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charlene · 07-05-2023, 09:17 AM

21
Feist
MANCHESTER, TN - JUNE 08: Vocalist Leslie Feist performs at Day 2 during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 8, 2012 in Manchester, Tennessee. (Photo by Gary Miller/WireImage)
Gary Miller/WireImage

There are worse doors to stardom than an Apple ad. In the spring of 2007, Leslie Fiest — who, after moving from Calgary to Toronto, used only her surname — released her third album, The Reminder, to enthusiastic if modest acclaim. Though its predecessor, Let It Die, netted her a Juno for Best New Artist, and her work with Broken Social Scene marked her as a singer to watch, it was an iPod Nano ad that turned the gentle “1, 2, 3, 4” into a sensation, making The Reminder a multimillio-selling smash. To her credit, Fiest maintained her indie-pop course despite such success, variously collaborating with Mastodon and the Constantines, and retaining her quirky Joni Mitchell-meets-Kate Bush vibe through three subsequent albums. —J.D.C.

20
Sloan
(MANDATORY CREDIT Ebet Roberts/Getty Images) Sloan in New York City on April 16, 1997. (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)
Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images

Eagerly dubbed “the new Seattle” by the Canadian music press, the Halifax scene of the early Nineties was a hotbed of jangly guitars, close-harmony singing, and bright, Beatlesque melodies, and nobody typified those qualities more completely than Sloan. Each of the band’s four members writes and sings, and the band’s power-pop-inflected sound has remained remarkably consistent across the its 13-album history. Although their sales have never pushed beyond gold-record status in Canada, the quartet continue to be a critical favorite, with Chart magazine naming their second album, Twice Removed, the Best Canadian Album of All Time. —J.D.C

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1970: Photo of Snow Hank Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

One of the all-time great country legends was the boy from Brooklyn, Nova Scotia. Hank Snow grew up in the toughest days of the Depression, running off to sea on a fishing boat and starting out his country career as “Hank the Yodeling Ranger.” He sang his tales of the open road in the voice of someone who’d spent his life there: “I’m Moving On,” “The Golden Rocket,” “I’ve Been Everywhere.” But you can hear Nova Scotia in his voice on stoic ballads like “Wedding Bells.” Ray Charles and Johnny Cash idolized him. Bob Dylan loved to sing Hank Snow tunes with the Band at the Basement Tapes sessions in Big Pink. Hank paid respects to his roots on records like My Nova Scotia Home. His final album was one of his best: Brand on My Heart, a 1985 collabo with a young fan named Willie Nelson. —R.S.

18
The Tragically Hip
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY, 1992: (L-R) Guitarist Rob Baker, drummer Johnny Fay, lead singer Gordon Downie (1964-2017), guitarist Gord Sinclair and bassist Paul Langlois of the Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip pose for a portrait circa February, 1992 in New York, New York. (EDITOR'S NOTE: SPECIAL FILTER WAS USED ON LENS TO CREATE THIS IMAGE) (Photo by Bob Berg/Getty Images)
Bob Berg/Getty Images

Often described as “the most Canadian band in the world,” the Tragically Hip’s popularity is almost incomprehensible to those outside of Canada. Formed in Kingston, Ontario, in 1983, the Hip cut their teeth on the Ontario bar circuit, and even as the band moved from clubs to arenas, the music never lost its unpretentious grit. At the same time, Gord Downie’s witty, allusive lyrics offered enough high-brow Canadiana that even Margaret Atwood was a fan. After Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2016, the Hip’s final tour climaxed with a national broadcast of the farewell show in Kingston. As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put it, the Hip were “an essential part of what we are and who we are as a country.” —J.D.C.

17
Justin Bieber
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 02: Justin Bieber performs at Staples Center on October 2, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

A truly homegrown pop sensation — he was discovered by manager Scooter Braun thanks to YouTube covers he recorded in his Stratford, Ontario, house — Justin Bieber has grown from fawned-over teen idol to adult singer-songwriter able to work in any style that might come up on a shuffled playlist. While his sweetly youthful voice made early tracks like “Baby” spun-candy confections, his maturing instrument has helped him remain a compelling presence, whether as a solo artist or alongside fellow top-tier belters like Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran. Bieber’s openness about his medical issues, including depression and Ramsay Hunt syndrome, has also made him a standard-bearer for pop transparency and someone who’s made people suffering from similar maladies feel less alone. —M.J.

16
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Canadian folk duo Kate And Anna McGarrigle, 22nd July 1976. They are Kate McGarrigle (1946 - 2010, left) and her sister Anna. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
Michael Putland/Getty Images

Arriving in the mid-1970s with two brilliant albums — 1975’s Kare & Anna McGarrigle and 1977’s Dancer With Bruised Knees — the McGarrigle sisters are one of the all-time great folk-pop duos, combining homespun warmth with bittersweet beauty and a fun sense of irony. Linda Ronstadt’s hit cover of their classic song “Heart Like a Wheel” helped bring their music to a wider audience, and they’ve always repped their hometown of Montreal with pride (including singing in French on a number of songs, like their knockout cover of Bob Seger’s “You’ll Accompany Me,” from 1982’s Love Over and Over). In the 1990s, Kate’s children, Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright, began their musical careers, and appeared along with artists like Emmylou Harris and Ronstadt on wonderful albums like The McGarrigle Hour and The McGarrigle Christmas Hour. —J.D.
15
New Pornographers
UNSPECIFIED - MAY 24: SASQUATCH MUSIC FESTIVAL Photo of NEW PORNOGRAPHERS, Posed group portrait (Photo by Steven Dewall/Redferns)
Steven Dewall/Redferns/Getty Images

You could make a case for the New Pornographers as one of the all-time great power pop bands. Formed in Vancouver in the late Nineties and arriving on the scene with their perfect 2000 debut, Mass Romantic, they’ve kept evolving for almost a quarter century. The band’s original lineup had three powerhouse talents in impressionistic popcraft whiz Carl Newman, the playfully recondite Dan Bejar (also of Destroyer), and super-gifted alt-country singer Neko Case; over their nine-album career they’ve never stayed stuck in one sound or set of references while continually maintaining their core sense of joy and discovery. “It’s always a shock to me,” Newman told Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield in 2021. “I remember before Mass Romantic came out, we were talking to Mint Records. They mentioned a second record. I was like, ‘A second record?’ It never even popped into my head that we would make a second record.” —J.D.

14
Carly Rae Jepsen
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: Singer/songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen performs at the 19th Annual HRC National Dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on October 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage)
Paul Morigi/WireImage

Long before she stormed the charts with “Call Me Maybe,” Carly Rae Jepsen was a small-town folk singer best known for making it to the finals of Canadian Idol. But in three minutes and 13 seconds of pure pop bliss, the Mission, British Columbia, native became a household name the world over, setting herself on a trajectory as bright and shiny as her signature track. The singer-songwriter has turned her viral hit into a critically acclaimed career that’s now six albums in. Jepsen found her sweet spot in making nostalgia-tinged synth-pop, with inventive melodies and clever lyrics that mix a cheeky naughtiness with aww-shucks Canadian charm. While she’s endeared herself to millions of fans around the world, Jepsen has also found a fervent fanbase in the LGBTQ community, with her songs serving as both a call to arms and a call to the dance floor. She may not have taken home the Idol title, but just call Jepsen the Canadian-people’s champ. —T.C.

13
Tegan and Sara
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MAY 02: (L-R) Tegan Quin and Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara perform at The Roxy Theatre on May 2, 2016 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Timothy Norris/Getty Images)
Timothy Norris/Getty Images

Twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin have been making music together since they were 15-year-olds writing and recording “plunk” — that’s Quin for “light punk” — in their Calgary basement. Over the years, their approach to pop has shape-shifted, but the potency of their pointed melodies, enhanced by the sort of blood harmonies that can only come from sisters, has only increased, with songs like the insistent “Back in Your Head” and the plush yet anxious “Closer” holding their own on 21st-century best-song lists. When not recording, writing memoirs, or executive-producing the autobiographical series High School, Tegan and Sara have also been active advocates for LGBTQ rights, forming the Tegan and Sara Foundation and helping put together a health care directory for LGBTQ patients. —M.J.

07-05-2023, 09:17 AM	#4
charlene Moderator Join Date: May 2000 Posts: 16,001	Re: Rolling Stone Magazine-Top 50 Canadian Artists 21 Feist MANCHESTER, TN - JUNE 08: Vocalist Leslie Feist performs at Day 2 during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 8, 2012 in Manchester, Tennessee. (Photo by Gary Miller/WireImage) Gary Miller/WireImage There are worse doors to stardom than an Apple ad. In the spring of 2007, Leslie Fiest — who, after moving from Calgary to Toronto, used only her surname — released her third album, The Reminder, to enthusiastic if modest acclaim. Though its predecessor, Let It Die, netted her a Juno for Best New Artist, and her work with Broken Social Scene marked her as a singer to watch, it was an iPod Nano ad that turned the gentle “1, 2, 3, 4” into a sensation, making The Reminder a multimillio-selling smash. To her credit, Fiest maintained her indie-pop course despite such success, variously collaborating with Mastodon and the Constantines, and retaining her quirky Joni Mitchell-meets-Kate Bush vibe through three subsequent albums. —J.D.C. 20 Sloan (MANDATORY CREDIT Ebet Roberts/Getty Images) Sloan in New York City on April 16, 1997. (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns) Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images Eagerly dubbed “the new Seattle” by the Canadian music press, the Halifax scene of the early Nineties was a hotbed of jangly guitars, close-harmony singing, and bright, Beatlesque melodies, and nobody typified those qualities more completely than Sloan. Each of the band’s four members writes and sings, and the band’s power-pop-inflected sound has remained remarkably consistent across the its 13-album history. Although their sales have never pushed beyond gold-record status in Canada, the quartet continue to be a critical favorite, with Chart magazine naming their second album, Twice Removed, the Best Canadian Album of All Time. —J.D.C UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1970: Photo of Snow Hank Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images One of the all-time great country legends was the boy from Brooklyn, Nova Scotia. Hank Snow grew up in the toughest days of the Depression, running off to sea on a fishing boat and starting out his country career as “Hank the Yodeling Ranger.” He sang his tales of the open road in the voice of someone who’d spent his life there: “I’m Moving On,” “The Golden Rocket,” “I’ve Been Everywhere.” But you can hear Nova Scotia in his voice on stoic ballads like “Wedding Bells.” Ray Charles and Johnny Cash idolized him. Bob Dylan loved to sing Hank Snow tunes with the Band at the Basement Tapes sessions in Big Pink. Hank paid respects to his roots on records like My Nova Scotia Home. His final album was one of his best: Brand on My Heart, a 1985 collabo with a young fan named Willie Nelson. —R.S. 18 The Tragically Hip NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY, 1992: (L-R) Guitarist Rob Baker, drummer Johnny Fay, lead singer Gordon Downie (1964-2017), guitarist Gord Sinclair and bassist Paul Langlois of the Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip pose for a portrait circa February, 1992 in New York, New York. (EDITOR'S NOTE: SPECIAL FILTER WAS USED ON LENS TO CREATE THIS IMAGE) (Photo by Bob Berg/Getty Images) Bob Berg/Getty Images Often described as “the most Canadian band in the world,” the Tragically Hip’s popularity is almost incomprehensible to those outside of Canada. Formed in Kingston, Ontario, in 1983, the Hip cut their teeth on the Ontario bar circuit, and even as the band moved from clubs to arenas, the music never lost its unpretentious grit. At the same time, Gord Downie’s witty, allusive lyrics offered enough high-brow Canadiana that even Margaret Atwood was a fan. After Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2016, the Hip’s final tour climaxed with a national broadcast of the farewell show in Kingston. As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put it, the Hip were “an essential part of what we are and who we are as a country.” —J.D.C. 17 Justin Bieber LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 02: Justin Bieber performs at Staples Center on October 2, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic) Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic A truly homegrown pop sensation — he was discovered by manager Scooter Braun thanks to YouTube covers he recorded in his Stratford, Ontario, house — Justin Bieber has grown from fawned-over teen idol to adult singer-songwriter able to work in any style that might come up on a shuffled playlist. While his sweetly youthful voice made early tracks like “Baby” spun-candy confections, his maturing instrument has helped him remain a compelling presence, whether as a solo artist or alongside fellow top-tier belters like Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran. Bieber’s openness about his medical issues, including depression and Ramsay Hunt syndrome, has also made him a standard-bearer for pop transparency and someone who’s made people suffering from similar maladies feel less alone. —M.J. 16 Kate and Anna McGarrigle Canadian folk duo Kate And Anna McGarrigle, 22nd July 1976. They are Kate McGarrigle (1946 - 2010, left) and her sister Anna. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images) Michael Putland/Getty Images Arriving in the mid-1970s with two brilliant albums — 1975’s Kare & Anna McGarrigle and 1977’s Dancer With Bruised Knees — the McGarrigle sisters are one of the all-time great folk-pop duos, combining homespun warmth with bittersweet beauty and a fun sense of irony. Linda Ronstadt’s hit cover of their classic song “Heart Like a Wheel” helped bring their music to a wider audience, and they’ve always repped their hometown of Montreal with pride (including singing in French on a number of songs, like their knockout cover of Bob Seger’s “You’ll Accompany Me,” from 1982’s Love Over and Over). In the 1990s, Kate’s children, Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright, began their musical careers, and appeared along with artists like Emmylou Harris and Ronstadt on wonderful albums like The McGarrigle Hour and The McGarrigle Christmas Hour. —J.D. 15 New Pornographers UNSPECIFIED - MAY 24: SASQUATCH MUSIC FESTIVAL Photo of NEW PORNOGRAPHERS, Posed group portrait (Photo by Steven Dewall/Redferns) Steven Dewall/Redferns/Getty Images You could make a case for the New Pornographers as one of the all-time great power pop bands. Formed in Vancouver in the late Nineties and arriving on the scene with their perfect 2000 debut, Mass Romantic, they’ve kept evolving for almost a quarter century. The band’s original lineup had three powerhouse talents in impressionistic popcraft whiz Carl Newman, the playfully recondite Dan Bejar (also of Destroyer), and super-gifted alt-country singer Neko Case; over their nine-album career they’ve never stayed stuck in one sound or set of references while continually maintaining their core sense of joy and discovery. “It’s always a shock to me,” Newman told Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield in 2021. “I remember before Mass Romantic came out, we were talking to Mint Records. They mentioned a second record. I was like, ‘A second record?’ It never even popped into my head that we would make a second record.” —J.D. 14 Carly Rae Jepsen WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: Singer/songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen performs at the 19th Annual HRC National Dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on October 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage) Paul Morigi/WireImage Long before she stormed the charts with “Call Me Maybe,” Carly Rae Jepsen was a small-town folk singer best known for making it to the finals of Canadian Idol. But in three minutes and 13 seconds of pure pop bliss, the Mission, British Columbia, native became a household name the world over, setting herself on a trajectory as bright and shiny as her signature track. The singer-songwriter has turned her viral hit into a critically acclaimed career that’s now six albums in. Jepsen found her sweet spot in making nostalgia-tinged synth-pop, with inventive melodies and clever lyrics that mix a cheeky naughtiness with aww-shucks Canadian charm. While she’s endeared herself to millions of fans around the world, Jepsen has also found a fervent fanbase in the LGBTQ community, with her songs serving as both a call to arms and a call to the dance floor. She may not have taken home the Idol title, but just call Jepsen the Canadian-people’s champ. —T.C. 13 Tegan and Sara WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MAY 02: (L-R) Tegan Quin and Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara perform at The Roxy Theatre on May 2, 2016 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Timothy Norris/Getty Images) Timothy Norris/Getty Images Twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin have been making music together since they were 15-year-olds writing and recording “plunk” — that’s Quin for “light punk” — in their Calgary basement. Over the years, their approach to pop has shape-shifted, but the potency of their pointed melodies, enhanced by the sort of blood harmonies that can only come from sisters, has only increased, with songs like the insistent “Back in Your Head” and the plush yet anxious “Closer” holding their own on 21st-century best-song lists. When not recording, writing memoirs, or executive-producing the autobiographical series High School, Tegan and Sara have also been active advocates for LGBTQ rights, forming the Tegan and Sara Foundation and helping put together a health care directory for LGBTQ patients. —M.J.