Musicians from Manitoba
With big names like Faouzia, Neil Young, and BTO, Manitoba is well represented on the international music scene.
Manitoba is a hotbed of musical talent. Long winters and cheap rent create the perfect conditions for the musically inclined to gather indoors in spacious house basements to practice their instruments and write new songs.
This week, Rumor’s Comedy Club celebrates the best and brightest from Manitoba’s music scene. In this article, we list all the current heavy weights, up-and-coming acts, and the most influential musicians from Manitoba.
Top musicians from Manitoba
From pop to rock, these are the top musicians from Manitoba right now.
Faouzia
Spotify listeners: 3,127,638
With over three million monthly listeners on Spotify, Faouzia is the reigning queen of Manitoba music. Born in Morocco and raised in Carmen, Manitoba, Faouzia Ouihya burst onto the pop music scene at the age of 15 after winning Song of the Year honors at the La Chicane Electrique music competition. In 2020, the young pop star released her single Minefields featuring pop icon John Legend.
Tal Bachman
Spotify listeners: 2,244,497
Son of Classic Rock legend Randy Bachman, Winnipeg native, Tal Bachman first made a name for himself in the pop rock genre with his hit single She’s So High. The song appeared on his debut, self-titled album which won him a BMI award in 1999.
Goody Grace
Spotify listeners: 744,933
At the age of 17, Selkirk, Manitoba native, Branson Gudmundson, aka Goody Grace, moved from the Steel City to Tinsel Town and he hasn’t looked back. Since then, the Manitoba singer/songwriter has released a full-length album and two EPs, and has collaborated with big names like Machine Gun Kelly, Cody Simpson, and Blink 182.
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Emerging musicians from Manitoba
There’s something brewing in the prairies. Here are some names to look out for in the Manitoba music scene.
William Prince
Spotify listeners: 245,187
Born in Selkirk and raised in Peguis First Nation, William Prince has become one of the biggest names in Canadian folk country music, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. The Winnipeg-based singer/songwriter recently performed at the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN, and his single Breathless reached #22 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.
Boy Golden
Spotify listeners: 47,566
Psychedelic country, roadhouse pop, whatever you call his sound, Boy Golden is good at it. The Winnipeg musician has been on the come-up since he dropped his debut album, Church of Better Daze in 2021, with his single KD and Lunch Meat topping the Canadian Alternative Radio charts at number one.
The Bros. Landreth
Spotify listeners: 74,259
Winners of the Juno for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year in 2015, The Bros. Landreth have been a rising star in Canada’s folk country scene for a decade, now. The duo won the award for Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2014 Canadian Folk Music Awards, and in 2022 their song Made Up Mind was covered by country music legend Bonnie Raitt. Her recording of the Bros. Landreth song won a Grammy Award for best Americana Performance in 2023.
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Influential musicians from Manitoba
Manitoba musicians have had a massive influence on the music industry. Here are the most legendary names from our fair province.
The Guess Who
Spotify listeners: 1,949,430
One of the most recognizable names to come out of Rock and Roll’s golden age, The Guess Who began playing shows at community centres in Winnipeg all the way back in 1958. A few years later they reached the top of the American music charts with their iconic hit, American Woman.
BTO
Spotify listeners: 2,898,951
Bachman Turner Overdrive — or BTO for short — is the epitome of dad rock. Rising from the ashes of the disbanded Guess Who, Randy Bachman formed the band with Fred Turner and his younger brothers Robbie and Tim Bachman. The quartet cranked out earworms like Takin’ Care of Business and You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, with the latter climbing the Billboard charts all the way to number one in 1975.
Neil Young
YouTub Music subscribers: 579,000
A living legend, Neil Young is perhaps the biggest name in Winnipeg music history. Born in Toronto, Young moved to Winnipeg in his adolescent years, starting his first band, The Jades in Fort Rouge in the early 1960s. Young has since established himself as one of the greatest singer/songwriters of alltime, and is counted as an influence in several genres including folk, folk rock, psychedelic rock, and grunge rock.
Crash Test Dummies
Spotify listeners: 1,534,606
Of all the Winnipeg bands and musicians to have made it to the bigtime, one of the most unique is the Crash Test Dummies. Fronted by the bassy-voiced Brad Roberts, the Crash Test Dummies won the Juno Award for Group of the Year in 1992, and were nominated for three Grammy Awards in 1995. The band’s mainstream success was marked by two songs on the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack and a Weird Al Yankovic parody of their hit single Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.
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Indie bands from Winnipeg
The Weakerthans
Spotify listeners: 151,829
Perhaps no band embraces and embodies the love/hate relationship Winnipeggers have with their own home town than The Weakerthans. Each Weakerthans album is a virtual audio tour through the streets of Winnipeg, from an all-night restaurant in North Kildonan to Albert Street in Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District. The band is perhaps best known for their song One Great City which features the famous refrain, “I hate Winnipeg”.
Weakerthans fans will be glad to know that front man John K. Samson has released two solo albums, one of which features a third and final installment of the Virtue the Cat story, a trilogy of songs from the perspective of a cat named Virtue that began on the Weakerthans’ album, Reconstruction Site.
Propagandhi
Spotify listeners: 188,433
Hailing from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Propagandhi are one of the pioneering bands of the early-90s skate punk sound, and their 1993 album, How To Clean Everything, is regarded as one of the seminal releases of the genre. The band moved to Winnipeg very soon after their inception, and has since grown into a more mature thrash crossover sound.
Royal Canoe
Spotify listeners: 29,327
One of the top bands in Winnipeg right now, Royal Canoe has toured all across North America, and has even landed a Juno nomination in 2014 for their album Today We’re Believers.
Comeback Kid
Spotify listeners: 293,090
With seven studio albums, Winnipeg hardcore ensemble, Comeback Kid, has established themselves as one of the biggest names on the international hardcore scene. The high-intensity band was signed to the iconic hardcore record label, Victory Records in 2005, and they have toured North America and Europe extensively.
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Honorable mentions
It would be impossible to list all of the incredible music talent from Manitoba, but here are a few more names you should be aware of that are making our province proud.
- Chantal Kreviazuk: 414,560 monthly Spotify listeners, multiple Juno awards, two gold records, and two platinum records.
- KEN mode: 28,478 monthly Spotify listeners, Juno award-winning noise rock band.
- Tom Chochrane:1,419,845 Spotify listeners, from Lynn Lake, multiple Juno awards, Order of Canada recipient, Canadian Music Hall of Famer.
- Imaginary Cities: 24,489 monthly Spotify listeners, topped the Canadian campus music charts with their album Temporary Resident
- Harlequin: 75,743 monthly Spotify listeners, eight top-100 singles.
- Personality Crisis: 175 monthly Spotify listeners, little-known influential 1980s punk rock band.
- The Watchmen: 62,645 monthly Spotify listeners, one platinum record, three gold records, Canadian alternative rock mainstays.
- Winnipeg’s Most: 29,187 monthly Spotify listeners, multiple APCMA award-winners.
- Bif Naked: 69,627 monthly Spotify listeners, a top-selling Canadian musical artist from 1996 to 2016, featured on soundtracks for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The West Wing, and Celebrity Death Match.
- Venetian Snares:72,949 monthly Spotify listeners, pioneering electronic musician known for popularizing the breakcore electronic subgenre.
Manitoba’s Comedy Scene
Manitoba’s comedy contributions are growing, too! In the past several years comedians from this province have taken big strides, appearing at major festivals, recording albums and specials, and even landing their own sit-coms.
And you can find the best comedians in Manitoba at Rumor’s Comedy Club. Every week we feature the best top comics from this province and beyond, so you’ll definitely have a great time.
We have a full dinner menu, and tons of great door deals to take advantage of, so check out our website and come on down for a laugh.
“I have been to many comedy clubs and Rumor’s is still my favorite comedy club on earth!” - Carrie T.
Cover photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash