Raine Maida (born Michael Anthony Maida; February 18, 1970)
– Ourladypeace.cc. Retrieved April 30, 2010. is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band

Our Lady Peace Our Lady Peace (sometimes shortened to OLP) is a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Led by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band currently also features Duncan Coutts on bass, Steve Mazur on guitars, and ...

. He has come to be known for his unique

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist ...

nasal

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics. He occasionally plays certain instruments, such as the acoustic guitar, while performing with Our Lady Peace. Following guitarist Mike Turner's departure from Our Lady Peace in 2001, Maida is the only remaining original member of the band. Maida began a solo career in 2006, releasing his first solo album ''

The Hunters Lullaby ''The Hunters Lullaby'' is the first solo album released by Canadian musician Raine Maida, the vocalist for Our Lady Peace. It was released on November 13, 2007, by Kingnoise Records. The first single off the album is "Yellow Brick Road". Previou ...

'' in 2007. He also self-produced Our Lady Peace's seventh studio album, '' Burn Burn'', in 2009.Raine Maida interview March 2008
Maida has been married to Canadian singer

Chantal Kreviazuk Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk (; born May 18, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist. Born in Winnipeg, she played music from a young age before signing with Columbia Records in the 1990s. Her debut studio album, '' Under These ...

since 1999, and together they have three sons. Maida has been intimately involved with War Child and other charities since 2003, and was an outspoken critic of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and former U.S. president George W. Bush.

Early life

Michael Anthony Maida was born in

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

, Ontario, in 1970. His parents split up when he was very young. Before pursuing a musical career, Maida studied

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and s ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, and prior to that attended

Ridley College Ridley College (also known as RC, Ridley) is a private school, private boarding school, boarding and day university-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 20 miles (32 km) from Niagara Falls. The school confers the On ...

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontari ...

although he did not graduate. Around late 1991, Maida changed his given name from "Michael" to "Raine".

Career

Our Lady Peace

Raine Maida is the vocalist and a founding member of the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. Maida started the band with guitarist

Mike Turner Michael Ray Turner (born January 11, 1960) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. Turner's district, numbered as the 3rd district from 2003 to 2013, is based in Day ...

in 1992. Especially on the albums prior to ''

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

'', he often sang in a high, nasal voice. This singing style, along with Maida's cryptic lyrics, became one of the features of Our Lady Peace's music. After working with producer

Bob Rock Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, ...

on the album ''Gravity'', his voice became less nasal, and his tone became slightly deeper. His lyrics were also less Delphic, although these attributes have been abandoned and his older singing style and lyrical work has returned to a certain degree on the band's 2012 album, ''Curve''. Maida has released seven albums with Our Lady Peace, plus a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

and two greatest hits collections, namely ''

A Decade ''A Decade'' is Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace's first compilation album, released on November 21, 2006, in Canada, and November 28, 2006, in the United States. In addition to songs from the band's first six albums, the set inclu ...

'' and ''

The Very Best of Our Lady Peace ''Playlist: The Very Best of Our Lady Peace'' is a compilation album consisting of select remastered recordings by alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. It is the band's second compilation album following '' A Decade'', which was released in 20 ...

''.

Solo work

Maida released a four song EP called ''Love Hope Hero'' on November 14, 2006. The EP contains the songs "One Second Chance", "Earthless", "Sex Love and Honey", and "Careful What You Wish For". The EP was sold on tours with Chantal Kreviazuk, on his website, and on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

. His full-length solo album, ''

'', was released on November 13, 2007, by independent label Kingnoise Records. The album was recorded in Maida's own studio using mostly acoustic instruments, and is described by Maida as "a collection of poems put to music". Maida's wife is featured on several tracks, singing and playing piano. Before releasing his second solo album, it was stated that songs from the album would be released starting August 24, 2010, with the song "Bury Me with a Gun", and from then on a new song would be released every few weeks until the release of the completed album in early 2011. Maida's website was then updated with the possible album title of ''Pachamama'' with a release date of February 20, 2012. However, a few days after this date had passed, the date was replaced with "Coming Soon". On June 22, 2012, Maida announced the release of the free EP ''Pachamama'' available for download on Maida's official website, featuring three new tracks and cover artwork.http://rainemaida.net On February 8, 2013,

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

debuted the official lyric video for the album's official first single "Montreal". On May 14, 2013, ''

We All Get Lighter Raine Maida (born Michael Anthony Maida; February 18, 1970)
– Ourladypeace.cc. Retrieved April 30, 2010. is a C ...

'' was released. The album did not include the originally intended single "Bury Me with a Gun".

Producing and writing

Maida has also been producing music since 1999, when he co-produced Our Lady Peace's albums '' Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch'' and ''

Spiritual Machines ''Spiritual Machines'' is the fourth studio album by the Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released by Columbia Records in December 2000. Although not initially intended, the project evolved into a conceptual interpretation of futu ...

''. He has developed numerous indie bands, including Texas-based Sleepway, Lightbreak and Billy the Kid. He produced four songs on the dance punk band Men, Women & Children's self-titled debut for Warner Bros. Records. He co-wrote and produced five tracks on

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, '' Let Go'' (2002), is the best-selling album of the 2 ...

's second album '' Under My Skin'', released in 2004. Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk contributed to

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of '' American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her de ...

's song "Where Is Your Heart?"; Kreviazuk co-wrote it, while Maida produced and played the guitar. Maida and Kreviazuk also helped write the international hit " Walk Away", another song on Clarkson's album, '' Breakaway''. They also co-wrote "One Minute" for Clarkson's third album, ''

My December ''My December'' is the third studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson. The album was released on June 22, 2007, through RCA Records. Clarkson confirmed the name of the album in her journal on her fanclub website on February 27, 2007. Sin ...

''.

Maida and Kreviazuk contributed to The Veronicas' first album '' The Secret Life Of...''; they wrote and produced the song "Revolution". Maida and Kreviazuk also co-wrote "Outside of You" with Pink but the song ended up on

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including seven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards and two Young Artist Awards. She began her acti ...

's 2007 release, ''

Dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inaliena ...

''. The two wrote and produced both the first single and theme for

Cheyenne Kimball Cheyenne Nichole Kimball (born July 27, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and mandolinist. Her debut album, '' The Day Has Come'', was released in July 2006, coinciding with an MTV reality series following her entry into the m ...

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

reality show and album '' The Day Has Come''. They wrote "Meant to Fly" for

Eva Avila Eva Avila (born Eva Gougeon-Ávila on 25 February 1987) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fourth season of the CTV reality show ''Canadian Idol'' in 2006. Early life Avila was born in Gatineau, Quebec. Her father intro ...

, the winner of the fourth season of ''

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show '' Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Do ...

'', and wrote the first single of

Rex Goudie Rex Goudie (born November 18, 1985) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and was the runner-up of '' Canadian Idol 3''. Early life Rex Goudie was born in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and moved back to his father's hometown of Burlington, Newfound ...

's second album ''Look Closer'', called "You Got to Me". Most recently, they co-wrote the song "Permanent" with American Idol winner

David Cook David Cook may refer to: Entertainment * David Cook (game designer) (active since 1980s), American game designer for TSR * David Cook (singer) (born 1982), winner of the seventh season of ''American Idol'' * David Cook (writer) (1940–2015), Briti ...

. Maida also collaborated with Cook on the songs "Heroes", "Mr. Sensitive", and "I Did It for You", on the self-titled album, ''David Cook''. Maida has also been co-writing with the

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

band

Hawk Nelson Hawk Nelson is a Canadian rock band from Peterborough, Ontario. Formed in 2000, the band has released eight studio albums to date. History Early independent releases (2000–2003) In 2000, Dunn, Clark, and Paige founded a Peterborough-based gr ...

for the 2008 released album

Hawk Nelson Is My Friend ''Hawk Nelson Is My Friend'' is the third full-length studio album from Christian rock band Hawk Nelson. It was released on April 1, 2008, debuting at No. 34 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In the first week of its release the album sold a little ov ...

. Maida has co-writes on numerous releases including Alternative rock bands

Uncle Kracker Matthew Shafer (born June 6, 1974), also known by his stage name Uncle Kracker, is an American singer and musician. He was previously a turntablist for Kid Rock's backing group Twisted Brown Trucker and since 1999 has recorded as a solo artist. ...

Green River Ordinance A Green River Ordinance is a common United States city ordinance prohibiting door-to-door solicitation. Under such an ordinance, it is illegal for any business to sell their items door-to-door without express prior permission from the household. ...

Marianas Trench The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maximum known ...

and Toronto-based Die Mannequin. Maida also co-wrote a song, "Unapologize" for

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single " Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bil ...

's 2009 album '' Play On''.

LOOP/POOL

Maida is a cofounder and director at LOOP/POOL, a Canadian artist-focused and social-forward cannabis brand. LOOP/POOL has committed a minimum of five percent of proceeds towards POOL/FUND, a philanthropic organization to support independent Canadian artists who have been underserved or unable to access funding from existing grant programs, and further struggling during the pandemic. “I am thrilled to be part of LOOP/POOL’s journey to bring licensed cannabis products to market in support of emerging Canadian talent,” said Minhas. “Cannabis is an exciting industry that can be shaped by new innovative and creative partnerships. The natural fit between Inner Spirit’s Spiritleaf retail brand and LOOP/POOL will allow us to build on the opportunities to expand the industry and benefit artists.”

S!NG

Maida signed on with the S!NG team as their Chief Product Officer, a developer of tools that allow creators to control distribution and monetize their work. It launched in March 2021 with the world’s first free mobile application designed to instantly mint NFTs to sell or license online. NFTs, or

non-fungible token A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the b ...

s, allow artists to create verifiably-unique originals of their work, while protecting intellectual property. “S!NG is the safest and easiest platform for creators to mint NFTs,” says Maida. “There is no better time to be an artist than right now, because we are on the precipice of an artistic revolution where control belongs to the artist. This is an industry game changer.” Maida said in an interview the app will help artists protect their work and connect with fans in a more efficient way. “The ability to sell directly to your fans and monetize that in ways that we never really thought of before, it’s a tectonic shift that’s happening,” he said, explaining that artists who make their work available as an NFT are in charge of the ownership of that content. “When you see artists who don’t have a huge following selling completed works ndwhen there isn’t that middle-man, fans will engage and participate,” Maida said. “It goes back to the day of when we were starting out playing in clubs and you’d put out a signup sheet at the merch table to get emails from fans, why did we want that? Because I wanted to talk to them directly. And socials, Twitter, Instagram, I think it helped for a minute, but it does dilute that relationship.”

Other work

Maida had a small role in a Canadian movie released in 2001, ''

Century Hotel ''Century Hotel'' is a 2001 Canadian drama/ mystery/romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate r ...

''. He played the character Damon Riley. In 2005, Maida contributed ''Liar'' to '' Act 1: Goodbye Friends of the Heavenly Bodies'' from

Neverending White Lights Daniel Victor (born September 20, 1979) is a Canadian recording artist and producer from Windsor, Ontario, best known for the collaborative music project Neverending White Lights, which features instrumentation performed mostly by Victor, with ...

. Maida received special thanks on People in Planes album ''Beyond The Horizon''. Maida and Kreviazuk wrote an original song for the HBO documentary '' Ithuteng'', and composed music for the restored version of Helen Gardner's 1912 silent film version of

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

. Both Maida and Kreviazuk are strong advocates of the organization War Child having traveled and filmed documentaries in Iraq, Darfur, and Ethiopia. Maida produced a War Child Canada benefit album entitled '' Help!: A Day in the Life''. His efforts have led to a number of distinctions, including the Tiffany Mark Award, WarChild's "Philanthropist of the Year", the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Award and the prestigious Alan Waters Humanitarian Award from the

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

s. Maida and Kreviazuk both also co-hosted a 2006

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired drivin ...

video. Maida is also known for his advocacy work with The David Suzuki Foundation, The Hospital for Sick Children and Apathy Is Boring. He recently founded Harmony House, a music therapy retreat for war veterans. Raine has also expressed support for the

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It e ...

. In December 2014 Maida was appointed a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

along with Kreviazuk by

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...

for their charitable and humanitarian work.

Personal life

Maida met Canadian singer-songwriter

at a

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, g ...

concert in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

in 1996. They married in December 1999 in Toronto, and have three sons together. In honour of their tenth wedding anniversary, Maida and Kreviazuk renewed their wedding vows in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in November 2009. From 2016 to 2017, the couple went on tour for their new side project titled ''Moon Vs. Sun''. Kreviazuk and Maida appeared in the 2019 documentary film '' I'm Going to Break Your Heart'', which detailed both their collaboration on the album ''Moon vs. Sun'' and the conflicts and tensions that had arisen in their marriage after 19 years. On August 16th, 2021, the singer was ticketed by the Saskatoon Police for Jaywalking.

Discography

Solo

*2006: ''Love Hope Hero EP'' (all four tracks are included in ''

'') *2007: ''

'' (includes all 4 tracks from ''Love Hope Hero'') *2010: "Bury Me with a Gun" (Single) *2012: ''Pachamama EP I'' *2012: ''Pachamama EP II'' *2013: ''

We All Get Lighter Raine Maida (born Michael Anthony Maida; February 18, 1970)
– Ourladypeace.cc. Retrieved April 30, 2010. is a C ...

Our Lady Peace

*1994: '' Naveed'' *1997: '' Clumsy'' *1999: '' Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch'' *2000: ''

'' *2002: ''

'' *2003: ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music * Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of album ...

'' *2005: ''

Healthy in Paranoid Times ''Healthy in Paranoid Times'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace, released on August 30, 2005, by Columbia Records. The disc was released on a standard CD as well as a DualDisc, with the reverse side containing a docu ...

'' *2006: ''

'' *2009: ''

'' *2009: '' Burn Burn'' *2012: ''

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...

'' *2018: '' Somethingness'' *2021: ''Spiritual Machines II''

Singles

* "Lebo's River" (with

, Lebo Kgasapane, and Archie Khambula) from '' Help!: A Day in the Life'' * "Yellow Brick Road" premiere single from ''

'' * "Montreal" the first single from his second solo album ''We All Get Lighter''

References

External links

Raine Maida's official websiteRaine Maida on TwitterRaine Maida on FacebookRaine Maida on YouTube
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maida, Raine 1970 births Living people Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian people of Northern Ireland descent Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Canadian rock singers Canadian record producers Canadian songwriters Members of the Order of Canada Musicians from Toronto Writers from Toronto Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists University of Toronto alumni Canadian alternative rock musicians People from Weston, Toronto 20th-century Canadian male singers Our Lady Peace members Ridley College alumni 21st-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian male singers