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Simple Plan to Commemorate 25th Anniversary with Prime Video Documentary

Amidst a wave of Canadian music documentaries, Simple Plan's upcoming film will feature new interviews and archival footage of the Montreal pop-punk band.

Simple Plan

Skyler Barberio

Skyler Barberio

Simple Plan are joining a wave of Canadian music documentaries.

The Montreal pop-punk band have partnered with Prime Video for an upcoming documentary chronicling their career.


The documentary will arrive as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations, directed by Didier Charette. Charette toured with the band for a year, capturing intimate behind-the-scenes footage. The documentary will also feature new interviews with contemporaries like Avril Lavigne, Blink 182's Mark Hoppus and The Offspring's Dexter Holland & Noodles.

The band announced the documentary during their performance at Las Vegas' emo/pop-punk nostalgia festival When We Were Young.

They're the latest in a string of 2000s Canadian bands to get the documentary treatment, including The Tragically Hip with No Dress Rehearsal, the upcoming Broken Social Scene film It's All Gonna Break and Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara.

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Simple Plan broke out in 2002 with debut album No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls, part of a burgeoning wave of Canadian pop-punk acts. They became Warped Tour mainstays and have released five more full-length albums. In 2020, bassist David Desrosiers left amidst sexual misconduct allegations.

The doc comes amidst a wave of pop-punk nostalgia, with Canadian contemporaries Sum 41 going on their farewell tour, while Blink-182 and Green Day spent the summer headlining festivals. It's a good time to celebrate Simple Plan's own 25th anniversary.

"Reaching this milestone felt like the perfect moment to look back, reflect and give our fans an inside look into our lives, both on tour and at home,” the band said in a statement.

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Billy Steinberg
billysteinberg.com

Billy Steinberg

FYI

Obituaries: Hit Songwriter Billy Steinberg, Streetheart Guitarist John Hannah, Festival Booker Randi Fratkin

This week we also acknowledge the passing of salsa pioneer Willie Colón.

John Hannah, a Scottish-Canadian guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as a member of Streetheart, died at his residence in Ayr, Scotland after a brief illness, on Feb. 20, at age 73.

On their website, Streetheart reported the news and noted that "John joined Streetheart in the fall of 1978 and was with the band until the early spring of 1981. John’s contribution to the Streetheart legacy during that time was most profound. Along with being an accomplished guitarist and singer, he was also a creative force, contributing to many of the classic Streetheart songs that remain as fan favourites today. 'Hollywood,' Trouble, and 'Drugstore Dancer' all feature John’s songwriting and playing skills and it is John who played the iconic guitar solo on Streetheart’s classic remake of The Rolling Stones’ 'Under My Thumb' in 1979."

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