James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo.

Early life and education

Cuddy was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario. His mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch Park Secondary School. He attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute, where he met and befriended Greg Keelor, his future bandmate. He also went to Upper Canada College and Queen's University.

Musical career

The Hi-Fis

After graduating from university, Cuddy and Keelor formed a band called the Hi-Fis along with Jim Sublett on drums and Malcolm Schell playing bass. The band released a single in 1980 featuring "Look What You've Done" and on the B side "I Don't Know Why (You Love Me)". The record was not a commercial success, and when they couldn't get a record deal in Toronto, they headed off to New York City. In New York they met keyboardist Bob Wiseman, but were still unable to arrange a recording contract. They later moved back to Toronto.

Blue Rodeo

In 1984 Cuddy and Keelor formed a new band, Blue Rodeo, with Wiseman, and recruited Bazil Donovan on bass and Cleave Anderson on drums as backup. Since that time, Cuddy has continued to lead the band, which has toured extensively and released 16 studio albums.

Jim Cuddy Band

Cuddy has recorded a number of solo albums and performs live with the Jim Cuddy Band, featuring musicians such as Bazil Donovan, Colin Cripps, Joel Anderson, Steve O'Connor, Anne Lindsay and Gavin Brown. Guest performers on his solo albums have included Kathleen Edwards, former Weeping Tile member Sarah Harmer, and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy."Concert Review: Jim Cuddy Band provides a monumental evening at Massey Hall"
''National Post'', Jason Rehel , February 15, 2012

Other endeavours

Jim Cuddy's song "Whistler" from the ''All in Time'' album was featured in the 2002 documentary ''Ski Bums'' by John Zaritsky. In 2016, Cuddy participated in a benefit concert in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta and another in

, Ontario for the citizens of Fort McMurray, whose town was destroyed by fire. On March 19, 2020, he performed the first concert in the National Arts Centre's #CanadaPerforms series of livestreamed home concerts by Canadian musicians during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He narrates the

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

documentary series '' Striking Balance''.

Awards

Cuddy won Best Male Vocalist at The 1999 JUNO Awards and Adult Alternative Album of the Year for The Light That Guides You Home at The 2007 JUNO Awards In 2000, Cuddy and Blue Rodeo bandmate Greg Keelor were the recipients of the National Achievement Award at the annual SOCAN Awards held in Toronto. In 2013, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

along with Greg Keelor, "for their contributions to Canadian music and for their support of various charitable causes". In 2024, Cuddy and Keelor were inducted into the

Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame () is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1998 by Frank Davies, that inducts Canadians into their ''Hall of Fame'' within three different categories: songwriters, songs, and those others who have m ...

Personal life

Cuddy married Canadian actress Rena Polley in 1984. They have three children: daughter Emma; and two sons, Devin and Sam, who are also musicians. His brother Loftus Cuddy was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

candidate for the riding of Toronto—Danforth in the 2004 Canadian federal election, but he was not elected. In the 2004 edition of '' Canada Reads'', Cuddy advocated for Guy Vanderhaeghe's novel '' The Last Crossing'', which won the competition. In the 2007 edition of ''Canada Reads'', an "all-star" competition pitting the five winning advocates from previous years against each other, Cuddy returned to champion Timothy Taylor's novel '' Stanley Park''. In 2016, Cuddy collaborated with Tawse Winery in Niagara to launch a new wine brand, Cuddy by Tawse. In 2017, Cuddy narrated the documentary TV series ''Striking Balance''.

Discography

Albums

Singles

;Notes *A ^ "Too Many Hands" peaked at number 13 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Adult contemporary Tracks chart and number 34 on the ''RPM'' Country Tracks chart.

Guest singles

Music videos

References

External links

JimCuddy.com
– The Official Website of Jim Cuddy
BlueRodeo.com
– The Official Website of Blue Rodeo
GregKeelor.com
– The Official Website of Greg Keelor * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuddy, Jim 1955 births Canadian rock singers Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian rock guitarists Canadian country guitarists Canadian male guitarists Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year winners Living people Singers from Toronto Officers of the Order of Canada Upper Canada College alumni Canadian country rock musicians Blue Rodeo members Juno Award for Artist of the Year winners 20th-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters