Grammy

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…

Cello, Classical, Grammy, United States December 9, 2020

When the pandemic hit, it left Yo-Yo Ma wondering – ‘What is music for?’ – his album Songs of Comfort and Hope provides one answer

Nick Krewen Special To the Star Yo-Yo Ma, the Paris-born, New York-raised world-renown cellist, has packed a lot of living into his 65 years. He’s recorded more than 150 albums, earned 18 Grammy Awards and performed in every place imaginable around the world. But until the pandemic hit earlier this year, there was one thing that Ma had never experienced: regular business hours.  “I’m realizing for the first time that…

Alberta, Arranger, Art Rock, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Experimental, Folk, Fusion, Grammy, Guitar, Herbie Hancock, Jazz, Joni Mitchell, JUNO, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Pop, Producer, Rock, Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame, Songwriter, Taylor Swift, Voice October 18, 2020

Before she went to New York and became famous, Joni Mitchell played the Half Beat in Yorkville

     Nick Krewen Special to the Star John McHugh remembers the time he accidentally became Joni Mitchell’s matchmaker. McHugh, who owned the Yorkville-era clubs The Penny Farthing and The Half Beat back in the ‘60s, recalls meeting “Joanna Anderson” when she came around to one of his venues around 1963-64. “It was at the Penny Farthing that (singer) Cathy Young brought this young lady in with her,” McHugh recalled recently…