She issued another album, “I’m Not What I Seem,” in 1983. Still, MacNeil was building a fan base through her consistently first-rate performances and slowly growing discography. Big Pond Publishing and Productions Ltd., was operated on a minuscule budget and was forced to conduct sales on a consignment basis. In 1981, she issued “Part of the Mystery,” a record financed by family and friends. She returned to Big Pond, N.S., in 1976 and continued writing. She began attending meetings in Toronto in the early ’70s that she found out - years later - were being monitored by the RCMP. While struggling to make ends meet, she found comfort in the fledgling women’s movement.
Meanwhile, she turned heads with appearances at Toronto’s famed Riverboat folk club and performances at the Mariposa folk festival, but wasn’t earning enough to pay the rent. Once there, she endured a succession of low-paying jobs, including a retail gig at Eaton’s and a stint as a cleaning woman. She relocated to Toronto at age 17 in 1962. She fell in love with singing by the age of six, despite her shy disposition and a cleft palate that eventually required surgery. I have lost a good friend.”Īdded Prime Minister Stephen Harper: “Saddened to hear about the passing of one of Cape Breton and Canada’s finest voices, Rita MacNeil.”īorn in Big Pond, N.S., in 1944, MacNeil grew up with three brothers and four sisters.
It was evident that she touched them all from the many letters and comments we received after that show. Rita could convey that kind of warmth and sincerity through her songs to the people in the studio audience and to the viewers at home. When she sang ’Working Man’ there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. “Coming from a coal mining area she had a soft spot in her heart for those miners. “I am deeply saddened by the loss of a dear sweet woman and a gifted singer-songwriter who represented women and her beloved Nova Scotia so eloquently in her songs,” singer Anne Murray said in a statement.Ĭountry music legend Tommy Hunter said his “one vivid memory” of MacNeil was when she was a guest on his show. Yet she was a renowned live performer who sold out gigs around the world. She was painfully shy and admitted to battling self-confidence issues, largely stemming from her weight.
#BORN A WOMAN BY RITA MACNEIL FULL#
Her spotless, astonishingly full voice carried a light Celtic lilt that only sweetened her dulcet tones, but she was a versatile singer who could produce grittier notes as well. She was 68.Īlways seeming an unlikely star, MacNeil worked tirelessly over decades to gradually become a beloved fixture in Canadian culture, with her greatest success coming only after she was in her 40s. TORONTO - Rita MacNeil, a singer-songwriter from small-town Canada whose powerful voice explored genres from country, to folk, to gospel, died Tuesday night following complications from surgery.
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