Rita MacNeil

Rita MacNeil, CM, ONS (May 28, 1944 - April 16, 2013) was a Canadian country and folk singer from the community of Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in 1987 and was covered by Anne Murray the following year, although she had hits on the country charts throughout her career. In the United Kingdom, MacNeil's song "Working Man" was a No. 11 hit in 1990.
In 1990, she was the bestselling country artist in Canada, outselling even Garth Brooks and Clint Black. She was also the only female singer ever to have three separate albums chart in the same year in Australia.
Throughout her career MacNeil would receive five Honorary degrees, release 24 albums, win three Juno Awards, four CCMA awards, eleven ECMA awards, become inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and named to the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada.
Personal life:
Early years:
MacNeil was born in Big Pond to parents Neil J. MacNeil and Catherine 'Rene' MacNeil. She was born with a facial disfigurement from a Cleft lip and palate Born into a large family, MacNeil was the fifth born child out of a total of eight children, three brothers and four sister. MacNeil's father owned a local store and was a carpenter, and her mother could often be found working in the family store.
As a young girl, MacNeil was molested by her great uncle who lived down the road from the family home. For many years she kept this dark secret to herself, only revealing it for the first time in her autobiography. She recalled years of sexual abuse, and in her book noted that he did everything to her without actually raping her. MacNeil noted that the sexual abuse eventually ended, unsure whether it was because someone had found out what was going on, or because her family moved away from Big Pond. She called it was a point in her life that profoundly affected her, because it was a traumatic passage out of innocence.
1950s:
In the mid-1950s, MacNeil's parents sold their local store and began a big move that would take them to Sydney before going on to live in Toronto. MacNeil's father took work as a carpenter, her mother took a job at Eaton's, while her sister Mary took work at a local grocery store.Alcoholism was a large part in her parents life, and only became worse in Toronto. Her mother's desire to move back to Cape Breton, only sparked the abuse to become worse among her parents. After a terrible night of drinking and fighting, MacNeil's older brother Malcolm 'Malkie', arrived in Toronto, and with the help of her sister Mary, convinced their parents it was time to move back to Cape Breton, and they did.
1960s:
By the summer of 1960, MacNeil was itching to get away to the city to start making a name for herself. She had just finished her grade eleven year of high school, when she took a job in Toronto for the summer, along with her friend Carolyn Tobin, working for CNR. Upon returning to Sydney at the end of the summer, MacNeil knew she wanted nothing more than to begin her singing career, and with the support of her parents, moved back to Toronto in the fall of that year to start reaching for her goals.
Things seemed to be going well for MacNeil, she found a job as her mother did, working for Eaton's in the Customer Account Services Department. By 1964 MacNeil began working with a music teacher taking voice lessons. It was also the time MacNeil met a man she described as Sicilian, with jet black hair, brown eyes and very white teeth. She began dating this man, even though he had told her his parents had intentions of him marrying a Sicilian woman. In 1965 MacNeil became pregnant. She was frightened and unsure of the future, but with the support of her parents and her family, MacNeil returned to Sydney, where she was cared for.
On April 15, 1966, MacNeil gave birth to her daughter Laura. For MacNeil this was when her struggles with weight would begin. MacNeil noted at this time her weight fluctuated from 119 pounds to 183 pounds, though this would not be the last time her weight would fluctuate. It was that summer, MacNeil decided she needed to continue her journey to become a singer, and to make a life for her and her daughter. She left for Toronto, leaving Laura in the care of her parents, and resumed her job at Eaton's. In the fall MacNeil would meet David Langham, a man who would soon become her husband.
By the spring of 1967 MacNeil and Langham married in a small ceremony that included MacNeil's sister, Langham's brother and a minister. In her autobiography MacNeil wrote that she wore a royal blue suit and a pink pillbox hat, while Langham wore a suit. The newly wed couple would bring Laura to Toronto to live with them in August 1967.
Langham and MacNeil left Toronto in the summer of 1968, purchasing a 78 acre farm in the village of Dundalk. It would be the birthplace of MacNeil's second child Wade, who was born April 30, 1970.
1970s:
MacNeil longed to return to the city and convinced Langham to sell the farm, and in the fall of 1970 they moved to Etobicoke, just outside of the City of Toronto. Growing restless in her marriage, MacNeil made one last attempt to try and save her relationship. The couple moved back to Cape Breton in 1975. For MacNeil it was not enough, she returned to Toronto on her own and for a year tried to further develop her career, while sorting out her feelings. MacNeil returned to Cape Breton in the spring of 1976, becoming severely depressed decided it was again time to leave. She took her children and moved to Ottawa, a single mother took jobs cleaning houses and became a recipient of welfare, and by the summer of 1979, MacNeil and Langham filed for divorce.
Career:
1970s:
MacNeil was first introduced to the women's movement in 1971 and it was pivotal stepping stone in her music career. 1972 was an interesting year for MacNeil, she wrote the song "Born a Woman", expressing her feelings about how women were being portrayed in the media and by men. She would also suffer the loss of her mother, who died after being ill for some time. At the funeral she sang a song she had written called "Who will I go to see", which would later be included on her first album.
In 1975 MacNeil release her first album, Born A Woman, a tribute to those fighting for women's rights across the county.
By 1979, MacNeil's career had begun to take off, she performed for International Women's Day in Sydney, Cape Breton. It was this point she realized she could do her music in Cape Breton, and decided it was time to move back to Nova Scotia. It was during this move back to Cape Breton, MacNeil realized her interests extended beyond the women's movement, and included places she loved. She began writing songs like "Black Rock," "Rene," "Brown Grass," "My Island Too" and "Old Man," which was written about her father.
Research done by historians Steve Hewitt and Christabelle Sethna on documents from the now-defunct Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service have revealed accounts of the force having spied on feminists, including MacNeil, during the 1970s.
"Working Man":
"Working Man" is a song that sparked from a visit to the Princess Colliery in Sydney Mines. For MacNeil it was the stories of hardships the miners had faced on a daily basis, the prompted her to write this song. In her autobiography she notes that the tour guide was suffering from Throat Cancer, and she had remembered her mother's struggles with it, and as he talked the melody for the song began in her head, complete with lyrics. The song would eventually become a world wide sensation, peaking at number 11 in the UK charts, and the unofficial anthem for coal miners everywhere.
1980s:
In 1981 MacNeil released her second album Part of the Mystery, which included some of the songs she had written upon returning to Cape Breton. They include "Part of the Mystery," "Old Man," "Black Rock," and the first release of "Working Man." The work leading up to the release of this album was immense. In order to ensure the album would be picked up, MacNeil and friends formed Big Pond Publishing and Production Limited in 1980, a production company still existing today, run by MacNeil's son Wade.
In 1983, MacNeil released her third album titled I'm Not What I Seem.
By 1985 MacNeil's career had begun to take off. First, she was invited to sing at the Canadian Pavilion in Japan, at Expo '85. Upon her return home she taped her first television special for CBC called Celtic Fantasy, at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. Although the year had been a successful one, it ended in heartache when MacNeil's father died in early December.
Expo '86 in Vancouver is when MacNeil became something of an overnight star. After several performances, the media was encouraging everyone to go and see her sing. It was a long time away from home for MacNeil, and her homesickness prompted her to write the song "She's Called Nova Scotia."
MacNeil was selected along with John Gracie to tape a pilot episode for a CBC television series called View From the Heart. It was a variety show similar to her later series Rita & Friends. After travelling to Nashville to record the songs "Flying on Your Own" and "Fast Train to Tokyo," MacNeil learned the show would not go ahead. A newspaper article with the headline 'Fat lady with cleft lip not marketable: So says CBC Toronto.' The article said it all.
Not letting the disappointment of the failed television series get her down, MacNeil was ready to release her fourth album Flying on Your Own, however record companies were not willing to pick it up. MacNeil decided to release it under her own record label Lupin Production. Upon the release, sales in the Maritimes skyrocketed. At the same time as the album release, MacNeil filmed a movie called Candy Mountain, where she played the small role of a singer named Winnie.
By February 1987 Virgin Record Canada and A&M Records Canada had taken over the sales of Flying on Your Own, which had sold 22,000 copies. After five weeks under Virgin and A&M sales reached 40,000, eventually hitting Gold Record status, and selling 75,000 copied by the end of 1987. MacNeil would also win her first Juno Award in 1987 for Most Promising Female Vocalist.
In 1988, MacNeil received an Honorary doctorate from the University of New Brunswick, and went on to release two more albums, Now the Bells Ring and Reason to Believe, which was written for her mother. At the same time Flying on Your Own surpassed 120,000 sales, reaching platinum status. By November 1988, Reason to Believe had reached platinum status.
MacNeil's success was evident. Fellow Canadian singing icon Anne Murray covered the song "Flying on Your Own", on her 1988 album As I Am.
MacNeil was given one of the Canadian music industries high honour awards, the Procan award, now known as Socan.
MacNeil received another honorary doctorate in 1989, this time from St. Mary's University. She would also film another television special, Flying on Your Own, for CTV. MacNeil would also release another album, Rita, which she recorded in Vancouver.
1990s:
In 1990 MacNeil was nominated for three Juno awards, Album of the year, Female vocalist of the year and Country vocalist of the year. She would win the award for Female vocalist of the year.
Her album Rita, would win Album of the year at the 1990 Canadian Country Music Awards, and at the East Coast Music Awards, along with Female vocalist of the year. MacNeil would go on to film her first Christmas special for CTV; Now the Bells Ring, and saw her Christmas album Now the Bells Ring reach triple platinum status, and Flying on Your Own reached double platinum status.
1991 was a successful year for MacNeil. She would win Female vocalist of the year at the Juno Awards, followed by Female vocalist, Album of the year (Home I'll Be), and song of the year ("Home I'll Be") at the East Coast Music Awards. She was also awarded the Socan award for highest air play of a song ("We'll Reach the Sky Tonight"). MacNeil would also set out on a European tour, which included what MacNeil considered a once in a life time opportunity performance at Royal Albert Hall.
By the fall, MacNeil had won the fan choice for Entertainer of the Year, as well as the award for top selling album, at the Canadian Country Music Awards.
In the spring of 1992, MacNeil was given the Order of Canada. Upon receipt of this award, she was asked to sing "We'll Reach the Sky Tonight" on Canada Day, during the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada.
1993 was a busy year for MacNeil with a lot of mixed emotions. She won the East Coast Music Award for Female vocalist of the year and received honorary doctorates from St. Francis Xavier University and Mount St. Vincent University.
1993 World Series,
MacNeil was invited to Toronto's SkyDome to sing O Canada at game two of the World Series. Following the performance, a Toronto journalist made comments about the physical conditions of the Philadelphia Phillies players. In retaliation, a local Philadelphia newspaper took aim at MacNeil stating: "Towns that need forklifts to transport their O Canada singer to home plate, should think twice before describing Phillies as unfit." Later in his article the journalist wondered whether MacNeil was paid for her performance by the pound, note or in Jenny Craig Certificates. In her autobiography MacNeil notes that a retraction or apology was never issued by the journalist or the newspaper. When later asked if MacNeil would sing for another game in the World Series, she answered true to her humorous self "Yes, I'd do it, but only if they drive me out onto the field on a forklift."
MacNeil's struggles with weight continued, and after finding it hard to shop for clothing in sizes above 26, MacNeil attempted to launch a clothing line. Stores did not seem interested in carrying the line, nor were customers interested in MacNeil's style. Her hopes were to get stores to carry sized up to 32, while Penningtons considered sizes up to 26, they failed to take interest in the 'Rita Line.'
Rita's Tea Room opened in 1986. Originally a one room school house, where MacNeil lived, it was expanded in 1993 adding the foyer, gift shop, kitchen and additional rooms. In later years MacNeil performed summer concert series in the tea room, which included dinner and a show. Upon her death, her former bandmates continued to perform shows during the summer months.
MacNeil received another honorary doctorate in 1994 from the University College of Cape Breton.
MacNeil was given the opportunity to host a television variety series from 1994 until 1997 called Rita & Friends. The show was produced by CBC Toronto in Studio 40. The first show of the series brought in 1.7 million viewers. By 1996 the show had been moved from its popular Friday night slot to Wednesday nights, and was eventually cancelled. MacNeil would win a Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Variety Program in 1996. MacNeil was nominated for the same award in 1994, but did not win, and in 1995 was nominated for Best Performance in a Variety Program for her Christmas special, Once Upon a Christmas.
MacNeil wrote her memoirs On a Personal Note with Anne Simpson in 1998, which was published by Key Porter Books. MacNeil was also interviewed by CTV journalist Sandie Rinaldo in a one hour documentary based on her autobiography titled Rita MacNeil: On a Personal Note
2000s:
MacNeil produced her final television Christmas special in 2000 for CTV, which included performances by Natalie MacMaster, John McDermott, The Barra MacNeils, Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, with a special performance by Patti LaBelle.
In 2003 MacNeil filmed a television special titled Rita MacNeil presents The Men of the Deeps, a one hour special showcasing the coal mining choir The Men of the Deeps. MacNeil also produced a television special on year later in 2004 called Rita MacNeil's Cape Breton, featuring Jimmy Rankin, Ashley MacIsaac and The Men of the Deeps.
MacNeil released her second book in 2003 titled Christmas at Home with Rita MacNeil. The book shared memories of Christmas in Cape Breton, as well as family recipes and song lyrics. The book also included a copy of her 2003 Christmas album Late December.
MacNeil was featured in a 2004 episode of Trailer Park Boys, wherein she and her band were forced to harvest marijuana at gunpoint.
MacNeil was awarded the Order of Nova Scotia in 2005. She was also awarded the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2005 East Coast Music Awards.
Flying On Her Own, a play based on MacNeil's life and featuring many of her songs, premiered at Live Bait Theatre in Sackville, NB in 2000. Written by Canadian playwright Charlie Rhindress, it was subsequently produced by Neptune Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2002 and published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2008.
MacNeil's final concert tour was in December 2012, 'Sharing Christmas Rita MacNeil with special guest Frank Mills. Her last television appearance was December 6, 2012 on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. MacNeil's last known stage performance was just over a month before her death, on March 9, 2013 during East Coast Music Week. MacNeil was also given 25th Anniversary Award at the 2013 East Coast Music Awards Gala.
A 25th album was released following MacNeil's death titled Traveling On. It is a memorial album containing some of MacNeil's most cherished songs, hand picked by her son Wade, her close family and friends, as well as thousands of fans who gave input via social media.
MacNeil was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in September 2013.
MacNeil was recognized at the 2014 East Coast Music awards with the Directors Special Achievement Award.
Death:
MacNeil died April 16, 2013, from complications of surgery after a recurrent infection. Early reports from the Globe and Mail that MacNeil contracted an infection while in the hospital were not correct, and the newspaper later reprinted an article of correction.