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Canadian singer-songwriter Matt Andersen has an unrelenting work ethic. Since the early 2000s, he’s seemingly always been on tour or recording new music. Andersen immediately cites his father, a self-employed tree logger who worked long days in the northern woods of Andersen’s native province of New Brunswick.

“He always told me he wanted to work for himself,” Andersen tells Rolling Stone. “And I always had that in my head.”

Calling in from his home not far out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the cell service is spotty and scratchy at best.

The long wait for Severance Season 2 ended at the end of January, and six episodes of the ten-episode season have arrived on Apple TV+ thus far.

The core four Macro Data Refinement team reunited in the first episode, and they are back to their shenanigans and investigations of the severed basement floor of their Lumon Industries campus. Many needle drops this season happen in scenes that involve motion, whether it be running through the endless white hallways as innies or driving cars in the outie world.

Theodore Shapiro is the series composer of that haunting piano theme that accompanies the animated opening credits of the show. Various tunes glorify Kier Eagan, the founder of Lumon, and the “Defiant Jazz” tune from last season’s pizza party cannot be forgotten. Electronic duo Odesza even recently designed an 8-hour set of “Music to Refine To” for a corporate work day.

Find the...

Following a recent scandal alleging that the folk artist and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie had fabricated her Canadian Indigenous roots, the Polaris Music Prize and Juno Awards have revoked honors bestowed on the musician.

The release of a 2023 documentary produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) called Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous identity into question. A fervent activist for Indigenous causes, as reflected in songs like “Now That the Buffalo’s Gone,” Sainte-Marie had long claimed that she was born and raised on a Cree reservation in Saskatchewan. However, the CBC program uncovered she was in fact born in Massachusetts.

Earlier this year, Sainte-Marie, was stripped of her Order of Canada appointment. Now, the Polaris Music Prize and the Juno Awards have decided that her collected accolades from both institutions will be rescinded, due to her inability to provide tangible proof of her Canadian and/or Indigenous identity.

The Polaris Prize was first...

What is Cold Harbor? What's with the goats? What really happened to Gemma? What is Lumon Industries up to? What does it all mean?

These are just a few of the questions that occur to Severance fans during any given moment of the show. The knotty sci-fi office drama has fascinated fans since its very first episode dropped on Apple TV+ back in 2022. Now that we're approaching the end of the second season, speculation is at a fever pitch.

In this post, we'll go over some of the biggest theories out there that explain the who, what, and why of Severance, all so we can be proven wrong in the coming weeks. Let's dive in!

Patricia Arquette in "Severance," now streaming on Apple TV+. | Severance "The whole world is Lumon"

Let's start with a broad question: where does Severance take place? Well, somewhere cold, obviously; whenever we venture outside the Lumon offices,...

Update: Fallout from Buffy Sainte-Marie’s confirmation that she is not a Canadian citizen continues as two of the country’s most prestigious arts honors have been rescinded.

According to the CBC today, the singer-songwriter’s Polaris Music Prizes and Juno Awards will be rescinded because she is not Canadian. Sainte-Marie won the Polaris Music Prize in 2015 for her album Power in the Blood, and the Polaris Heritage Prize in 2020 for her 1964 album It’s My Way!.

“The Polaris Music Prize recognizes and celebrates artistic excellence in Canada,” the Polaris organization said in a statement. “Our eligibility criteria requires all nominees to be Canadian citizens or permanent residents, with proof of status provided through government-issued documentation, including passports, birth certificates, permanent resident cards, and/or secure certificates of Indian Status.”

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization that runs the Juno Awards, announced today that it will...

"Severance" is the kind of show that begs viewers to pick apart every single scene and detail in search of clues. The "mystery box" approach is a tried and true TV formula, if a difficult one to pull off. But when you get the zeitgeist on your side, as "Severance" has, the audience's hunt for answers creates a unique and compelling viewing experience.

Because of that aspect of the show, many fans may have perked their ears up at the beginning of "Severance" season 2, episode 5, "Trojan's Horse." The episode begins with a new, unnamed character pushing a cart down the severed floor's pristine corridors to the Optics and Design department, where he's given what appears to be dental tools of some kind. Satisfied, he wheels the cart away and to the mysterious, ominous elevator that Irving (John Turturro) and his outie keep seeing. All the while, this nameless employee whistles...

Rhino has unveiled a new vinyl box set collecting Rush’s four studio albums from 1989 through 1996, arriving this Friday (November 1st).

The 6-lp set houses Presto (1989), Roll the Bones (1991), Counterparts (1993), and Test for Echo (1996) — all of which have been out of print on vinyl since they were last reissued in 2015. Counterparts and Test for Echo are spread across two LPs and three sides each.

These would be the final four albums Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart recorded for Atlantic Records prior to going on hiatus in 1997. Each record features original artwork, plus a print featuring reimagined cover art, and comes housed in a slipcase featuring new artwork by the band’s longtime art director Hugh Syme.

Rush signed with Atlantic prior to the release of Presto, which peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard album charts in 1989. The band enjoyed more success with its follow-up Roll the Bones in 1991, hitting No.

Apart from walking through a gripping prison escape drama, Escape at Dannemora also features several scintillating background scores that add more heft to its storytelling. Directed by Ben Stiller, Escape at Dannemora follows the true story of the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape. Like most prison break and heist narratives, the show takes its time to fully immerse audiences in its central drama. However, the viewer's patience pays off in its final episodes when it finally reveals how the central escape plan unfolded after immense planning and plotting.

Escape at Dannemora's boasts a talented cast, including Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette, and Paul Dano, among others. Other than walking through the real-life events of Richard Matt & David Sweat's prison break and featuring great performances, the show also makes good use of its background scores. In its seven-episode runtime, it features many songs that effectively underscore the emotional heft and high stakes of its story.

Jack Jones, the Grammy-winning singer of popular music fare such as “Lollipops and Roses,” “The Impossible Dream,” “Wives and Lovers” and, perhaps most famously, the theme to TV’s The Love Boat, died Wednesday, October 23. He was 86.

A resident of Coachella Valley, California, Jones, who had been diagnosed with leukemia two years ago, died at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, California last night. His family announced the news today to Kesq News Channel 3 of Palm Springs.

Born into a show business family on January 14, 1938, John Allan Jones was the son of singer Allan Jones and actress Irene Hervey. He would become one of the most popular singers of the Adult Contemporary, or Easy Listening, style in the 1960s. He scored Grammy Awards in 1962 (for “Lollipops and Roses”) and 1964 (for the Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition “Wives And Lovers”), just several years after his 1959 album debut This Love Of Mine.

Joni Mitchell remembers the moment she played her new album, Hejira, for a certain country star back in 1976. “Bonnie Raitt brought Dolly Parton to town,” she tells Cameron Crowe in the liner notes for her new Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980). “And we played back the album, and she listened. And when it was over, she turned to me and said, ‘If I thought that deep, I’d scare myself to death.’”

Parton’s reaction is an apt description for Archives Vol. 4, a collection that gives listeners a...

Long before “True Blood” or “Twilight” brought vampires to small-town America, horror writer Stephen King imagined the creatures invading his backyard in rural Maine. Until then, bloodsucking bat-men were something only Europeans had to worry about, as Dracula and his castle-dwelling kin preyed on hapless villagers half a world away. Then came “’Salem’s Lot,” King’s second novel, in which the man who’d made witches a modern-day concern with “Carrie” asked American readers: What if an outbreak of vampirism struck your community?

A tepid new feature version returns to that question a half-century later, offering flashes of style and a more satisfying finale in an otherwise weak take on its dated source material. Whereas King seemed to be kicking another stuffy old genre into the present, writer-director Gary Dauberman’s retro-minded adaptation goes in the opposite direction, embracing the pageboy haircuts, polyester-blend duds and don’t-trust-anyone paranoia of that era.

The long-awaited Salem's Lot remake just released its first trailer and the movie now has my full attention. The adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot, directed by Gary Dauberman, promises to be a fairly faithful adaptation of Stephen King's book with some added flourishes. It tells the story of writer Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman), who returns to his hometown of Jerusalem's Lot to find inspiration for his next book, which he hopes to find in the local "haunted" house in the town. In my favorite Stephen King trope, Ben soon finds that a creeping, malevolent evil is slowly taking over the town.

I'm really excited to see what the movie has in store, and the first trailer for the Salem's Lot remake has filled me with hope. The vampire Kurt Barlow is one of Stephen King's more terrifying yet underrated villains, and if his appearance in the 2024 remake can...

To the chagrin of many Stephen King fans, Salem’s Lot — the latest movie adaptation of the horror master’s 1975 bestseller — will bypass theaters and debut on Max.

So we’ll be deprived of the big screen experience, and non-subscribers will have a hard time accessing the film.

That’s the bad news.

(Max (YouTube screenshot))

The good news is that early buzz about the project has been ecstatic, and a new trailer released today promises a suitably spine-tingling experience.

Over the familiar strains of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown,” author Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) “returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire.”

The film also stars Alfre Woodard, Makenzie Leigh, Bill Camp, and William Sadler.

Days Of Our Lives Spoilers For The Week of 9-16-24 Promise An Explosive...

When it comes to Stephen King adaptations, it really can go one of two ways. Sometimes you get a Stand By Me, The Shining, or The Shawshank Redemption; and other times you get a Pet Sematary (1989), a Dark Tower, or, well, another Pet Sematary (2019). And after numerous delays and scrapped theatrical release plans stateside, you could be forgiven for thinking that Gary Dauberman's upcoming take on King's vampire classic Salem's Lot — already well adapted before as a miniseries back in 1979 — is bound to be one of those other times. But if the atmospheric new trailer for the It Chapter One and Two writer's sophomore directorial effort is anything to go by, then we may actually have another King-worthy banger on our hands. Check it out below:

"I've always written stories about things that are so terrible you'll run away until your brain won't remember." So says Lewis Pullman's...

Max has revealed the official trailer for its new adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 book, Salem’s Lot.

The story follows Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman), a writer who returns to his hometown of Salem’s Lot in Maine to complete his novel, only to find that the town has been cursed with vampires. The trailer shows various residents of Salem’s Lot attempting to thwart attacks from vampires, end the mysterious curse, and make it out alive. It’s also soundtracked to an eerie rendition of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown,” serving as a reminder of the vampires’ nighttime terrors. Watch the trailer below.

Directed and written by Gary Dauberman (known for his work helming The Conjuring universe), the new film is the first feature adaptation of King’s original novel. Previously, Salem’s Lot was adapted into a two-part miniseries in 1979 as well as in 2004. The new movie has been in the works for over four years,...

Halsey’s new era is forthcoming as the singer surreptitiously revealed on a mysterious website that a new single is arriving June 4.

This past week, Halsey had been linking fans to a website dubbed For My Last Trick; the website is unrelated to the release of Eminem’s “Houdini,” for which he coincidentally teased, “For my last trick, I’m going to make my career disappear.”

Halsey’s For My Last Trick site is filled with plenty of faux ephemera from the Seventies all strewn across the browser. Most of...

Rush members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson reunited onstage during a tribute concert for the late Canadian songsmith Gordon Lightfoot on Thursday (May 24th) at Massey Hall in Toronto.

The star-studded concert saw a plethora of Canadian artists paying homage to their fellow songwriter and countryman, who passed away last year.

Lee and Lifeson took the stage alongside alt-country vets Blue Rodeo for a performance of Lightfoot’s “The Way I Feel,” making a surprise appearance after being billed as “L + L” prior to the sold-out show.

The ensemble stretched the cover into a six-minute psych-folk workout, which in turn allowed Lee and Lifeson to go full-on prog and stretch out themselves, musically speaking. Geddy got feisty with his bass runs, and Lifeson carried the rhythm section with physical and impassioned strumming. The consummate professionals in Blue Rodeo sat back and let it ride.

“It was important for us to pay tribute to Gordon,...

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson made an increasingly rare appearance onstage together Thursday as the Rush duo covered Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Way I Feel” at a Toronto tribute concert for the late Canadian singer-songwriter.

Lee and Lifeson, who were billed as “L+L” on the lineup, performed alongside the Canadian country act Blue Rodeo at the gig at Massey Hall, the same Toronto venue where Rush recorded their All the World’s a Stage live album in 1976.

“On Thursday evening at Massey Hall in Toronto, both Alex and myself...

Daniel Kramer, a rock photographer who captured some of the most iconic Bob Dylan images of the Sixties, including the covers of Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, died April 29, Rolling Stone confirmed. He was 91.

Kramer first encountered Bob Dylan when he watched him perform “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” on The Steve Allen Show in 1964. “The lyrics were startling to me,” he told Rolling Stone in 2016. “They were so poetic. I knew this wasn’t an ordinary event. I knew this guy was special.”

Not long afterward,...

The Recording Academy recognized many of the musicians and people who worked behind the scenes in the music industry who have died in the past year during the Grammy Awards on Sunday night. Tony Bennett, Sinead O’Connor, Clarence Avant, Jimmy Buffet, and Tina Turner were among those celebrated.

Stevie Wonder, who on Thursday presented Mariah Carey with the Global Impact Award at the Black Music Collective Ceremony, performed a touching piano-backed rendition of Bennett’s “For Once in My Life,” reviving a duet together as a video of Bennett played in the background,...

Instead of jumping on the tour bus and heading to his band Midland’s headlining gig at the Dreamy Draw music festival, Mark Wystrach hopped into his vehicle and took the scenic route from his home in Tucson, Arizona, to the event site two hours away in Scottsdale.

“I drove up this back road — the original old highway — through the beautiful Sonoran desert,” Wystrach tells Rolling Stone backstage. “Growing up around a bunch of remarkable music here and at my parents’ [restaurant] the Steak Out in Sonoita — there were always incredible bands playing.

Jimmy Buffett‘s cause of death has been revealed. An official obituary posted on his website, shared that the “Margaritaville” singer died after four year battle with Merkel cell carcinoma — a skin cancer.

“The beloved singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett passed away at his home in Sag Harbor, Long Island on Friday September 1, 2023 surrounded by family and friends. Buffett, 76, had been fighting Merkel Cell Skin Cancer for four years. He continued to perform during treatment, playing his last show, a surprise appearance in Rhode Island, in early July,” the obituary read.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare type of skin cancer that usually appears as a flesh-colored or bluish-red nodule, often on your face, head or neck. Merkel cell carcinoma is also called neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin. Merkel cell carcinoma most often develops in older people. Long-term sun exposure or a weak immune system may increase...

Jerry Bradley, a towering Nashville music executive who helped guide the genre into the modern era and bring about its first ever platinum-selling album — Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser’s Wanted! The Outlaws — has died, The Tennessean reports. He was 83.

Bradley’s family confirmed his death, but did not provide a cause.

Bradley was born into country music, the son of Owen Bradley, a prominent producer who helped create and shape the “Nashville Sound” during the Fifties and Sixties. Jerry began his career shadowing his father in the early 1960s,...

A blue-skinned,15-year-old "mathlete" with a strict mother and dreams of going to the prom learns she's a princess with extraordinary abilities. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken delights with a clever take on the trials and tribulations of growing up. Her adolescent journey is humorously complicated by a big secret. Ruby and her family are sea creatures — drum roll please — masquerading as Canadians. She endures a frightening physical transformation, a duplicitous peer, and unrealistic expectations to find her true self. The film delivers a sweet girl power message with vivid animation that the entire family will enjoy.

Ruby (Lana Condor) has a serious crush on the cute skateboarder she tutors. She desperately wants to attend her high school prom with the charming Connor (Jaboukie Young-White). But there's a big problem that goes against her mother Agatha's (Toni Collette) cardinal rule. Under no circumstances should Ruby or Sam (Blue Chapman), her precocious little brother,...

Ed Ames, the youngest member of the popular 1950s singing group the Ames Brothers, who later became a successful actor in television and musical theatre, has died. He was 95.

The last survivor of the four singing brothers, Ames died May 21 from Alzheimer’s disease, his wife, Jeanne Ames, said Saturday.

“He had a wonderful life,” she said.

On television, Ames was likely best known for his role as Mingo, the Oxford-educated Native American in the 1960s adventure series “Daniel Boone” that starred Fess Parker as the famous frontiersman. He also was the centre of a bit on “The Tonight Show” that — thanks to his painfully uncanny aim with a hatchet — became one of the show’s most memorable surprise moments.

Ames had guest roles in TV series such as “Murder, She Wrote” and “In the Heat of the Night,” and toured frequently in musicals, performing such popular songs as “Try to Remember...

Bill Lee, the accomplished jazz musician who collaborated with the likes of Cat Stevens, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan and also scored many of his son Spike Lee’s films, has died according to multiple reports. He was 94.

Bill Lee composed the memorable original music for many of Spike Lee’s early, seminal films, including She’s Gotta Have It (1986), School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989) and Mo’ Better Blues (1990). The elder Lee had small roles in each of those films, except for Do the Right Thing. He also scored his son’s early short, Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads.

The director posted a series of photos on Instagram remembering his father, the first accompanied by the phrase, “Deeds Not Words.”

The deeds of Lee’s father made an impact on his son.

“Everything I know about jazz I got from my father,” Spike Lee told the New York...

Legendary singer Tina Turner died on Wednesday, her representative confirmed.

A post shared on Turner’s Instagram page read: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner. With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow. Today we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music. All our heartfelt compassion goes out to her family. Tina, we will miss you dearly.”

Read More: Ray Liotta Died From Heart And Respiratory Issues, Official Documents Reveal

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A post shared by Tina Turner (@tinaturner)

Turner died in her home in Switzerland after “a long illness,” her spokesperson, Bernard Doherty, told Et.

“With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model,” said Doherty in a statement.

“With her music and her inexhaustible vitality,...

Singer-songwriter Paul Simon, who at 81 has just released his 15th studio album, titled Seven Psalms, has revealed a recent hearing loss in his left ear and says the condition has left him doubting he’ll tour again.

In an interview with UK’s The Times, Simon said the hearing loss struck while he was writing the new album. “Quite suddenly, I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it,” he told the publication. “So everything became more difficult.”

The Graceland singer said he was more frustrated and annoyed than angered by the hearing loss “because I thought it would pass, it would repair itself.” The condition, however, has not improved, and he now has doubts that he’ll perform live again, a decision reinforced by both a 2020 bout with Covid and his lack of enthusiasm for singing some of his old songs.

Gordon Lightfoot died on May 1 at the age of 84, but the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter left behind one final album, set to be posthumously released this summer.

At Royal Albert Hall was recorded live in concert at London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall on May 24, 2016, with the double album set described as “an unembellished live mix of that night’s performance, without edits, overdubs, remixing, or re-sequencing.”

Featuring every song performed in the order they were played, including the encore, Lightfoot is joined by his longtime band: Rick Haynes on bass, Barry Keane on drums, Mike Heffernan on keys, and Carter Lancaster on guitar.

Listeners will experience a journey through Lightfoot’s best-known hits in addition to some songs that have never appeared on any of his previous live albums, including “The Watchman’s Gone”, “Sea of Tranquility”, “Now And Then”, “All The Lovely Ladies”, “Drifters”, “Beautiful”, “Did She Mention My...

A live album by prolific Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, who died on May 1 at age 84, will be released July 14.

At Royal Albert Hall is being billed as his final album, and was recorded at Lightfoot’s seventh appearance at London’s treasured venue in 2016. The double album includes many of his biggest hits, including “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Early Morning Rain,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” and more. Songs that have never appeared on previous live records, including “Beautiful” and “Don Quixote” are also featured, with performances by Rick Haynes on bass,...

Billy Joel paid tribute to the late Gordon Lightfoot by performing the Canadian songwriting legend’s “Sundown” Friday at the Piano Man’s monthly visit to Madison Square Garden.

“You might know him from the hit records he had,” Joel told the audience before launching into a minute-long rendition of the 1974 single, one of Lightfoot’s most revered tracks. “I want to say ‘thank you,’ and rest in peace Gordon Lightfoot.”

Joel then dedicated his own “The Downeaster ‘Alexa'” to Lightfoot, who Joel pictured singing the track when he wrote the Storm Front single.

Neil Young paid tribute to fellow “Canadian legend” Gordon Lightfoot after the storied singer-songwriter died earlier this week at the age of 84.

In a statement shared on his website, Young called Lightfoot a “great Canadian artist” and “a songwriter without parallel.” He continued, “His melodies and words were an inspiration to all writers who listened to his music, as they will continue to be through the ages. There is a unique and wonderful feeling to Gordon’s music.”

Young added that he spoke with Lightfoot “a few weeks back,” saying the musician “sounded happy,...

Ottawa, May 2 (Ians) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement honouring legendary folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, who died on Monday (U.S. Time) at the age of 84, reports ‘Variety’.

In his statement, Trudeau recalls meeting Lightfoot as a child, when his father Pierre was prime minister in the 1970s and ’80s. “I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing yesterday of Gordon Lightfoot, one of Canada’s greatest singer-songwriters,” Trudeau said, according to ‘Variety’.

“Mr Lightfoot gave us so many special moments over the years,” Trudeau added. “With a career that spanned over half a century, Mr Lightfoot’s music told stories that captured the Canadian spirit, none more so than his iconic ‘Canadian Railroad Trilogy’, which will forever be a part of our country’s musical heritage.”

A legend in his home country, notes ‘Variety’, Lightfoot’s biggest U.S. successes came in the 1970s. He topped...

Gordon Lightfoot, whose lyrics and vocals made him one of the most prominent folk singers of his era, passed away yesterday. He was 84.

Gordon Lightfoot remains best known for his 1976 song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, which chronicled the sinking of the titular freighter that left all 29 crew dead. That song reached #2 on the Billboard hot 100 and stands as one of the greatest story songs ever, thanks to lyrics like The captain wired in he had water comin’ in / And the good ship and crew was in peril / And later that night when his lights went outta sight / Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

But that was hardly Gordon Lightfoot’s only hit. Throughout his career, the singer-songwriter earned four Grammy nominations, including two for “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, losing Song of the Year to the Barry Manilow-penned “I Write the Songs” and Best Pop Vocal...

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Gordon Lightfoot was one of the greatest songwriters of his generation, with poignant melodies set to words that touched on everything from highways and hilltops, to lovers to loneliness. But when it came to putting his own story to paper, the Canadian folk-rock star remained elusive.

With the singer’s recent passing, however, a book about Lightfoot is back in the spotlight, with fans flocking online to purchase what’s been called,...

Gordon Lightfoot, the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter, has died at the age of 84.

“Gordon Lightfoot passed away this evening in a Toronto hospital at 7:30 p.m.,” a statement on Lightfoot’s Facebook page announced on Monday, May 1st. The statement promised more information “to come.”

Born in Orillia, Ontario in 1938, Lightfoot became known and beloved as Canada’s folk troubadour, an artist who stayed true to his roots despite international success. Songs like “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” depicted the culture, landscapes, and history of his Canadian home and grew to become both hits and signature tracks.

In the 2019 documentary Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, Rush’s Geddy Lee called Lightfoot “our poet laureate… our iconic singer-songwriter,” while Tom Cochrane noted, “If there was a Mt. Rushmore in Canada, Gordon would be on it.”

Singing was Lightfoot’s calling from his youth...

Gordon Lightfoot, the honey-voiced Canadian singer-songwriter who had giant U.S. hits with “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” died today at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. He was 84.

His longtime publicist Victoria Lord revealed the news to Canadian media outlets including the CBC but did not provide a cause of death. Revered in Canada, Lightfoot had been scheduled to play Los Angeles-area clubs several times during the past two years but had postponed the dates at least twice.

Born on November 17, 1938, in Orillia, Ontario, Lightfoot had been part of the Canadian folk scene for several years before he burst onto the international music charts in late 1970 with with “If You Could Read My Mind,” a gorgeous, ethereal track featuring his acoustic guitar and supple but assured vocal. The song hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 drawn from his Reprise LP Sit Down Young Stranger,...

So many brilliant songwriters came out of Canada in the Sixties — legends like Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Robbie Robertson — that the talents of Gordon Lightfoot are sometimes overlooked by those who don’t know better. He never even appeared on a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot before his death at 84. That’s a raging injustice when you listen back to gems like “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Carefree Highway,” and “Early Morning Rain.” These songs earned him a sterling reputation as a songwriter’s songwriter,...

Gordon Lightfoot — a genius-level Canadian singer-songwriter whose most enduring works include “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown,” “Carefree Highway,” “Early Morning Rain,” and “Rainy Day People” — died on Monday, the CBC confirmed. He was 84.

Lightfoot’s deceptively simple songs, which fused folk with pop and country rock, have been covered by everyone from Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash to the Grateful Dead, Barbra Streisand, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, and the Replacements.

He scored a series of hits in his native Canada throughout the Sixties,...

Gordon Lightfoot, often called Canada’s greatest songwriter and known worldwide as one of the founding fathers of folk-rock, has died at age 84, a representative for his family said Monday.

The musician recently cancelled all of his 2023 tour dates, citing “health-related issues.” His representatives did not elaborate further at the time.

An iconic figure in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Lightfoot wrote many songs that transcended borders and music tastes, including The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald, Ribbon of Darkness and If You Could Read My Mind, among many, many others.

Read More: Gordon Lightfoot Cancels Tour Dates In Canada And U.S. Amid Health Issues

Legendary musicians like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand — to name just a few — have recorded Lightfoot’s songs to great success, and he was widely respected in the music industry.

Robbie Robertson of The Band called Lightfoot a “national treasure,...

After taking a month off from their “Sunday Lunch” performances, Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox are back with a rendition of the Joan Jett classic “Bad Reputation.”

The King Crimson guitarist and his vocalist wife play off the song’s theme, with Robert taking on the bad-guy role and Toyah pasting sticky notes with the word “Bad” all over his forehead. Along with her usual revealing outfit, Toyah is sporting a new hairdo that harkens back to her days as a new wave singer in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

The couple had been posting archival videos over the past few weeks, with the previous new “Sunday Lunch” performance being a cover of J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold” in late March.

Other recent “Sunday Lunch” performances include covers of Mötley Crüe’s “Shout at the Devil,” Kiss’ “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” and The Offspring’s “The Kids Aren’t Alright.

Gordon Lightfoot is cancelling concerts.

On Tuesday, the Canadian music legend cancelled his upcoming tour dates in Canada and the U.S. due to health issues.

Read More: Gordon Lightfoot Given Key To The City By Toronto Mayor As Massey Hall Reopens

“Gordon Lightfoot announces the cancellation of his U.S. and Canadian concert schedule for 2023,” the artist’s team said in a statement. “The singer is currently experiencing some health related issues and is unable to confirm rescheduled dates at this time.”

The statement added, “We thank you for respecting his privacy as he continues to focus on his recovery.”

84-year-old Lightfoot was scheduled to perform 18 shows across North America between April and October this year.

Read More: How Did The Canadian Music Industry Do In 2022? The Year-End Stats Are Out

He had previously postponed his tour in 2021 after fracturing his wrist and undergoing surgery.

An icon of the...

Depeche Mode just released the new album Memento Mori, and to mark the occasion, they stopped by the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios to perform songs old and new with the BBC Concert Orchestra for the Radio 2 series Piano Room.

The new wave legends ran through new track “Ghosts Again,” Songs of Faith and Devotion favorite “Walking in My Shoes,” and a cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown” (famously sung by Scott Walker). You can listen to the full session on BBC Radio’s website, or watch individual performance videos below.

Depeche Mode will be on the road supporting Memento Mori through the rest of the year. Revisit our review of their tour kickoff show here, then grab tickets to a concert near you via StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value,...

Rian Johnson's Knives Out soundtrack is just one of the many elements that goes into making it a modern whodunit classic. The movie has a fantastic score to set the mood for the mystery, but it also includes a few songs in certain scenes throughout the film. Starring Daniel Craig as famed detective, Benoit Blanc, Knives Out is Johnson's homage to the classic murder mystery, pulling inspiration from Agatha Christie to Clue and everything in between. The Knives Out soundtrack highlights how Rian Johnson was willing to pay homage to the typical genre feel while bringing his own style into it.

With Knives Out, Johnson found a new way to approach the murder mystery genre, kicking off a franchise with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and confirmation of Knives Out 3 on the way. For the film's score, Johnson enlists his go-to composer and actual cousin, Nathan Johnson,...

Jim Gordon, a prolific and in-demand session drummer for dozens of acts who joined Eric Clapton in writing “Layla” for their band Derek and the Dominos and later was convicted of murdering his mother, died Monday at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, CA. He was 77.

Publicist Bob Merlis said Gordon, who and had been in prison for 40 years and struggled with mental health issues, died of natural causes.

Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Bill Pitman Dies: Wrecking Crew Guitarist Who Played On Countless Hits, TV & Film Soundtracks Was 102 Related Story Eric Clapton Has Covid, Cancels Shows; Guitarist Had Denounced Vaccine Protocols

Born in Los Angeles, Gordon was part of the Wrecking Crew, the core group of studio musicians who played on scads of hits records for dozens of acts. He was behind the kit for such memorable 1960s albums as the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and Crosby,...

Ian Tyson, the celebrated Canadian folk musician best known for writing the contemporary standard “Four Strong Winds,” died Thursday, Dec. 29. He was 89.

Tyson’s death was confirmed in a statement on his Facebook page. He died at his ranch in southern Alberta, Canada from “on-going health complications,” though no further details were given.

One of Canada’s most prominent and influential artists, Tyson enjoyed a lengthy career as one half of the folk duo Ian and Sylvia (with Sylvia Fricker), and as a solo artist. “Four Strong Winds,” as well...

An array of Canadian artists have donated rare items for an important cause.

Geddy Lee, The Tragically Hip and Billy Talent are among musicians to have given up items to raise money for the Healing in Harmony Holiday Auction in support of trauma survivors.

The fundraiser, also featuring Oscar Peterson, Corey Hart, and more, will help Toronto-based non-governmental organization Make Music Matter expand its innovative music therapy program for marginalized communities.

The online fundraiser is set to run from November 24 to December 4, and will include everything from personalized autographed guitars to never before seen photos, event passes, merchandise, professional services for musicians, and more.

Geddy Lee has donated a signed Signature Fender Jazz bass, while Billy Talent and Sum 41’s Jason “Cone” McCaslin have also donated signed guitars.

Exclusive signed photos and artwork from the likes of The Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Daniel Lanois and The Trews are up for grabs,...

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Carl Samrock, the veteran Hollywood publicist who over the course of a 50-year career worked for Warner Bros. and headed his own firm, has died. He was 81.

Samrock died Saturday night of pancreatic cancer at his home in Encino, his wife of 44 years, Carol Andelman Samrock, announced.

Samrock was vice president of national publicity at Warner Bros. Pictures in Burbank under co-chairmen Bob Daly and Terry Semel. He joined the company in 1982 as West Coast publicity director and built and managed a 16-member staff responsible for publicity duties on some 30 films in production or release annually.

Samrock moved to Warner Home Video in 1997 as a consultant to help then-president Warren Lieberfarb introduce the new format.

A year later, he launched Carl Samrock Public Relations, a boutique firm that focused on publicity and promotion campaigns for DVD and Blu-ray releases. For the next nearly two decades,...

Exclusive: The Eurovision brand continues its North American expansion. Leading Canadian producer Insight Productions, a Boat Rocker company, has teamed with Eurovision Canada rights owners and ASC, Inc., one of the companies behind NBC’s music reality competition series American Song Contest, to debut the first-ever Eurovision Canada in 2023.

Similar to American Song Contest –– which is following the blueprint of the Eurovision Song Contest — Eurovision Canada will feature musical artists and bands from each of the 10 provinces and three territories and across every musical genre, to perform all original songs on the live televised event. The participating artists will go head-to-head against other provincial/territorial representatives in a series of televised Qualifier Competitions, leading to Semi-Finals and the ultimate primetime Grand Finale.

The move follows the recent appointment of Greg Lipstone as President and COO of ASC, Inc., joining producers Anders Lenhoff, Christer Björkman, Ola Melzig and Peter Settman in their expansion efforts,...

If this record was released under anyone else’s name, the reviews wouldn’t have much to say. Lovely songwriting. Beautiful string arrangements. The bossa nova track “Olvidado (Otro Momento)” pairs well with a martini by the pool. Overall, solid album. No notes.

But for Father John Misty, the bar is set unreasonably high. This is Josh Tillman, who drummed for Fleet Foxes, went solo, and made a concept album about his life in 2015. It’s the guy who once described the world as “a godless rock that refuses to die,...