Gene MacLellan

The road to success is not always easy. In 1970, Gene MacLellan was performing with the popular rock band Little Ceasar and the Consults. MacLellan however wanted more. In an uncharacteristically brave move, MacLellan went to the home of Don Messner, hoping to impress him with a song. The strategy worked and MacLellan became a regular on CBC Halifax's "Singalong Jubilee". It was on this show that MacLellan met a young singer by the name of Anne Murray and his professional songwriting career began.

Rich Dodson

Until December 1976, Rich Dodson was lead guitarist, vocalist and a major force behind the success of the Calgary rock trio, The Stampeders.

In 1971, the release of his composition "Sweet City Woman" propelled the Stampeders to the top of the charts and they were on their way to becoming a household name in Canada.

Gordon Lightfoot

A true singer-songwriter leaves not only the lasting impression of his performance but also the legacy of his song. Multiple awards, astonishing record sales, and endless accolades by his fans and peers have marked Gordon Lightfoot's career as a singer. As a songwriter, he is already a legend.

Wade Hemsworth

Albert Wade Hemsworth was a Canadian songwriter. Although he was not a prolific composer, having written only about 20 songs during his entire career, several of his songs (most notably "The Wild Goose", "The Blackfly Song" and "The Log Driver's Waltz") are among the most enduring classics in the history of Canadian folk music.

Burton Cummings

The praise doesn't come any loftier when none other than John Lennon says you are his favourite singer and Led Zeppelin icon, Robert Plant, says you are one of rock's best voices. Both are talking about Burton Cummings. Few singers in pop music inspire the flash-recall of recognition like that of Cummings. Say the name and it conjures up the monster hit, American Woman, or the soulful song, These Eyes, or the solo hit, Stand Tall.

Randy Bachman

Musical talent often flowers at an early age. In Randy Bachman's case, it was at the tender age of three when he won a Winnipeg radio talent show contest.

Though he began his musical journey on the violin, he became interested in guitar as a young teenager. At age 13, in his hometown of Winnipeg, he met one of the biggest musical influences of his life, fellow teenager and brilliant jazz guitarist Lenny Breau.

Andy Kim

In 1967, at the tender age of 15, Andy Kim left Montreal for New York City with $40 in his pocket and a Billboard Magazine under his arm earmarked to the page listing the addresses of record labels. His search led him to the Brill Building and the office of Jeff Barry, the man who penned such hits as Be My Baby, Then He Kissed Me and Chapel of Love.

Leonard Cohen

With an extraordinary career spanning more than forty years, Canadian musical icon Leonard Cohen has earned the distinction as one of the most influential artists of his generation. A legendary songwriter, Cohen has brought honesty and artistry in a way few others have. His stark images of love, beauty and despair have touched fans and inspired writers and musicians the world over.

Shelton Brooks

Good things happen when talent meets fateful opportunity, and that's the happenstance that led to the big break for Shelton Brooks. A ragtime piano player, Brooks was already an accomplished vaudeville entertainer based in the Detroit-Chicago area when one day, in 1910, while seated in a restaurant, he heard a couple arguing. The angry woman told her companion, "Some of these days, you're gonna miss me, honey."

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Written in the basement of Toronto's Purple Onion coffeehouse in the early 1960s, Universal Soldier became an anthem for the growing movement against the war in Vietnam. In this early stage of her career, Buffy Sainte-Marie became known as a writer of protest and love songs.

Alfred Bryan

Because he was never a performer, the name Alfred Bryan may not resonate with many music lovers. However, he was undoubtedly a monumental contributor to Canadian songwriting.

Born in Brantford, Ontario on September 15, 1871, Bryan was to become the most prolific lyricist of his era ever to emerge from Canada.

William Eckstein

A pioneer of ragtime and jazz piano in Canada, William Eckstein was always on the cutting edge of popular dance music in the 1920s and 30s. While ragtime's original roots lie in European classical music, Eckstein specialized in 'novelty rag', which features flashy passages and a high technical difficulty. In 1919, Eckstein was one of the first Canadians to play live on radio, on Montreal's XWA (CFCF).

Alex Kramer

Alex C. Kramer was one of the most successful and highly regarded songwriters of the big band era.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1903, Kramer began his career at 17 years of age, working as a pianist for a silent movie theatre in his native city.

George Washington Johnson

One of the most popular ballads of the 19th and early 20th centuries with over 40 versions to its credit, When You and I were Young, Maggie began as a love poem written by a school master, George Johnson, who taught in Glanford Township, south of Hamilton. In 1859, George, then 21, had fallen in love with one of his students, Margaret Clark, 18.

Oscar Brand

Oscar Brand is one of the greatest folksingers and songwriters of our time. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Brand moved to the United States as a child, but was always aware of his Canadian roots, returning to Manitoba many times. An ambassador for folk music, Brand hosted the first Mariposa Festival and also hosted Let's Sing Out for CTV and CBC, welcoming such guests as Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon and Gordon Lightfoot.

Carmen Lombardo

Although Canada's premiere dance band, the Royal Canadians, are most closely associated with Guy Lombardo, it was in fact his younger brother Carmen who was the true driving force behind the music group. Born in London, Ontario in 1903, the Lombardo brothers made their first debut together at a church function in 1914, starting what would end up to be a 55-year collaboration.

Ruth Lowe

Ruth Lowe wrote this song shortly after the death of her first husband, Harold Cohen. Although, it is widely believed that Frank Sinatra was the first to record I'll Never Smile Again, it was actually first broadcast to CBC listeners in 1939 on Percy Faith's CBC radio program Music by Faith. The song became Sinatra's first #1 record.