Loreena inducted into Canadian Music Hall of Fame
PHOTO: CARAS/Jarrett Edmund
In front of a live audience that included her friends and family, Loreena was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Calgary, Alberta on May 15th at the National Music Centre.
She now joins the ranks of Canada’s most esteemed entertainers, including Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Alanis Morissette, Barenaked Ladies, Deborah Cox, Jann Arden, Nickelback, Oscar Peterson, RUSH, The Guess Who, The Tragically Hip, Sarah McLachlan and Shania Twain.
Accompanied by long-time musical companions Brian Hughes, Caroline Lavelle and Hugh Marsh, Loreena performed “The Lady of Shalott” at the event.
In 2023, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, so she is now one of only a few select artists to be inducted into multiple halls of fame.
During the induction ceremony Loreena took the opportunity to speak to the challenges facing new, emerging artists in a digitally-dominated world. “I’ve often wondered if I were to start out today could my career really have happened. And many days I think it wouldn’t,” she told the audience. “The conditions for artists such as myself to have a lifelong, viable career are simply not present anymore. Fame and sometimes a paltry revenue from social media and streaming sites lift very few artists above the poverty line. Music in our homes and schools and communities through bands and choirs are struggling to compete with the dynamic digital devices that are in our children’s hands.”
The other 2025 inductees were Dan Hill, Ginette Reno, Glass Tiger and Sum 41.
In yet another honor, a $10,000 donation was made in Loreena’s name to a school in Brandon, Manitoba through the MusiCounts Band Aid Program. The program provides under-resourced schools with grants of up to $20,000 worth of musical instruments, equipment and resources.
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established in 1978. It recognizes Canadian artists that have attained commercial success while having an artistic impact on the Canadian music scene and/or around the world, with careers that span at least 20 years from their first recording.
COVERAGE: Calgary Herald: Six artists inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in Calgary