Award Winners

Alberta, British Columbia, Canada, Events, Grammy, Halifax, Hamilton, JUNO, Manitoba, Montréal, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Polaris, Prince Edward Island, Québec, Saskatchewan, Stratford, Toronto, Vancouver September 16, 2024

The Polaris Music Prize will soon be awarded. Here’s who Charlotte Cardin is rooting for

The Montreal singer will be competing with nine others, including the Beaches, Elisapie and Jeremy Dutcher, for the $50,000 award. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Charlotte Cardin can’t wait. On Tuesday night at Massey Hall, the 19th edition of the Polaris Music Prize — honouring the best Canadian album of the year — will be presented, and the pop chanteuse’s 99 Nights will be competing with nine others: folk, R&B and…

Bass, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Cinema, Composer, Drums, Festivals, Garage Rock, Guitar, Indie, Producer, Rock, Rock 'N Roll, Songwriter, The Tragically Hip, Toronto, Voice September 5, 2024

Revisiting his brother’s death for a Tragically Hip docuseries was the hardest but also most fulfilling thing Mike Downie has ever done

“It wasn’t uncommon for me to have a good cry,” says Mike Downie about making a documentary about brother Gord Downie and his band. The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal debuts at TIFF on Sept. 5. by Nick Krewen Special to the Star Mike Downie’s labour of love was also his toughest assignment. As the director and producer of the superb four-hour-plus documentary The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal that…

Arranger, Bass, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Composer, Drums, Garage Rock, Guitar, Indie, JUNO, Producer, Rock, Rock 'N Roll, Songwriter, The Tragically Hip, Toronto, Voice September 5, 2024

Sidebar: Canada had a love affair with the Tragically Hip. These 10 songs remind us why

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star They’re Canadian to the core. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Kingston, Ontario’s the Tragically Hip with a number of projects, ranging from the devastatingly good docuseries The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal to  oral history coffee table book “This Is Our Life” (out Oct. 1) and the boxed set of the band’s first album, Up to Here (Nov. 8), here’s a…

Adult Contemporary, Alberta, Canada, Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Country, Grammy, JUNO, k.d. lang, Leonard Cohen, LGBTQ, Nashville Sound, Pop, Producer, Punk, Songwriter, Voice August 30, 2024

As ‘90s icon k.d. lang enters the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, she reflects on her extraordinary career

The singer said she doesn’t miss the stage but still feels the creative impulse. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star In 1988, k.d. lang arrived at what she called “an emotional destination:” she recorded an album called Shadowland with the legendary Owen Bradley, who decades earlier had produced country icon Patsy Cline. At the time, the perennially lowercased lang was still something of an unknown quantity in the U.S….

Bass, Beatles, Canada, Drums, Glam Rock, Guitar, JUNO, Pop, Rock, Songwriter, Toronto, Voice August 1, 2024

They — and their hair — were massive in the ‘80s. On a new tour opening for Billy Idol, can these Toronto rockers make a comeback?

Four decades after touring Canada with Billy Idol, Platinum Blonde will open for him at Scotiabank Arena on Aug. 9.By Nick Krewen Special to the Star You have your Halley’s Comet. You have your solar eclipses. But an even rarer phenomenon — a national tour pairing two rock acts who played together 40 years ago — will be visible in Toronto when Billy Idol and Platinum Blonde perform at Scotiabank Arena on…