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 September 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''British Colonist'' (later the ' ...

'', August 23, 1997. a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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 ...

. She is most noted for garnering a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

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

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

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

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', February 13, 1992.

History

Early life

Steele's early years were spent singing classical and folk music. She participated in several

choirs A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and performed in

operas Opera is a form of Western 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 li ...

in her hometown of Comox and later in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

(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. After returning to Victoria, she answered an ad in the local newspaper and joined her first band, Room Service, in 1984. She performed in various rock clubs and appeared on the nationally televised 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 musi ...

. 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 a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

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 (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', January 16, 1992.

Career

In 1989, Brian MacLeod, after hearing about her talents, invited her to join his band

Headpins The Headpins are a Canadian rock band, 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 ...

, 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 C ...

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 Brian MacLeod 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 EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI in October 1979, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituen ...

. 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 (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

'', 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 November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

, 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 UK media company that was founded by Chris Wright, chairman, and Terry Ellis. Wright was named in '' Sunday Times Rich List 2009'' of the 1,000 richest persons in the UK. Previously having interests in television, books an ...

, 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 is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

and communications professional in

, B.C.

2000s

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

Harlequin Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan ...

'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 Singers from Vancouver Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Canadian women singers