As we get to closer to Canada Day I decided lets look at who are the best Canadian artists/bands of all time. Now Canada has given us so many amazing acts from all genres so this was hard to narrow down. You have names like Bryan Adams, Jodi Mitchell, Neil Young not to mention names like Drake, Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber that are coming up and could be on some lists. I’m sure many will disagree about order and people’s spots on the list.
Without further ado here is my Top 5 Canadian Artists/Bands:
5. Barenaked Ladies
Starting off the Top 5 we look at some guys from Toronto who ruled the 90s and early 2000s in The Barenaked Ladies or BNL. The Barenaked Ladies would pen amazing songs and dominate the charts with songs like “One Week,” “If I Had a Million Dollars” and “Be My Yoko Ono” just to name a few. The band would do something I wish more Canadian artists would do in their songs and include references to where they are from like they do in “Jane” and “The Old Apartment.” The band hasn’t been the same since or had the same success since Steven Page left the group but they still going strong.
4. Stompin’ Tom Connors
We all know “The Hockey Song” but our next artist gave us Canadian classics like “Bud The Spud,” “Sudbury Saturday Night” and the chart topping “Ketchup Song.” Stompin’ Tom was as Canadian as an artist got even returning and refusing Juno Awards because he felt Canadian artists living and never really performing in Canada should be eligible because they mainly operated in the US or other countries. When he passed tributes performances from politicians not to mention “The Hockey Song” being played in unison across the country on radio says it all about this Canadian artist.
3. Céline Dion
Well hard to have have the legend Céline Dion on the list as she is the top selling Canadian artist of all time and has wowed crowds all over the world. Céline may be best known for “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic but she has given us so much more and unlike many Canadian artists she is a symbol of Canada abroad and is often a reference for Canadian characters in movies and television, just look at “The Love Guru.” She gained international recognition by winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, where she represented Switzerland, something that is just spectacular. While mainly her recordings have been in English and French, she has also sung in Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Japanese, and Chinese. Céline is a generational talent that has been an active singer since she was 12 years old. At 55 her touring performing career seems to be winding down if not over due to stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological disease, and that it was the cause of her spasms. Even if we never see a full set or more than a one song performance from the legend she is belonging on this list.
2. Shania Twain
The runner up is the Queen of pop-country, one of the most beloved singers of all time Shania Twain. Shania took the world by storm and not afraid to break the ceiling on what woman could do in music videos and dominated the 90s and the early 2000s before taking a break and she picked up where she left off. Her album “Come on Over” is the Highest selling Canadian album of all time, not to mention one of the highest selling albums of all-time period. The it would take so long to write out all the hits she has given us like “Man I Feel Like a Woman,” “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under” and “Any Man of Mine.”
1. Rush
Taking the top spot on my list is 3 guys from Toronto who much like Céline is a major reference point for Canadian acts and that is Rush. The Roll Hall of Famers can boast countless hits like “Free Will,” “The Spirit of Radio,” “XYZ,” “Fly By Night” and of course “Tom Sawyer.” The band is a trio and when you have the undisputed greatest drummer in history in Neil Peart how can you not top the list. Greatest guitarist is debatable but the not the drummer. Rush is unique and their sound is never confused with anyone else. For my money they reign supreme.
– Everett
