In recent years, adoption has become something to be celebrated rather than shadowed in secrecy. One way adopted people, particularly teens, can feel positive about their adoption status is by identifying other people who are also adoptees. Music is a powerful medium and these musicians are role models to many, including those who are living adoption. Born in Canada and living lives in the public eye, these singers and songwriters share the common thread of being adopted.
Canadian Jazz Musicians Who are Adopted
Jeff Healey was born in Toronto in 1966 and was adopted as an infant. He was a blues, rock and jazz musician, and the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Jeff Healey Band. Aside from his unique style of playing guitar flat on his lap, Healey was notable for being blind in both eyes from the age of one due to Retinoblastoma cancer. Jeff Healey died in 2008 due to secondary cancer.
Renee Rosnes was born 1962 in Regina, Saskatchewan to East Indian parents, and was adopted as an infant. Rosnes is a jazz pianist, composer, producer and bandleader, who has received several Juno awards for her work. She is also a member of the James Moody Quartet and a founding member of the San Francisco Jazz Collective.
Famous Adoptees in the Folk and Popular Music Genres
Stompin’ Tom Connors was born in 1936 in St. John’s New Brunswick, but lived the early years of his life in Skinner’s Pond PEI. An iconic Canadian folk singer, Connors is most famous for his anthem The Hockey Song. Gaining his nickname from a habit of stomping while singing, he brings a board to live performances so he prevents damage to the stage. Connors has sold more than two million records that he independently produced, has written an autobiography and in 1996 he received the order of Canada.
Sarah McLachlan was born in 1968 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and was adopted shortly after. She is an internationally famous singer and songwriter, and also the founder of Lilith Fair. McLachlan has released over 15 albums in 20 years and her music is included on a number of television series and movie soundtracks.
Buffy Sainte-Marie was born in 1941 on the Piapot Cree Native Reserve in Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan. Orphaned at a few months old, Sainte-Marie was adopted by a part Mi’kmaq family in Massachusetts, but then later adopted again by relatives of her birth family according to tribal custom on the Piapot Reserve. An Academy Award winning songwriter and singer, Sainte-Marie has many accomplishments ranging from regular appearances on Sesame Street to receiving the order of Canada in 1998.
From all different walks of life and spanning across the country, adopted Canadian musicians have made their mark on the music industry. Serving as positive role models for all ages, the success of Canada’s adopted musicians is a reminder that everyone can make an impact, regardless of their experience as an adoptee. To learn about more adopted Canadians, read Famous Canadian Adoptees in Sports and T.V. and Review of Labours of Love by Deborah Brennan.
References
Canada Adopts! website
Famous and Remarkable Adoptees, Foster Children and Others: A Biographical Directory compiled by Roger Fenton
Nation Master website
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