Roy Douglas Kenner (born January 14, 1948, 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 ...

) is a Canadian singer and songwriter, most notable as the lead vocalist of

Mandala A mandala (, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid ...

in the late 1960s and as the lead vocalist of the

James Gang James Gang was an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass) a ...

during 1972–1974.

History

Kenner's international fame was primarily as the lead vocalist for the

from 1972 until 1974. He joined the group after the departure of

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born Joseph Woodward Fidler; November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles (band), Eagles, his five-decade career includes solo work and stints in other ...

and was with the band with guitarist

Domenic Troiano Domenic Michele Antonio Troiano (January 17, 1946 – May 25, 2005) was an Italian–Canadian guitarist and songwriter, best known as a member of Mandala, Bush, James Gang, and The Guess Who. He also recorded music for film and television, oft ...

and later

Tommy Bolin Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American rock guitarist who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), the James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), with Billy Cobham on his first record tit ...

. He was also with Domenic Troiano in the Canadian bands

and Bush, both of which had some degree of international success, and sang on Troiano's solo albums. In the 1970s, Kenner was instrumental in launching the career of

Lisa Dal Bello Lisa Concetta Dal Bello (born 22 May 1959), also known as Dalbello, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She released three albums in the pop and pop/rock genre in her late teens, from 1977 through 1981 under her full name. In 1984, she re-e ...

. Her first single, "(I Don't Want To) Stand in Your Way," was written by Kenner, and is regarded as one of the strongest songs on her self-titled 1977 debut album. Following his time with the James Gang, Kenner worked with a Toronto-based television musical variety show, Music Machine, for approximately two years, after which he worked with Garry Peterson (drummer for

The Guess Who The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, wit ...

) in an unrecorded R&B band, Delphia. In 1975, Kenner joined the U.S. band,

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, and recorded two albums with them, on the Goldhawke Records, Goldhawke record label, owned by

Roger Daltrey Sir Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Who, known for his powerful voice and charismatic stage presence. His stage persona ear ...

. Kenner then rejoined Domenic Troiano, co-writing and singing on Troiano's 1979 album, ''Fret Fever''. The record included the dance hit "We All Need Love," Troiano's biggest commercial success. The two also collaborated on TV soundtracks, in particular the theme to the TV series "

Night Heat ''Night Heat'' is a Canadian police crime drama series that aired on both CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States. Original episodes were broadcast from 1985 to 1989. ''Night Heat'' was the first Canadian original drama series that was sim ...

". Despite his international success as a lead vocalist, Kenner has never released a solo album. In 1982, he contributed to one half of a six-song EP, ''Roy Kenner/The Royals'', with three songs co-written with and produced by Domenic Troiano.The other songs on the EP featured George Olliver and Bobby Dupont, two well-known Toronto-based rhythm and blues artists. Nearly fifteen years earlier, Kenner had succeeded Olliver as the lead singer of Mandala, resulting in Kenner, rather than Olliver, contributing the vocals to Mandala's 1968 ''Soul Crusade'' album. Kenner currently does

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s and

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

work in Toronto, in addition to performing occasionally. He has performed at the 2006 and 2007 "We All Need Love" tribute concerts for Domenic Troiano, who succumbed to cancer in 2005.

Discography

Mandala

*1968 ''Soul Crusade'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

)

Bush

*1970 ''Bush'' ( Dunhill)

James Gang

*1972 '' Passin' Thru'' (

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

) *1972 '' Straight Shooter'' (ABC) *1973 '' Bang'' (

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...

) *1974 ''

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

'' (Atco)

Law

*1977 ''Breakin' It'' ( MCA) *1977 ''Hold On To It'' (MCA)

Solo

*1982 ''Roy Kenner/The Royals''

Other contributions

*1977

, ''

'' *1979 Domenic Troiano, '' Fret Fever'' *1986 Theme Song, ''Night Heat''

References

External links

*An image of Roy Kenner at the 2006 Domenic Troiano tribute concert (Kenner at far right) is accessibl
here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenner, Roy Canadian rock singers 1948 births Living people James Gang members Mandala (band) members