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- Snow. If Snow had never done anything other than be a reggae-influenced Canadian rapper named Snow, it would be enough to wholly solidify his historical legacy.
- Martha and the Muffins. Martha and the Muffins blew out of Toronto’s New Wave scene with their classic 1980 club hit “Echo Beach.” Martha Johnson sings in the relatable voice of an office clerk, bored at her 9-to-5 job, fantasizing of a romantic beach escape all by herself, over herky-jerky guitar/synth churn.
- Terri Clark. The much-revered era of Nineties country just wouldn’t have been the same without the contributions of Terri Clark. The Alberta-born singer got her start playing for tips (and a $15 flat rate) at Nashville’s famous honky-tonk Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge in 1987, and raced into the Top Three just a few years later with her 1995 debut single, “Better Things to Do.”
- April Wine. Pioneering arena rockers April Wine moved from Halifax to Montreal at the start of the Seventies, and then spent the rest of the decade churning out tuneful, middle-of-the-road rock hits, alternating between sentimental, keyboard-sweetened love songs, and upbeat, guitar-heavy love songs.
- Rush. 10,812 votes. As one of the best Canadian rock bands of all time, this trio has garnered international acclaim for their skilled musicianship, particularly the virtuosic skills of their drummer and lyricist.
- Leonard Cohen. 2,910 votes. Often characterized by his deep, gravelly voice and poetic lyrics, this iconic singer-songwriter has left an indelible mark on the world of music.
- The Guess Who. 6,786 votes. Emerging in the late 1960s, this legendary rock group helped put Canadian rock on the map with their infectious blend of blues, jazz, and pop influences.
- The Tragically Hip. 9,021 votes. Formed in 1984, this iconic rock band quickly become beloved for their introspective lyrics, distinctively Canadian themes, and powerful live performances.
- Rush
- Arcade Fire
- Nickelback
- Sum 41
- Metric
- Broken Social Scene
- Barenaked Ladies
- Guess Who
- Tragically Hip
- The Band
When talking about Canadian rock bands, there’s only really one place to start, and that’s with Rush. Formed in Toronto, Ontario, they’ve been playing together for over five decades since they began in the fall of 1968. The band spent five years in the Toronto nightclub circuit before releasing their first single in 1973. However, their breakthroug...
Next up, we have Arcade Fire, who first formed in the summer of 2003, mixing the bandmates’ various musical tastes of bossa nova, punk, French chanson, and pop. They became an instant indie rock underground success in 2007 with their album Funeral, which they released after the deaths of several of the bandmates’ family members. Their commercial pe...
Brothers Mike and Chad Kroeger formed Nickelbackin 1995 with their cousins Brandon Kroeger and Ryan Peake in Hanna, Alberta. However, at that time, they were a rock cover band called Village Idiot. Nickelback’s post-grunge pop rock became popular in the late 1990s as Canada’s version of the band Creed. They started out self-releasing a few singles ...
Our next band, Sum 41, started in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996 as a NOFX punk cover band. Eventually, their personal style grew to become heavier, darker, and metal-inspired. They put on incendiary live shows with goofy antics. In 1998 and 1999, they sent demo tapes to several record companies before signing with Island Records in 1999. The resulting EP ...
Toronto-based Metric is an indie alt-rock bank fueled by Emily Haines’ darkly powerful vocals. The group first formed and released its debut EP in 1998. A major music publisher scouted them in 2000 and helped with their first album, Grow Up and Blow Away, but it didn’t release until 2007. For a while, they only sold their handmade CDs at their conc...
Canadian indie rock band Broken Social Sceneis an ensemble that has included some of Toronto’s best left-of-center musical community members over the years (including members of Metric). The band was first formed in 1999 and has had two to fifteen members at any one time, exploring sounds ranging from film music, ambient minimalism, and orchestral ...
From Scarborough, Canada, we have the Barenaked Ladies. They first began playing on college campuses and opening for comedy troupes in the late 1980s. While they started out acoustic, they went on to combine an eclectic mix of folk and pop, rock, hip-hop, and rap with comedic banter between songs. People started asking for their rejected demo, The ...
Comprising originally of Chad Allan, Bob Ashley, Randy Bachman, Jim Kale, and Garry Peterson, Guess Whowere superstars in Canada during the 1960s and early 1970s. They released their first single, “Tribute to Buddy Holly,” on Canadian-American Records in 1962. It wasn’t long before their cover of “Shakin’ All Over” was an international best-seller ...
As the Tragically Hipaccumulated band members, they played gigs at small venues across Ontario before the vice president of MCA saw them in a Toronto tavern and signed a deal with them. Their first self-titled EP came out in 1987. They’ve been called Canada’s R.E.M. By 1989, they were hitting the top-100 charts in Canada, with an occasional song hi...
Next, we have another Toronto-hailing rock band simply called The Band. With all members except one Canadian, they were one of the most popular and influential bands in the world between 1968 and 1975. Their sound fused country, blues, folk, gospel, and R&B, with raw rock in an innovative way. Bob Dylan hired them as a backup band for his 1965 US t...
- Neil Young. Lists are incredibly subjective but it’s impossible to deny the enormous impact Neil Young has made in the musical world for the past 50 years.
- Leonard Cohen. Authoring a song that would launch almost a 100 covers, “Hallelujah” is just a small sliver of Leonard Cohen’s immense contribution to music over the past five decades.
- Joni Mitchell. One of the best musicians ever, let alone Canadian. As one of the 20th century’s most celebrated and influential artists, Joni Mitchell is the very face of folk music and yet equally at ease in the worlds of rock, pop, jazz, and blues.
- Rush. Take a crew of Yes-obsessed Canadians, apply an English prog sensibility and you have one of the most successful rock acts to break out of Canada – selling over million records sold worldwide.
Aug 1, 2023 · From legendary 1970s classic rocker Neil Young and 90s pop diva Celine Dion, to singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, this compilation of Canadian native artists features a wide range of genres, such as heavy metal, alternative, R&B, hard rock, pop, punk, folk, country, hip-hop/rap, jazz, and even blues.
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Jun 16, 2017 · Canada gave birth to many famous musicians in absolutely different genres: Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Feist, Nelly Furtado, Alanis Morissette, Bryan...
Artists # Artist Type Gender Area Begin Begin area End End area Rating; 1: ... Tegan and Sara (Canadian indie rock/pop duo) Group: Canada: 1998: Calgary: 4.15: 14 ...
