Remembering Rita MacNeil
Internationally acclaimed Cape Breton singer/songwriter Rita MacNeil died last night at the age of 68 as a result of complications from surgery. The woman with the big voice and even bigger heart from Big Pond, Cape Breton N.S., will share her songs no more.
Although she slogged it out on the pub and bar circuit, mainstream success didn't come until she was into her 40s, when she won the Juno award for Best New Artist.
She will be remembered for her sweet-spirit and the emotionional connection she made with fans the world over.
In addition to music hits, Rita enjoyed some television success hosting annual Christmas specials and eventually her own variety show on CBC called Rita and Friends, which aired from 1994 to 1997.
As the Toronto Star reported today, "By any conventional standards of the entertainment industry, no one has ever had more cards stacked against them starting out. MacNeil battled pathological shyness all her life, suffered from a cleft palate and struggled with weight issues for many years...When she opened her mouth to sing, something magical happened. It was almost as though all of the pain of the past had found its way through the filter of her shining spirit to be transformed into beautiful music."
Her most famous song Working Man about Cape Breton Miners was recorded by other luminaries, notably, The Dubliners. Here she is singing it live with the Men of the Deeps, a chorale group of Cape Breton Miners.
Workin Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGs1K5IBaE
She's called Nova Scotia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUnRhsbObPE
Home I'll Be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AqxItxZYA8
Sìth is Fois air a h-Anam.
Beannach Leibh A Mhaidread Nic Niall.
Last edited by Nathan; 17th April 13 at 10:45 AM.
Natan Easbaig Mac Dhòmhnaill, FSA Scot
Past High Commissioner, Clan Donald Canada
“Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, And we, in dreams, behold the Hebrides.” - The Canadian Boat Song.
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