Chrissy Steele is the stage name of Christina Southern,"Southern returns to normal state of mind". ''

Victoria Times-Colonist The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the Sept. 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''British Colonist'' (later the ''Daily C ...

'', August 23, 1997. a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

vocalist currently living on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

. She is most noted for garnering a

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 ...

nomination for Most Promising Female Vocalist and Hard Rock Album of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 1992 The Juno Awards of 1992, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 29 March 1992 in Toronto at a ceremony in the O'Keefe Centre. Rick Moranis was the host for the ceremonies, which were broadcast on C ...

."Adams leads Juno pack with seven nominations". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', February 13, 1992.

History

Early life

Steele's early years were spent singing

classical Classical may refer to: European antiquity *Classical antiquity, a period of history from roughly the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. centered on the Mediterranean Sea *Classical architecture, architecture derived from Greek and ...

and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

. She participated in several

choirs A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

and

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

in her hometown of Comox and later in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

(both on Vancouver Island). At the age of 19, she moved to Vancouver to become a professional singer, but found she was lacking the confidence to front a band. She returned to Victoria and after she answered an ad in the local newspaper, she joined her first band, Room Service, in 1984 where she performed in various rock clubs and on TV in the CBC competition ''

Rock Wars ''Rock Wars'' is a Canadian television variety series, which aired in 1985 on CBC Television."CBC opens fire with Rock Wars". '' The Globe and Mail'', February 1, 1985. A national "battle of the bands" competition, the series featured unsigned mus ...

'', which was televised nationally. A year later, she accepted a gig playing with the hard rock band Reform School. The band gave her a foundation as a front person playing clubs in B.C, and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

with several bands including Blu, and the first incarnation of the Chrissy Steele Band with several members including Burk Ehmig, Rick Smook, Matteo Caratozzolo, Lance Abramyk and Brian McConkey, amongst others."Despite sexy album cover, B.C. sunger Chrissy Steele rejects sex-symbol image". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newsp ...

'', January 16, 1992.

Career

In 1989,

Brian MacLeod Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meanin ...

, after hearing about her talents, invited her to join his band

Headpins Headpins are a Canadian rock group, founded as a side project in the late 1970s by then Chilliwack members Ab Bryant and Brian MacLeod. Macleod was impressed by the vocal talents of Vancouver rock singer Denise McCann, and asked her to join hi ...

, which had been looking for a new singer since

Darby Mills Darby Phyllis Mills is a Canadian rock vocalist, former figure skater, and the past lead singer of the Headpins. She has embarked on a solo career, having signed a worldwide record contract and released both a remastered solo album and a live CD ...

left the band in 1986. However, with the rest of the original Headpins having moved on to other projects, MacLeod instead decided to record a new album with Steele. The majority of songs were written by

and

Tim Feehan Tim Feehan (born April 27, 1957 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, mix master and Los Angeles area studio owner. Career Tim Feehan graduated from the University of Alberta in 1980 and began his recording/songwriting ...

. MacLeod and Steele, with the help of their manager Sam Feldman and Bruce Allen, would be shopped to labels, finally hooking to Chrysalis Records, newly acquired by

Thorn EMI Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * '' Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...

. With an introduction to New York Chrysalis executives John Sykes (President) and Joe Keiner (CEO), and flying out to see the band live, Macleod and Steele were signed to a multi-million multi-album record deal. Sadly, during the production of the album and a warm-up tour, MacLeod became ill, and after the release of the album, he succumbed to cancer on April 25, 1992. During his illness and incapacitation, it was thought best by the label for Steele to continue on as a solo artist after signing with the American branch of the label Chrysalis."Brian 'Too Loud' MacLeod refuses to let cancer come between him and his passion...rock'n'roll". ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's onl ...

'', October 6, 1991. The album, ''Magnet to Steele'', was released in 1991 and spawned the hit singles "Love You 'Til It Hurts" and "Love Don't Last Forever". With a touring band consisting of Joe Wowk (replacing Brian MacLeod) on guitars, Tim Webster on keyboards, Anton Vogt on bass, and Rick Fedyk on drums, Steele supported the album first playing with Bryan Adams in Revelstoke in 1991, then with a cross-Canada tour as an opening act for

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

, and in the United States as an opener for Jethro Tull's entire Catfish Rising American Tour. Steele also played as part of the lineup at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver for Molson's Great Canadian Party on July 1, 1992, featuring (in order of appearance) Eugene Ripper, The Grapes of Wrath, SkyDiggers, Rita Chiarelli, Crash Test Dummies, Chrissy Steele, Colin James, The Tragically Hip, and Spinal Tap. In addition to her Juno nomination for Most Promising Female Vocalist, ''Magnet to Steele'' was a nominee for Rock Album of the Year. The record company flew her to Los Angeles to record demos for her follow-up album after the album's commercial viability had passed. But, Steele thought the material wasn't the right match. She wanted to adopt a more mature and reflective style because she was no longer at ease with the "sexpot biker-chick" persona she was being advertised as. With grunge dominating the airwaves, her label waning, and it being bought out by the

Chrysalis Group Chrysalis Group was a United Kingdom, UK media company that was founded by Chris Wright (Music), Chris Wright, chairman, and Terry Ellis (record producer), Terry Ellis. Wright was named in ''Sunday Times Rich List 2009'' of the 1,000 richest per ...

, Steele took her cue and decided to put the music business on the back burner for a while. As an avid environmentalist, she worked a term for Greenpeace in Vancouver – eventually returning to University in Victoria. She performed a few isolated concert dates with a new all-female backing band in Quebec City and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

in 1994 and sang guest vocals on Feehan's 1996 album ''Pray for Rain'', but by 1997 onwards, she was working as a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for publishe ...

and communications professional in

, B.C.

2000s

As of 2022, Steele is currently working on new songs with

Harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the '' zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionall ...

's original writer and guitarist Glen Willows, and her brother Bryan Southern. Her first single "Insidious" was released on all the major streaming platforms on October 15, 2021.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Magnet to Steele'' (1991)

Singles

Love you 'Til it Hurts (1991) Love Don't Last Forever (1991) Insidious (2021) Unrequited (Remember Me) (2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Chrissy Canadian women rock singers Chrysalis Records artists Living people Musicians from Vancouver Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Canadian women singers