Artist Spotlight

Beach Boys, Beatles, Elton John, Grammy, Metallica, Nicki Minaj, Oscar, Pearl Jam, Piano, Pop, Rock, Rock 'N Roll, Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame, Songwriter, United Kingdom, Voice October 16, 2021

Elton John talks about the magic of collaboration and his new album The Lockdown Sessions

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Sometimes no plans are the best plans.  According to British pop superstar Sir Elton John, his star-studded, upcoming 32nd studio album, The Lockdown Sessions,  out October 22, wouldn’t have happened without an invitation from Charlie Puth, the L.A.-based singer and songwriter of the hits “Marvin Gaye,” “Attention” and “How Long,” to write in his studio.  “I had no plans to make any music at all,…

Arranger, Bob Dylan, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Composer, Emmylou Harris, Engineer, Grammy, Hamilton, JUNO, Los Angeles, Neil Young, Producer, Québec, Robbie Robertson, Songwriter, Soul, The Band, The Tragically Hip, Toronto, United States, Willie Nelson March 16, 2021

Choir Director Johnny Shepherd Brings Gospel-Infused Soul to Daniel Lanois Project Heavy Sun

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star For his new,  brilliant gospel-flavoured soul album Heavy Sun, seven-time Grammy winner Daniel Lanois had to convince a Shepherd to leave his flock. Describing himself as a “now-and-again” guitarist for the Hallelujah Train band at the Shreveport, Louisiana-based Zion Baptist Church run by Brady Blade Sr., the Hull, Québec-born artist and award-winning producer of blockbuster albums by Peter Gabriel, U2 and Robbie Robertson says…

Aubrey "Drake" Graham, Business, Canada, Indigenous (Native), Manitoba, Music Industry (Trade), Music Publishing, Toronto March 9, 2021

Nagamo Publishing looks to give a voice to performers, composers, artists of the Indigenous hubs of Canada

Nick Krewen Special to the Star After two years of building its production library, Toronto-based Nagamo Publishing is ready to take on the world. As the first exclusively Indigenous-created music production library and composer agency on the planet to serve media needs, Nigel Irwin, Nagamo Co-Creative Director and Composer says the shingle offers a lot of variety.  “Our bread and butter is contemporary music fused with traditional sounds, as well…

Aubrey "Drake" Graham, Canada, Grammy, Hip-Hop, JUNO, Songwriter, Spoken Word, Toronto, Voice March 5, 2021

Drake still at top of his game in Scary Hours 2 – plus addresses the upcoming Certified Lover Boy

Nick Krewen Special to the Star Drake not only dropped a new three-song EP called Scary Hours II at midnight: he also dropped a new video and – to top it all off – a new 24-hour fully curated radio channel. With short notice on Thursday night, the man who has been  setting hip-hop trends for the past 11 years shared on his Twitter and Instagram feeds that he’d appearing on…

Business, Canada, Education, Hip-Hop, Marshall "Eminem" Mathers, Songwriter, Spoken Word, Technology, Voice February 20, 2021

‘To be a rapper, you really have to be genuine’ – Duane Gibson on motivation, perseverance and connecting with youth

Nick Krewen Special To the Star “Stay driven.” For 20 years, that message has been the underlying theme of Toronto hip-hop veteran Duane “D.O.” Gibson’s presentations at over 1000 schools across Canada.  Offering four programs that focus on the topics of anti-bullying, self-confidence, leadership, peer pressure, literature and Black history, to name a few, Gibson estimates he’s delivered more than 2500 of his empowering speeches and workshops to hundreds of…