Burton Cummings | The Guess Who | Break It To Them Gently | In 2009, Burton Cummings receives the Order of Canada | |
| Andy Kim | Rock Me Gently | Andy Kim goes to #1 with Rock Me Gently | ||
| BTO | Taking Care of Business | In 1994, Randy Bachman led 1,322 guitarists as they played “Taking Care of Business” for 68 minutes. It would set a Guiness record for the largest number of people playing the guitar simultaneously. | ||
| Burton Cummings | The Guess Who | Stand Tall | Burton Cummings left The Guess Who in 1975 and released his first hit “Stand Tall” in 1976. It goes to #1 in Canada and top 10 in the USA | |
| Rush | New World Man | Rush releases “Signals” album in 1982, featuring the band’s only US top 40 hit “New World Man” | ||
| The Spoons | Arias & Symphonies | The Spoons become Canada’s new wave music leaders with their breakthrough album “Arias & Symphonies” in 1982 | ||
| The Police | Every Breath You Take | Police open 2007 reunion tour with two shows in Vancouver | ||
| Hootie & The Blowfish | I Go Blind | Hootie and Blowfish make 54-40 rich by covering “I Go Blind” | ||
| John Lennon | The Beatles | John Lennon plays Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in 1969 | ||
| Doobie Brothers | China Grove | Canada Jam Festival on August 25, 1978 at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, ON attracts 110,000 fans to see Doobie Brothers, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Village People, etc | ||
| Rush | Rush final tour | |||
| Ann Murray | Snowbird becomes a hit song in America | |||
| Leondard Cohen | Leondard Cohen records “Hallelujah” in 1984 | |||
| Corey Hart | Never Surrender | While on tour in Montreal in 1982, Billy Joel meets a young singer named Corey Hart. Billy would record several demos with Hart and helped start his career | ||
| Bruce Cockburn | Wondering Where The Lions are | Bruce Cockburn performs “Wondering Where The Lions Are” on SNL 1980 | ||
| U2 | After some sparse years in the late 90s, U2 returned to form with “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” in 2000. It featured the hit “Beautiful Day” and was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. | |||
| Barenaked Ladies | One Week | Barenaked Ladies go #1 with One Week | ||
| BTO | You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet | “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” goes to #1 in the US | ||
| Tom Cochrane | Red Rider | Lunatic Fringe | Red Rider records Lunatic Fringe on the night John Lennon is murdered | |
| Rush | Rush receives Order of Canada | |||
| Bryan Adams | Cuts Like a Knife | Bryan Adams plays Live Aid in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985 | ||
| Sherriff | When I’m With You | Sherriff goes #1 with “When I’m With You” | ||
| Neil Young | For What It’s Worth | Neil Young joins Buffalo Springfield | ||
| John Parr | St. Elmo’s Fire | Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion tour is immortalized by John Parr’s #1 hit song in 1985. It was also the theme to the movie “St. Elmo’s Fire” | ||
| Joni Mitchell | Big Yellow Taxi | “Big Yellow Taxi” in 1970 becomes Joni Mitchell’s breakthrough hit. It would chart again with a live version in 1975. | ||
| Alannah Myles | Black Velvet | Alannah Myles partners with Christopher Ward for “Black Velvet” | ||
| Tom Cochrane | Big League | Tom Cochrane releases hockey anthem “Big League” | ||
| Tom Cochrane | Tom Cochrane receives Order of Canada in 2008 | |||
| Pink Floyd | Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 | Bob Ezrin from Toronto co-produces The Wall for Pink Floyd, one of music’s most famous albums of all-time | ||
| Neil Young | Woodstock | Neil Young joins CSN | ||
| Tragically Hip | The Hip honors EZ-Rock with My Music at Work | |||
| Counting Crows | Joni Mitchell | Big Yellow Taxi | In 2002, Counting Crows record a version of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” and it becomes the highest-charting version of the song… which had been covered over a dozen different times since 1970. | |
| The Guess Who | These Eyes | Guess Who goes top 10 in the US “These Eyes” | ||
| Rush | Rush Spirit of Radio salutes CFNY | |||
| The Band | The Band records “Music From The Big Pink” | |||
| Leondard Cohen | Leonard Cohen releases comeback album “I’m Your Man” in 1988 | |||
| Stampeders | The Stampeders release “Sweet City Woman” in 1971, going to the top of the pop and country charts simultaneously | |||
| Rush | Closer to the Heart | Neil Peart joins Rush | ||
| Five Man Electrical Band | Signs | Five Man Electrical Band release “Signs”, goes to #3 in the US and becomes a gold record | ||
| KD Lang | Hallelujah | KD Lang opens Vancouver Olympics with “Hallelujah” | ||
| Joni Mitchell | Free Man in Paris | Joni Mitchell inducted into RRHoF | ||
| Bon Jovi | Living on a Prayer | Bon Jovi records landmark album “Slippery When Wet” at Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver (1986) | ||
| Bryan Adams | Heaven | Bruce Allen forms a booking company in Vancouver in 1966, starting a career in music that would see him help launch the careers of BTO, Michael Buble, Loverboy, and Bryan Adams | ||
| Terry Jacks | Seasons in the Sun | Seasons In The Sun becomes a worldwide #1 in 1974 and sells 11 million copies around the world. | ||
| Triumph | Lay It On The Line | Triumph plays their first paid gig on September 19, 1975 at Simcoe High School, three years later they would play for 110,000 people at Mosport Park. | ||
| Bryan Adams | Everything I Do (I Do It For You) | Everything I Do I Do It For You grammy award, 15 million sales, british chart record | ||
| Joni Mitchell | Turn Me On, I’m A Radio | In 1967, while she was singing at the Gaslight club in Coconut Grove, Florida, David Crosby walked in and heard Joni Mitchell perform. He immediately brought her to LA and started working on her debut album. That night in Florida launched the career of one of Canada’s greatest singers of all time. | ||
| The Beatles | Twist and Shout | The Beatles last Canadian show (Montreal, Sept 8, 1965) at Montreal Forum | ||
| Peter Gabriel | In Your Eyes | Daniel Lanois produces Peter Gabriel’s huge album “So” | ||
| Men Without Hats | Safety Dance | “The Safety Dance” by Montreal band Men Without Hats becomes a worldwide in 1983 | ||
| Trooper | Randy Bachman of BTO signs the band to his record label, and they release their debut album featuring the hits “Baby Woncha Please Come Home” and “General Hand Grenade” | |||
| AC/DC | Thunderstruck | AC/DC records in Vancouver | ||
| Blue Rodeo | Try | Blue Rodeo releases “Outskirts”, their debut album, bridging country and rock. It would go 4x platinum and feature the #1 hit “Try” | ||
| Alanis Morissette | Ironic | Alanis Morissette releases “Jagged Little Pill” and sells 33 million units and wins 5 Grammy Awards | ||
| Bryan Adams | Run To You | Bryan Adams releases Reckless | ||
| Loverboy | Working for the Weekend | Loverboy releases “Get Lucky” album in 1981, selling over 4 million copies in the USA. Features “Working For The Weekend” | ||
| The Band | The Weight | The Band plays the Last Waltz | ||
| Bryan Adams | Can’t Stop This Thing We Started | Bryan Adams receives Order of Canada | ||
| Shania Twain | Shania Twain’s 1997 album “Come On Over” becomes the best-selling album by a female artist in music history, and the best selling album ever by a Canadian. It sells 40 million copies and was on the top 10 for 151 weeks. | |||
| John Lennon | Beatles | Imagine | John Lennon meets with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1969 | |
| Barenaked Ladies | If I Had $1,000,000 | Barenaked Ladies release Yellow cassette | ||
| Kim Mitchell | Go For Soda | Kim Mitchell releases Go For Soda | ||
| Trooper | Boys in the Bright White Sports Car | Trooper releases Greatest Hits album “Hot Shots”, and it breaks all records for a Canadian album, reaching quadruple platium status. It included new versions of hits like “Boys In The Bright White Sports Car” | ||
| Bryan Adams | Bryan Adams teams up with Sting and Rod Stewart for #1 hit “All For Love” | |||
| Neil Young | Old Man | Neil Young inducted into RRHoF | ||
| Corey Hart | Sunglasses at Night | Corey Hart’s debut album “First Offense” goes top 10 in the US, and the song “Sunglasses At Night” peaks at #7. The album was produced by Jon Astley who produced The Who, and featured Eric Clapton on guitar. It would go 3x platinum in Canada and score him a gold record in the US. | ||
| The Beatles | A Day in the Life | Beatles name landmark album after Sgt Randall Pepper, an OPP officer from Aurora | ||
| The Band | The Band inducted intop RRHoF | |||
| April Wine | Tonite is a Wonderful Time | April Wine co-headlines a concert at the El Mocambo in March 1977 with The Rolling Stones | ||
| Tal Bachman | Tal Bachman has a second-generation #1 hit with “She’s So High” | |||
| The Guess Who | BTO | No Sugar Tonite/New Mother Nature | Randy Bachman leaves the Guess Who | |
| Rush | MuchMusic launches in 1984, and the first video played was Rush “The Enemy Within” | |||
| Alice Cooper | School’s Out | Vancouver Pop Festival in Squamish (Aug 1969) featuring Grateful Dead, Chicago, Alice Cooper, The Guess Who | ||
| Neil Young | Neil Young forms Crazy Horse | |||
| Katrina & The Waves | Walking on Sunshine | Attic Records is formed in 1974, becoming an important part of Canadian music with Triumph, Lee Aaron, Teenage Head, Katrina & The Waves, Jennifer Warnes | ||
| Tragically Hip | Ahead By A Century | Tragically Hip last tour, summer 2016 | ||
| Tom Cochrane | Life is a Highway | Life is a Highway goes to #1 | ||
| David Bowie | Space Oddity | Chris Hatfield sings “Space Oddity” in space | ||
| Queen | Bohemian Rhapsody | Canadian comedian Mike Myers insists that Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” be included in his movie “Wayne’s World”, and the twenty year old song goes to #2 on the charts. | ||
| Sly & The Family Stone | Dance to the Music | 100,000 people descend on Mosport Park in Bowmanville, ON for Strawberry Fields Music Festival in 1970 (Jethro Tull, Alice Cooper, Sly & Family Stone, Grand Funk Railroad, Procol Harum) | ||
| Neil Young | Ohio | Neil Young writes Ohio | ||
| Tom Cochrane | Red Rider | Boy Inside The Man | Tom Cochrane met Ken Greer at the El Mocambo Tavern in Toronto in 1978, forming Red Rider, a band that would be among Canada’s most successful for the ensuing decade | |
| Steppenwolf | After gaining fame when “Born To Be Wild” was featured in the movie “Easy Rider”, Steppenwolf recorded an incredible follow up with “Magic Carpet Ride”. It would peak at #3 in the US and stay on the charts for 16 weeks. The song has become a pop culture staple, used in movies, TV shows, video games, and commercials. | |||
| Steppenwolf | Born To Be Wild | Steppenwolf is featured in Easy Rider with “Born To Be Wild” | ||
| Lenny Kravitz | Lenny Kravitz covers American Woman | |||
| Prism | Bruce Fairbairn produces his first album, Prism’s debut. He would go on to produce some of the biggest albums of the 80s | |||
| Blood Sweat and Tears | Spinning Wheel | Needing a new lead singer, Blood Sweat and Tears turns to Canadian David Clayton-Thomas to lead the band. Their first album with Clayton-Thomas won a Grammy for Album of the Year and spawned the hit singles “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy”, “Spinning Wheel”, and “And When I Die”. | ||
| Barenaked Ladies | Be My Yoko Ono | Barenaked Ladies record “Yoko Ono” in Speaker’s Corner | ||
| Nazareth | Joni Mitchell | This Flight Tonight | Nazareth covers Joni Mitchell’s “This Flight Tonight” | |
| Colin James | Five Long Years | Colin James opens for Stevie Ray Vaughan in Regina in 1984 and launches his career | ||
| The Band | Robbie Robertson leaves The Band | |||
| Rush | Rush homecoming at MLG | |||
| The Beatles | She Loves You | Beatles first Canadian show (Vancouver, Aug 22 1964) at Empire Stadium (Red Robinson “get the fuck off the stage) | ||
| Bryan Adams | Somebody | Bryan Adams receives Hollywood Walk of Fame | ||
| Neil Young | Neil Young plays Woodstock with CSNY |
