It’s the week of Canada Day (July 1), and some of the nation’s favourite legacy artists are back on the charts.
On the Billboard Canadian Albums chart dated July 5, L’amerique Pleure, the concert film soundtrack by Quebec rock band Les Cowboys Fringants, reemerges at No. 97. Loosely translating to “America cries,” the soundtrack’s name comes from a track on the group’s 2019 album, Les Antipodes.
The concert film follows Les Cowboys Fringants, one of Quebec’s most beloved bands, through the open spaces and suburbs of Quebec, as they perform 16 songs from their discography, including the film’s title track.
Following the death of former lead singer Karl Tremblay, the album peaked at No. 3 on the Canadian Albums chart dated Dec. 2, 2023. That same week, songs from the concert film entered the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, including “L’amerique Pleure” at No. 27 and “Sur Mon Epaule” at No. 36.
Two spots down, Shania Twain has re-entered the chart at No. 99 with Greatest Hits. The 2004 album spans the first decade of Twain’s masterful career, boasting country-pop bangers like “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and “Up!” and ballads like “From This Moment On” and “You’re Still the One.”
The album peaked at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums chart, holding the top spot for five consecutive weeks. Greatest Hits charted for 130 weeks in Canada and became Twain’s fourth consecutive Diamond album in the country. Across the border, it just missed the top spot on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 2.
Additionally, The Tragically Hip had a dramatic rise this week, climbing 59 spots to No. 28 with Yer Favourites. Often a mainstay on the charts, the 2005 compilation album includes over 30 remastered classic songs (including hits like “Bobcaygeon” and “New Orleans Is Sinking”) selected by the band’s fans on its website, along with two new tracks.
Upon its release, the record debuted at No. 8 on the Canadian Albums chart and has been in and out of the ranking since. Following the Hip’s final shows in 2016, the compilation reached No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart. Over a year later, after lead singer Gord Downie‘s passing in October 2017, it again climbed 80 spots to No. 2.
Read more here. – Heather Taylor-Singh
Live Nation Opens Rogers Stadium, One of Canada’s Biggest Music Venues
Toronto’s biggest concert venue has opened its doors.
Billboard Canada got a tour of Rogers Stadium, the new 50,000-capacity music-first venue from Live Nation, before its opening on June 29 with its first concert of the summer season, a performance by K-pop stars Stray Kids.
Sitting in an office in a temporary trailer just outside the stadium bowl, Wayne Zronik, Live Nation Canada’s president of business operations, was ready to welcome fans in.
“We’ve had a great team on this from the beginning. BaAM Productions and Nathalie Burri, who’s leading the project for us, have built these kinds of significant large-scale events before, so we have great confidence,” he said.
Since Live Nation unveiled plans for Rogers Stadium at YZD (formerly Downsview Airport Lands) last September, anticipation has been high.
Though the capacity is 50,000 (and sometimes more, depending on configuration), it’s actually only 32,000 seats. The rest — between 16,000 and 20,000 — is floor seating and general admission standing tickets. That’s considerably more than any baseball stadium or hockey arena (like Toronto’s Rogers Centre and Scotiabank Arena), or even an NFL or European football stadium.
With its open and spacious concrete environment, Rogers Stadium in some ways feels more like a summer music festival site than a typical sports venue that hosts concerts. That’s closer to what it is, since no sports teams will play there. It is purpose-built solely for music, which is rare for music venues this size but becoming more of a reality as the mega-concert market expands.
Rarely is a stadium built with music in mind, so Live Nation and its partners have been able to focus on fan and artist experience first, making sure there are good sightlines and amenities for both fans and talent backstage.
The venue is temporary, both seasonally — as it will only be open during the summer — and in the long-term. Since the land is owned by Northcrest Developments to eventually be redeveloped into residential and retail space, the stadium, which came together quickly and out of necessity, will only be there for five to six years.
Zronik says they knew they could pull it off because Live Nation has done it before in other markets. He cites large-scale events like the temporary 75,000-capacity venue in Munich that housed Adele‘s residency last year, as well as the FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine, Calif., which existed for six years before reaching its planned end date.
“Festivals are great multi-day events. They drive a lot of economic impact for the communities in which they operate. They’re great vehicles to expose artists,” he says. “But at the same time, they’re a huge undertaking. It’s three days or so, and you build it all up and you take it down. This is a bit different than that. You can leave the infrastructure for a few months and use it for multiple shows, which allows you to benefit from the scale of it.”
Coldplay will be the second act to perform at Rogers Stadium, playing four nights: July 7, 8, 11 and 12.
Read more here. – Richard Trapunski
Three Days Grace Becomes Second Canadian Group in Spotify’s Billions Club
Three Days Grace is making history. The Canadian rock band’s 2003 single, “I Hate Everything About You,” has surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. The song, which explores the tension of a love-hate relationship, originally appeared on the band’s self-titled debut album.
Since its release, the track has been embedded in rock music history and shines as one of the band’s signature songs. The track earned Gavin “Golden” Brown producer of the year at the 2004 Juno Awards.
The song peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. Modern Rock chart and No. 4 on the Mainstream Rock chart. While it never reached No. 1, it holds the record as the band’s longest-running song on both charts, remaining on them for 45 and 46 weeks, respectively.
“As crazy as it is to think that this band of ours formed as teens from a small town in Canada would have a song that has a billion streams, the craziest thing is how many people’s wedding songs it is,” Three Days Grace shared in a statement.
In January, the multi-platinum band’s comeback single, “Mayday,” hit No.1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in both the U.S. and Canada.
Featuring original frontman Adam Gontier and current lead singer Matt Walst, the dual-vocal track marked the band’s 18th No. 1 and remains on the chart, currently sitting at No. 13 in Canada.
Three Days Grace is now the second Canadian band to join Spotify’s Billions Club, after Magic! with its 2014 hit “Rude.”
The band joins fellow Canadians Justin Bieber, Drake, Tate McRae, Alessia Cara and Shawn Mendes in crossing the milestone, as well as Quebec’s Patrick Watson, whose song “Je te laisserai des mots” is the first French-language song to enter the Billions Club.
Read more here. – HTS
