Artist Spotlight

Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye, Electronic, Events, Grammy, JUNO, Pop, R&B, Songwriter, Soul, Toronto, Voice February 7, 2021

The Weeknd does Canada proud in Super Bowl spectacle

Nick Krewen Special to the Star Touchdown! True to his word, Scarborough R&B superstar The Weeknd delivered a Super Bowl LV spectacle during the half-time show at Raymond James Stadium. Using hundreds of extras, a 40-piece choir, and enough fireworks to put July 4thcelebrations to shame,  one of the world’s biggest artists provided a dazzling performance that was glitzy and glamorous, and continued the cinematic theme of “The Character” he’s been…

Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye, Canada, Electronic, Events, Grammy, JUNO, Pop, R&B, Songwriter, Soul, Toronto, Voice February 4, 2021

The Weeknd promises to put on a ‘PG’ Super Bowl halftime show

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Don’t worry about the little ones when it comes to watching the Super Bowl halftime show starring Scarborough R&B superstar The Weeknd. During a Thursday morning press conference held at Raymond James Stadium, in Tampa, Fla. — the site of Sunday’s Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the upcoming 12-minute spectacular The Weeknd will be…

British Columbia, Canada, Country, Dean Brody, Grammy, Guitar, Piano, Songwriter, Texas, Toronto, United States, Voice January 21, 2021

Canadian women are crushing it in Nashville

Nick Krewen Special to the Star She may be from Texas, but don’t be surprised if country singer and songwriter Mickey Guyton ends up hanging a flag bearing the Maple Leaf outside her house: Canadians have been a paramount factor in her ground-breaking success. “I looooovvvve Canadians – yes I do!” gushes Guyton, whose racially insightful anthem “Black Like Me” earned her pioneering stature as the first Black female to receive…

Arranger, Bruce Cockburn, Canada, Composer, Indiana, Jazz, Linda Ronstadt, Piano, Producer, Toronto, United States December 25, 2020

This Toronto musician’s carefree wandering through the ’60s saw him working with Janis Joplin and Linda Ronstadt – and that’s only part of his story

Nick Krewen Special to the Star You may know him as the artistic director of the currently paused Beaches International Jazz Festival or hear him on one of the three radio programs he either hosts or co-hosts in the city. But did you know that Toronto’s Bill King, a three-time Juno Award nominee, also served as music director for blues-rock singer Janis Joplin, the stylistically versatile Linda Ronstadt, The Pointer…

Canada, CD reviews, Guitar, JUNO, Pop, Shawn Mendes, Songwriter, Toronto December 4, 2020

Shawn Mendes swings for the fences with Wonder

Nick Krewen Special To The Star SHAWN MENDES  Wonder  Island Records Wonder, the fourth studio album from Pickering pop sensation Shawn Mendes, is a game changer for the lad.  In a process that began with his self-titled album from 2018, Mendes has largely left the folkish, boyish strains of acoustic guitar behind and settled more for a piano- and-electronic-keyboard sound that sonically bounces between intimate tenderness and epic explosiveness. Mendes…