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FYI

Charlie Major’s MADD Return With With All-Star Cast On '90s Hit

The longstanding Cancountry hitmaker updates one of his earliest classics with a corral full of impressionable friends to raise money for MADD.

Charlie Major’s MADD Return With With All-Star Cast On '90s Hit

By Karen Bliss

Country music veteran Charlie Major recruited a who’s who of Canadian country music — including Dean Brody, Brett Kissel, Terri Clark and Johnny Reid — to add their voices to the remake of his 25-year-old No. 1 hit, “It Can’t Happen To Me,” in order to raise money for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, now known as MADD Canada.


The national charitable organization — which has over 100 chapters and community leaders and 7,500 volunteers — is committed to stopping impaired driving and supporting the victims of this violent crime. According to MADD, on average, four Canadians are killed and 175 are injured every day in Canada, and approximately 65,000 Canadians are impacted by impaired drivers annually.

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"While I have lost friends, and seen friends and family affected by drinking and driving, the song 'It Can't Happen To Me' is more or less meant to be generic and was written to show the erroneous mindset of invincibility people have when they are young along with the consequences of that particular way of thinking," Major tells Samaritanmag. – Continue reading Karen Bliss’s story here.

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Amber Still, executive director of the Polaris Music Prize
Johanna Stickland

Amber Still, executive director of the Polaris Music Prize

Awards

‘Protect the Prize’: The Polaris Music Prize Undergoes Its Biggest Period of Change

Now entering its third decade, the Canadian critic’s prize has expanded its voting pool, adjusted to financial constraints and begun awarding both albums and songs. After years defined by its refined focus, the changes mark a major expansion of the organization’s mission.

In 2025, the Polaris Music Prize celebrated its 20th anniversary. Entering its third decade, the award is undergoing what might be its biggest period of change. From funding to voting process, the organization is continuing to evolve.

The cultural not-for-profit organization has spent the better part of two decades creating a space in the industry for Canadian acts to be recognized based solely artistic merit, rather than sales, genre or support from a record label. Founded in the 2000s as Canada's answer to the Mercury Prize, the organization became a registered Canadian charity in 2017.

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