advertisement
Awards

Canadian Music Hall of Fame to Induct Dan Hill, Glass Tiger, Ginette Reno and Loreena McKennitt in 2025

They will be joined by 2024 inductee Maestro Fresh Wes at a special ceremony at Studio Bell on May 15. Sum 41 will also be honoured at the 2025 Juno Awards, on March 30, their final televised performance.

Dan Hill

Dan Hill

Courtesy Photo

The Canadian Music Hall of Fame has announced its full crop of 2025 inductees.

Songwriter Dan Hill, "grande dame of Québec song" Ginette Reno, rock superstars Glass Tiger and singer/songwriter/composer Loreena McKennitt will all join the previously announced Sum 41. That legendary punk and rock band, who are currently on their farewell tour after returning to the top of the Alternative Airplay chart after more than two decades, will celebrate the induction with their final televised performance at the 2025 Juno Awards on March 30 in Vancouver.


The other four recipients will be joined by 2024 Hall of Fame inductee and Canadian hip-hop pioneer Maestro Fresh Wes at a special ceremony on May 15 at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (NMC), in Calgary. Maestro Fresh Wes was inducted into the Hall of Fame during The 2024 Junos broadcast in Halifax, and will again be honoured at the Studio Bell event this year.

advertisement

The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established by CARAS, the organization behind the Junos, in 1978 to acknowledge artists who have made a remarkable impact on Canadian music both nationally and internationally.

Hill, Reno, Glass Tiger, McKennitt, Sum 41 and Maestro Fresh Wes will join the ranks of esteemed stars including Alanis Morissette, Barenaked Ladies, Deborah Cox, Jann Arden, Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Nickelback, Oscar Peterson, Rush, The Guess Who, The Tragically Hip, Sarah McLachlan and Shania Twain.

This is the third time CARAS has held a multiple induction ceremony outside of the Junos.

“As the physical home of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, we’re proud to be a place that honours the individuals that have contributed so much to Canadian music," says Andrew Mosker, president & CEO of the National Music Centre. "It’s always a privilege to host this special event and welcome the latest inductees to Calgary, where we can celebrate their significant influence and share their inspiring stories."

advertisement

The National Music Centre will unveil a new exhibition at Studio Bell on May 7, spotlighting the achievements of the four inductees.

Hill has achieved major international success, both for his own music and in collaboration with other musical legends. His “Sometimes When We Touch,” a tune Dolly Parton called her “favourite song of all time”’ and one she wishes she had written, has notched 63 million YouTube views and over 100 million downloads. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.

Hill has recorded and released multiple Gold and Platinum albums, won a Grammy Award and five Junos, and was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2021. He's also worked with many of the pop's top-selling artists, including Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, Britney Spears and Céline Dion.

Ginette Reno is a legend of Quebec music. In a 65-year career, she's recorded over 2000 songs, 42 albums, all gold or platinum, and various notable roles on the silver screen and on television.

Since their first three albums starting in the mid-1980s, Ontario rock band Glass Tiger spawned 14 Top 40 Hits in Canada in five years. The 1986 hit "Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)” (which hit No. 2) and following hit "Someday," which both reached Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the band's debut album, The Thin Red Line, went quadruple platinum in Canada and gold in the U.S.

advertisement

Loreena McKennitt has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide while remaining self-managed and self-produced. Her music, combining elements of pop, folk and worldbeat styles, has been dubbed “eclectic Celtic.”

Tickets will soon go on sale at the National Music Centre. More info at the Canadian Music Hall of Fame website.

advertisement

advertisement
Théodora
Courtesy Photo

Théodora

Concerts

Francos de Montréal 2025 Highlights: One Language, A Thousand Faces

From June 13 to 22, Montreal transformed into a vibrant capital of Francophone music. From French rapper Théodora to local rockers Corridor, this year’s acts showed that the French language, far from static, is an endless playground.

In Montréal, June rhymes with music, and Francos de Montréal are the perfect proof. Once again this year, the festival celebrated the full richness of the French language in its most lively, vibrant, and above all, varied forms. While French served as a common thread, every artist inhabited it in their own unique way – with their accent, life experience, expressions, imagery and struggles. Between urban poetry, edgy rock and hybrid Creole, Francos 2025 showed that French has never been so expansive – or popular.

What Francos 2025 proved is that the French language is no fixed monument. It’s alive, inventive, plural. It can be slammed by a poet from Saint-Denis, chanted by an afro-futurist rapper, whispered by an indie band, or hammered out in Montréal neighbourhood slang. From Congolese expressions to Québec regionalisms, from playful anglicisms to Creole nods, the French language danced in every form this year. It was « full bon »!

keep readingShow less
advertisement