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FYI

BJ Cook – Ronnie Hawkins, David Foster, Skylark and Rock n’ Roll

During the mid-seventies, BJ Cook and partner David Foster walked into our Gothic Avenue home. It was the early days of Skylark and the two were looking for songs.

BJ Cook – Ronnie Hawkins, David Foster, Skylark and Rock n’ Roll

By Bill King

During the mid-seventies, BJ Cook and partner David Foster walked into our Gothic Avenue home. It was the early days of Skylark and the two were looking for songs. My mind was elsewhere but we did share a few laughs about our encounters with Ronnie Hawkins of which the two were coming off a wild ride with the entertaining rockabilly dynamo.


Cook and Foster were married on a road trip through Florida in 1972, and daughter Amy Skylark Foster was born the following year. The hits started coming. Songwriting is a family tradition. Cook herself co-wrote with established LA songwriters Michael McDonald, Brenda Russell, Foster, Bill Champlin and Donovan, and daughter Amy has written three of Michael Bublé’s hits.

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Cook’s life reads much like an open novel. Pregnant at 16, facing the hostility of small-town living, the hard times, coming rock n’ roll revolution and the long unwinding road.

In part one of this conversation, we talk of the early years, the contagious laughs with Ronnie Hawkins, scuffling with soon-to-be partner David Foster, Skylark and the devastating illness overtaking lead singer Donny Gerrard, who passed away last week.

Cook would later team up with the late Domenic Troiano and co-write the television theme hit Night Heat.

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Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Richard Sibbald

Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

Rock

Rush to Return for 2026 Fifty Something Tour, Their First Live Dates Since the Death of Neil Peart

Canadian rock legends Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will reunite to play the immortal songs at rush at 7 cities in 2026, including two dates on August 7 and 9 at Scotiabank Arena in their hometown of Toronto.

Rush are returning to the stage.

The 2026 headline tour, Fifty Something, will reunite original members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson to pay tribute to the music of Rush and the legacy of late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. This will be the first time the Rush members will tour together since their R40 40th anniversary tour in 2015.

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