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BILLBOARD CANADA FYI
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From left: Jane McGarrigle, Garth Hudson, Steven Leckie
FYI
Obituaries: Remembering The Canadian Musicians and Industry Leaders We Lost in 2025
A look back at those important people in Canadian music that passed this year, including Garth Hudson, Serge Fiori, Steven Leckie, Harvey Glatt, Jane McGarrigle and other beloved and respected industry notables.
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It's the end of the year, and that brings reflection upon the people and things we have lost over the previous 12 months.
The Canadian music industry lost some true artistic and industry giants in 2025. That includes The Band star Garth Hudson, Toronto battle rapper Bishop Brigante, Canadian punk icon Steven Leckie of The Viletones, Canadian author/music publisher Jane McGarrigle, sister of Kate & Anna McGarrigle, professional wrestler and singer Sweet Daddy Siki, and many more.
At Billboard Canada, we believe it is important to note the achievements of those in all facets of the Canadian music industry as well as the chart-topping stars. Whether or not their names are familiar to you, reading our tributes to them will reveal their significant accomplishments within the industry.
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Here, we will also make a special acknowledgement to David Farrell, late Canadian music industry media pioneer and the founder of FYI, who passed away late last year.
They will all be missed. Rest in Peace.
Each entry here has a link to the full obituary/tribute we posted in Billboard Canada FYI during 2025 (and late 2024, after last year's edition was published) in chronological order.
For those who we unintentionally left off the roll call, we regret the omission.
Here is a full and chronological list of Billboard Canada's Canadian obituaries published in 2025.
Canadians We Lost in 2025
Bruce Surtees, owner of music and book retail stores in Toronto and the U.S. and a record reviewer, died on Dec. 28, 2024, at age 94.
Peter Leitch, a prolific Canadian jazz guitarist and recording artist, died on Dec. 30, 2024, at age 80.
Sweet Daddy Siki, a Toronto-based American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer, died on Dec. 31, 2024, at age 91, of complications of Alzheimer's disease.
Roger Dupuis, co-owner/founder of the Urban Corral Club in Moncton, a major East Coast venue for East Cast country music in the 1980s, died on Jan. 8, 2025, at age 86.
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Mario Allard, a highly-regarded Montreal jazz saxophonist, composer and teacher, died on Jan. 12, at age 42, after an accidental fall.
Garth Hudson, the Canadian keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist whose inventive playing was a crucial feature of the sound of roots rock pioneers and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Band, died on Jan. 21, at age 87.
Jane McGarrigle, a Canadian songwriter, musician, music publisher, artist manager and author who worked extensively with her sisters, folk legends Kate & Anna McGarrigle, died on Jan. 24, at age 83, of ovarian cancer.
John Donabie, a veteran Canadian radio broadcaster and member of the Canadian Broadcasting Hall of Fame, died on Jan. 30, at age 78, after a long battle with cancer.
Paul Bronfman, the pioneering supplier of production equipment, soundstages and services to the Canadian and Hollywood film and TV industry, died on Feb. 26, at age 67, following a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
Carole Vivier, the former longtime CEO and Film Commissioner of Manitoba Film & Music and an Order of Canada recipient, died on March 4, at age 73, of lung cancer.
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Teddy Hawkins, a Toronto-based drummer, vocalist, songwriter and raconteur who worked in many different genres, died on March 22, of a heart attack, at age 69.
Kevan Staples, a Toronto songwriter, film and TV composer and multi-instrumentalist best known as co-founder of adventurous Juno-winning rock band Rough Trade, died on March 23, of cancer, at age 75.
Dick Damron, a country singer-songwriter and Canadian Country Music Hall Of Famer, died on March 29, at the age of 91.
Bishop Brigante (born Nickolas Parra), a Toronto battle rapper who had a huge impact on the city’s hip-hop scene, died on March 30, of colorectal cancer, at age 46.
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Don Bird, an acclaimed record producer, festival artistic director and notable member of the North American folk music community, died on March 31, at age 82.
George Olliver, a Toronto soul singer and keyboardist best known for his work in the Mandala and Gangbuster, died on April 6, after a stroke, at age 79.
Henri Enrique Sangalang, a Halifax musician best known as the bassist of Flashing Lights and a member of Kearney Lake Rd,, died on April 9, at age 56.
Mark Kieswetter, an in-demand Toronto jazz pianist, arranger, music director and composer, died on April 21, of cancer, at age 71.
Claude Morrison, a vocalist best known as a founding member of platinum-selling Toronto a cappella group The Nylons, died on April 22, at age 72.
Mark Hiscock, an accordionist, vocalist and songwriter and a towering figure on the Newfoundland folk music scene as a member of Shanneyganock, died suddenly on May 6, at age 53.
Terry (Edward) Draper, a Canadian drummer and singer-songwriter best known as a member of noted 1970s progressive rock band Klaatu, died on May 15, at the age of 73, of leukemia.
Bill (William) Gilliland, a Toronto record label head (Arc Records), producer and music entrepreneur, died on May 17, at age 88.
Kenny Marco, a Canadian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter best known for the 1969 Motherlode hit, "When I Die," died on May 24, at age 78, after a battle with cancer.
Paul Dutton, a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist, member of CCMC and oral sound artist, died on May 27, at age 81.
Cliffy Short, a pioneering Canadian country singer, TV host and musician, died on May 28, at age 91.
Sandy Stagg, an English-Canadian fashion entrepreneur and restaurateur who had a major impact on the Toronto scene in the '70s and '80s, died on May 28, at age 84.
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Andrew Matheson, a Juno-nominated Canadian rock singer-songwriter and author who made a splash on the '70s English rock scene, died in London, on May 31. His age has not been reported.
Juliette Powell, a former Miss Canada who went on to become a popular MuchMusic VJ and academic author, died on June 3, at age 54, of bacterial meningitis.
Patrick (PK) Giunta, an Ottawa-based guitarist best known as a member of Juno-winning group Kobo Town, died on June 5, at age 58, of cancer.
Roy Penney, a notable East Coast country music guitarist, died on June 6, at age 89.
Lee Marlow, a Juno-nominated New Brunswick-based country singer/songwriter, died on June 10, at age 70.
Steven Leckie, leader of the legendary Toronto punk band The Viletones, died on June 12, at age 67, after a long battle with cancer. He was a genuine pioneer of Canadian punk rock, one whose reputation and work also had an impact and influence internationally.
Mike Bilcox, lead singer and guitarist of Ajax, Ontario’s second most famous pop-punk band, Not By Choice, passed away on June 21, at age 48.
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Serge Fiori, founder of Quebec rock band Harmonium, recognized as one of the most important French-Canadian bands ever, died on June 24, at the age of 73, after a long illness.
Alan Davis, a Toronto concert presenter and founder of Small World Music, died on June 25, at age 63, of cancer.
Peter Verity, an award-winning Canadiana/folk singer-songwriter, died on June 25, at the age of 75.
Brendan Berg, longtime bassist for Juno-nominated Winnipeg indie-pop band Royal Canoe, died on July 1, in a car crash. He was aged 42. Also killed in the accident was his partner Olivia Michalczuk, a community organizer and music journalist. She was 31.
Norman Marshall Villeneuve, a noted veteran Canadian jazz drummer and bandleader, died on July 9, at age 87.
Gavin Walker, a musician and one of Vancouver's most impassioned champions of jazz, died in early July. His age has not been reported.
Bill Exley, a London, Ontario-based performer and teacher best known as a member of the acclaimed and avant-garde Nihilist Spasm Band, died on July 15, in his 85th year.
Laura Vinson, a highly successful Albertan country music singer-songwriter, died on July 17, at age 79.
Nick Panaseiko Sr., a music promoter, label executive and Lifetime Achievement award winner at the London Music Hall of Fame, died on July 31, at age 79.
Rick Scott, a Juno-nominated B.C. folk singer/songwriter and member of famed folk trio Pied Pumkin, died on Aug. 1, at age 77.
Brent Williams, a renowned East Coast country singer-songwriter, died on July 28, at age 85.
David Holcroft, an Ontario vocalist formerly in the groups Light and Cedar Creek, died on Aug. 2, of drowning in a boating accident, at age 74.
Larry Gillstrom, lead guitarist and founding member of popular Regina heavy metal band Kick Axe, died on Aug. 4, after a battle with cancer, at age 70.
Raymond Bisha, a Canadian classical music publicist, marketer, record label executive and podcaster, died on Aug. 5, at age 68.
Harvey Glatt, a pioneer of the Canadian music industry as an owner of record stores, music venues, record labels and radio stations, an artist manager, concert promoter and philanthropist, died on Aug. 20, at age 91.
Oskar Graf, a renowned Canadian luthier and co-founder of the Blue Skies Music Festival, died on August 26 at the age of 81.
Peter Brennan, a musician and the founder, head and lead guitarist of Jeans ‘n Classics, a popular Canadian-based symphonic rock performance series, died on Sept. 29, of cancer, at age 73.
Nobuo Kubota, a Canadian sound poet and multimedia artist best known for his work in pioneering free improvisation group CCMC, died on Sept. 30, at age 93
Fay Olson-Vickery, a PR executive and a crucial figure on the Toronto jazz scene, died on Oct. 3, at age 84.
Al (Albert) Andruchow, a popular Canadian record label (EMI Music Canada) executive, died on Oct. 26, at age 83.
Paul Hann, a folk singer-songwriter and children's entertainer whose debut album launched the famed Stony Plain record label, died on Oct. 30, of Lewy Body Dementia, at age 77.
Neil MacGonigill, a prominent Calgary-based artist manager, producer and record label owner who boosted the careers of Jann Arden, k.d. lang, Ian Tyson, Billy Cowsill and more , died on Oct. 31, at age 77.
Grant Slater, an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, music director for Sharon, Lois and Bram, and a Juno winner with Rugrats, died on Nov. 6, at age 74.
Jeff Hannusch, a Canadian-born, New Orleans-based music journalist and award-winning author, died on Nov. 11. His age and a cause of death have not been reported.
Peter Baylis, frontman of Halifax bands Steps Around The House and The Hopping Penguins and a renowned anthems singer, died on Nov. 12, at age 62.
Tim Williams, a Calgary-based blues/folk guitarist, singer-songwriter and acclaimed record producer, died on Nov. 28, of cancer, at age 77.
Dr, Giles Bryant, a renowned Toronto organist, choir director and educator, died on Nov. 29, at age 91.
Barry Haugen, a Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame-inducted pioneer of the country music industry as a record label executive and a booster of Canadian country artists, died on Dec.1, at age 84, of cancer.
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