The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame has announced its 2026 inductees, featuring a diverse group of iconic artists including former Calgarian Leslie Feist, the legendary Tragically Hip, Calgary-born Loverboy songwriters Mike Reno and Paul Dean, and bilingual star Roch Voisine.
Induction Ceremony Details
The induction ceremony will take place on September 26 at Massey Hall in Toronto, with a global livestream available on the Amazon Music channel. The Hall of Fame is now permanently housed at Calgary's National Music Centre, a fitting home for these celebrated songwriters.
Feist's Journey from Calgary to Stardom
Leslie Feist, born in Nova Scotia, moved to Calgary as a pre-teen and attended Bishop Carroll and Alternative High School. By age 15, she was playing in punk bands like Placebo. She later moved to Toronto to join Broken Social Scene and now resides in Los Angeles. Feist has won 14 Juno Awards and earned four Grammy nominations. Her sophomore album Let It Die (2001) won a Juno for Alternative Album of the Year. The Reminder (2007) swept five Junos in 2008, while Metals (2011) won the Polaris Music Prize. Her later works include Pleasure (2017) and Multitudes (2023).
Loverboy's Rise from Calgary Roots
Loverboy formed in Calgary in 1978 when vocalist Mike Reno met guitarist Paul Dean, who had just been fired from Streetheart. The band quickly moved to Vancouver, opened for KISS, and rose to fame with their self-titled 1981 debut. An appearance on American Bandstand and early MTV support propelled them to stadium headliners, selling nearly 60 million records worldwide.
The Tragically Hip and Roch Voisine
The Tragically Hip, formed in Kingston, Ontario, in 1984, sold 14 million albums and won 17 Junos. After their final tour in 2016, frontman Gord Downie passed away in 2017. Roch Voisine, a New Brunswick-born bilingual songwriter, became the first Canadian artist to top the French charts with Helene in 1989.
Since its founding in 1998, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame has inducted over 90 songwriters. The 2026 ceremony promises to celebrate these remarkable talents and their enduring contributions to music.
