Elton John, Diana Krall, The Beaches, Ron Sexsmith, Jeremy Dutcher, LOONY, und Sarah McLachlan

Born in 1947 as Reginald Kenneth Dwight, Elton experienced a fairly restrictive childhood growing up in Middlesex. His musical talents were clear from an early age, taking up the piano aged 3 and getting a scholarship to the Royal Academy of music at 11.

After a turbulent relationship with Elton’s father, who expressed very little interest in the young musician, Elton’s mother divorced and remarried. The new couple helped Elton secure a job as a pub pianist where he worked until he formed a now legendary partnership with Bernie Taupin in 1967, following an advert in the NME,.

With Bernie writing the lyrics and Elton the music (a tried and tested method that still works today), the duo began writing popular works for other artists such as ‘LuLu’ before beginning on Elton’s solo material. The release of Elton’s self-titled second album saw him take the first leap towards stardom. It spawned the hit single ‘Your Song’ and landed the album at number 4 and 5 on the US charts respectively.

1972’s ‘Honky Chateau’ became Elton’s first number one album and would be followed by 6 more consecutively, most famously ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ which stayed at the top spot for two months.

Outside of music, Elton has been a important figure for LGBT rights around the world. He publicly came out in 1988 and has since been a vocal figure for important social causes such as the AIDS crisis and gay marriage in the UK.

Diana Krall learned to play piano at the tender age of four. She developed a taste for jazz in her early teens, playing in a Canadian jazz group for restaurants in Nanaimo. Jazz musician Don Thompson was her teacher while in Toronto. At age seventeen, Krall won a scholarship to move to Boston to pursue her passion at the Berklee College of Music.

While in the U.S. Krall produced her first album “Stepping Out” with Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton in 1993. Her fame continued to grow with her second album “Only Trust Your Heart” in 1995 and “All For You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio” in 1996 which was nominated for a Grammy.

Diana Krall became a household name in the jazz music industry and she collaborated with legends like Tony Bennett on a 20-city tour in 2000 and on Ray Charles’ album “Genius Loves Company” in 2004. Also in 2004 Krall released “The Girl In the Other Room” which charted in the UK and in Australia. She continued to be successful academically as well, earning an honorary PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Victoria in 2003.

In all, Krall has released eight albums, which has won her five Grammy Awards and eight Juno Awards (the equivalent of the Canadian Grammys). She is happily married to British musician Elvis Costello. Krall is an advocate for multiple myeloma research, dedicating her spare time to helping fight the illness that both her mother and mentor Ray Brown battled during their lives. If you asked Diana Krall who her greatest influence in music was, she would say her former mentor and jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles.

By the age of 17 Sexsmith was playing regularly in a local bar in St. Catharines, Ontario, however, formed his first band three years before that at the age of 14. Raised in the area surrounding Niagara Falls, the singer-songwriter soon made a name for himself as the “One-Man Jukebox” being able to play a host of requests yelled at him from the audience. Following the birth of his first child in 1985, Sexsmith began writing his own songs and shortly after released the cassette “Out of the Duff” with fellow singer-songwriter Claudio. Sexsmith and family subsequently moved to Toronto, where the singer released the full-length cassette “There’s a Way” in 1986, produced by Kurt Swinghammer.

Following an open mic event, Sexsmith became aquatinted with Bob Wiseman who agreed to produced the singer’s next release. However, with incompatible schedules, the folk and pop singer’s album “Grand Opera Lane” wasn’t released until 1991. Independently released, the record produced the notable song “Speaking with the Angel”, and led Sexsmith to sign a deal to release his self-titled album in 1995. The full-length “Ron Sexsmith” was issued by Interscope/Warner in 1995, produced by Mitchell Froom and Daniel Lanois. Around this time the singer was praised for his songwriting accolades by Elvis Costello, and opened for the music star on his North American tour.

Sexsmith succeeded his self-titled release with “Other Songs” in 1997 and “Whereabouts” in 1999, after which the singer left Interscope/Warner and signed with Nettwerk Records. The full-length “Cobblestone Runway” arrived in October 2002 featuring Chris Martin on the bonus track “Gold in Them Hills”, after which he released the compilation album “Rarities” on Linus Entertainment. The 2004 album “Retriever” was a more pop influenced album and was dedicated to Elliott Smith and Johnny Cash, both of whom Sexsmith's music is indebted to. “Destination Unknown” followed in 2005 marked by its pure acoustic sound with fellow musician Donn Kerr, after which arrived “Time Being” in 2006, and “Exit Strategy of the Soul” in 2008.

The respected singer-songwriter’s 10th studio album, “Long Player Late Bloomer”,was produced by heavy metal producer Bob Rock, and issued in early 2011. In 2013 the full-length “Forever Endeavour” earned its release on Cooking Vinyl Records, followed two years later by “Carousel One”.

McLachlan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 28 January 1968 and was adopted shortly after. During her early childhood she took vocal lessons and studied piano and guitar classically. At the age of 17 she fronted her high school band The October Game. The group had moderate success with their song “Grind” and gained immediate recognition during their first concert opening for the New Wave group Moev. Moev’s guitarist Mark Jowett was so impressed with McLachlan’s performance that he offered her a recording contract with Vancouver-based independent label Nettwerk.

Honoring her parent wishes McLachlan finished up high school and attended Nova Scotia College of Art and Design for one year before signing the contract with Nettwerk. Once she signed on with Nettwerk she issued her 1988 debut album “Touch”, which was both a critical and commercial success. Following it’s release she went on her first international tour supporting the band The Grapes of Wrath.

Her next studio album “Solace” came out in 1991 and is recognized as her breakthrough album into the Canadian mainstream. This album contained the hit tracks “The Path of Thorns (Terms)” and “Into the Fire”. This album was also the first of many projects to feature her long time collaborative partner Pierre Marchand.

“Solace” made McLachlan a star in Canada selling up to 200,000 copies; however, it was her follow up “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” that would make her an international craze. The album featured the hit single “Possession” and the UK and Japanese editions included a cover of “Blue” by fellow Canadian musician Joni Mitchell.

McLachlan launched her career into new territories with her 1997 album “Surfacing”. This release is her highest selling and most revered album to date and has won her numerous accolades. In 1998 she was awarded two Grammys: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Building a Mystery” and Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “Last Dance”. McLachlan also won 4 Juno awards with this album and has since sold over 16 million copies. This album also features her biggest single “Angel”, a song dedicated to keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, who had overdosed on heroin while touring with the Smashing Pumpkins for their album “Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness”.

McLachlan took a break from recording to focus on her family and her charity campaign (an organization which provided funding to disadvantageous children for music lessons). Her next studio album “Afterglow” did not come out until 6 years after “Surfacing”, but was a commercial success reaching No.1 on the Canadian album charts, No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, and no. 33 in the UK.

In 2004 McLachlan came out with the live album “Afterglow Live” and in 2006 she issued the Christmas album “Wintersong”, which contained eclectic covers such as John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” and Joni Mitchell’s “River”. Her christmas offering received a Grammy nomination and debuted at No. 42 on Billboard 200 eventually reaching the No. 7 spot.

In 2008 McLachlan put out both a greatest hits album “Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan” and a rarities collection album “ B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2”. 7 years after the release of “Afterglow” she issued her proper studio follow up “Laws of Illusion”. This album proved that McLachlan still had not lost her stride. It debuted at No. 2 on the Canadian album charts and No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

Inspired by the death of her father McLachlan released her 2014 album “Shine On”. It was her first album issued through Verve Records and following its release she embarked on a tour spanning across 30 cities.