The Canadian band with the odd name, Barenaked Ladies, is now going to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and with good reason.
Ed Robertson, Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn and Tyler Stewart – alongside original member, co-founder and singer-songwriter Steven Page will be inducted in this their 30th year, having won no less than eight prestigious Juno (national music) awards and many Grammy awards.
The group with Page, will appear together on March 25th at the 47th Juno awards ceremony.
“We are honoured to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame,” said Ed Robertson. “For almost 30 years we’ve worked hard to write the best songs we can, make the best records we can make, and do the best shows possible. We’ve traveled the world with our music, but Canada has always been home. This is very special for us.”
The quartet, then quintet, and later quartet again, has sold at least 15 million records since their ad hoc formation as a duo in the Toronto suburb city of Scarborough in 1988.
After an informal beginning in which original members Ed Robertson and Steven Page performed an unpracticed show between sets of other bands during a “battle of the bands” competition in Toronto, they continued to slowly get a reputation in Canada’s biggest city.
Fans liked the informal and humourous banter between songs which has since become a trademark of the “Ladies” or “BNL”.
Indeed the name itself was created as a joke, and has even cost them a gig or two as some politicians thought the name was offensive. When the media covered the story as “political correctness” gone too far, it only served to enhance the band’s reputation.
With the start of a cult following, the now five piece group released an indie cassette in 1991, a demo tape refused by all major labels but which became a big hit seller at their performances, eventually going platinum in Canada (100,000 copies) the first ever indie release to do so. Their music began to get airplay, and the reputation began to grow and spread across Canada.
They became even better known when their cover of Bruce Cockburn’s “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” became a top 40 hit.
By 1998, they had hit Number 1 in the U.S with “One Week” while continuing with popular success and radio airplay on many other songs.
Although there had been some lineup changes, in 2009, Page left to pursue a solo-career and the “ladies” continued as a quartet.
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BNL can be heard throughout North America every week on TV having written the theme song for the hit comedy, Big Bang Theory.
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