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Drake
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Drake Celebrates the Opening of History Ottawa: ‘I Will Be There to Drop Off My Personal Touch’
The first expansion of the Toronto venue — co-owned by the famed homegrown rapper and Live Nation — will host its first show tonight (Aug. 20) with The Wallflowers.
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History Ottawa is officially open.
The city’s newest music hub is the first expansion of the popular Toronto music venue co-owned by Drake and Live Nation. In celebration of its public opening, the homegrown rapper took to social media to express his excitement.
Drake hints that there could be more expansions coming while Live Nation “for giving me the continued trust on a journey that I hope is shared with every city and country worldwide" and teases an in-person experience in Ottawa, revealing that he “will be there to drop off my personal touch to Ottawa soon.”
Located on Rideau Street in ByWard Market, the 2,000-person venue will welcome dozens of international artists to the country's capital, cementing Ottawa as a music hub. The mid-sized venue will kick off its inaugural concert season tonight (Aug. 20) with The Wallflowers.
Other artists slated to perform at the venue include: Two Door Cinema Club, Modest Mouse, Wolf Parade, Owen Riegling, Jamie Fine and Thundercat, among others.
The Ottawa venue will reportedly focus on elevating the customer experience, with “a dedicated premium event space and VIP and corporate lounge that can host up to 200 people” — an amenity that doesn't exist in Toronto.
“That's our ambition in a lot of these Canadian secondary markets. What’s missing? Or what's not good enough from an artist and fan experience? Let’s try to fill the holes,” said Erik Hoffman, president of music at Live Nation Canada and the leader of the Billboard Canada Power Players 2026 leaderboard, told Billboard Canada in 2025.
Nearly five years ago, History opened in Toronto. In its half-a-decade run, it has become a key space in the city's concert scene, hosting some of music's biggest names before they go on to play bigger venues, like Gracie Abrams and Conan Gray, while other acts have hosted underplay shows, including Alvvays and Nickelback.
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At the beginning of the year, Hilary Duff played an intimate sold-out show at the venue during her comeback tour, and later this year, viral math rock duo Angine de Poitrine will return to the city just a few months after their June Mod Club debut.
Co-owner Drake has frequently shown up at the venue to support his collaborators and friends — whether he’s standing in the balcony or flexing his on-stage skills — popping up for artists like Latto, Central Cee and Jack Harlow.
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