Blue Rodeo

Band

Cuddy and Keelor met in high school and became friends. After university, when all their other friends were starting to get jobs, they decided to form a band and started to play music more often. They put together a several bands without commercial success. They released a single as Hi-Fi's in 1980.

Cuddy and Keelor moved to New York City to help their music careers. There they met Bob Wiseman. When they came back to Toronto in the summer of 1984, they decided to put another band together. They had already thought of the name for the band when before they met Anderson and asked him to join them. Anderson introduced Donovan, and these musicians became the band Blue Rodeo. In 1985 Blue Rodeo played their first show together at The Rivoli in Toronto; one week later, they performed at Handsome Ned's "Honky Tonk Heart".

By 1999 the band had sold more than two million albums in Canada.

Cuddy, Keelor, Donovan and Cripps have all released solo albums, and Glenn Milchem performs his own solo music under the pseudonym "the swallows". Keelor has also gone on to produce for other artists, notably alt-country group Cuff the Duke, who have also toured as support for Blue Rodeo.

Blue Rodeo members have collaborated extensively with other notable Canadian artists, including Sarah McLachlan, The Tragically Hip, Burton Cummings, Great Big Sea, Jann Arden, The Sadies, Skydiggers, Cuff the Duke, Crash Vegas, Cowboy Junkies, Sarah Harmer, Jill Barber, and Kathleen Edwards. They have won many Canadian music awards, including seven Juno Awards and seven SOCAN awards.

On June 16, 2009, it was announced that the band would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009. They are the fifth band to receive the honour.

Blue Rodeo was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 41st Juno Awards on April 1, 2012, joining other Canadian music icons including Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, The Band, Oscar Peterson, Bruce Cockburn, Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell, Anne Murray and Tom Cochrane.

According to CARAS, on selecting Blue Rodeo as the 2012 inductees, “Spanning nearly three decades, Blue Rodeo has sold in excess of four million records and won an unprecedented 11 JUNO Awards, establishing themselves as one of the premier groups in Canadian music history.”

In May 2014, the band received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award (GGPAA) for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts. At the Gala honouring GGPAA recipients on May 10, the band delivered the evening's surprise finale.

On August 5, 2013, former keyboard player James Gray died as the result of a heart attack. He was 52 years old.

Canadian guitarist Colin Cripps joined Blue Rodeo as a full member in 2013, due to Greg Keelor's inability to play electric guitar live any more, caused by hearing issues.

In September 2015, Blue Rodeo released the protest song and video "Stealin All My Dreams" which "chronicle the failings of the current government", referring to the government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Television and film

Notable performances

As part of their 20th Anniversary celebrations in 2004, the "original five" line up of Jim Cuddy, Greg Keelor, Bazil Donovan, Bob Wiseman and Cleave Anderson reunited for a live performance of five songs: Heart Like Mine, Try, Diamond Mine, Love and Understanding, and Til I Am Myself Again. The set is included on the DVD In Stereovision: Blue Rodeo.

On Canada Day 2008, Blue Rodeo played on Parliament Hill. The band closed the show before the commencement of the fireworks and was joined on stage by several other artists to perform "Lost Together". On November 28, 2009 the band performed at half-time of the 97th Grey Cup. The band also performed live concerts for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Cuddy and Keelor performed at the annual Folk on the Rocks music festival in Yellowknife, NT from July 16 to 18, 2010.

On October 19, 2010, Blue Rodeo played the music viral show BalconyTV for a rare acoustic performance on a small Balcony overlooking Dame Street, Dublin.

On July 1, 2011, Blue Rodeo performed at Trafalgar Square as part of the Canada Day in London celebrations.

Blue Rodeo performed at their induction to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the Juno Awards of 2012 at Scotiabank Place in the community of Kanata in Ottawa, Ontario on Sunday April 1, 2012. They took the stage with long-time friend and collaborator Sarah McLachlan and performed their 1992 hit single, "Lost Together". As the performance ended, the audience rose for a spirited standing ovation recognizing Blue Rodeo as "one of Canada's true musical treasures".

On January 1, 2017, Blue Rodeo took part in CBC's The Strombo Show's Hip 30, covering "Bobcaygeon".

Discography

Videography