Murray McLauchlan

2018 Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award (Popular Music)

Singer-songwriter

Murray McLauchlan is one of Canada’s leading singer–songwriters. Known for his socially conscious songs, he achieved wide acclaim for his 1972 breakthrough single “Farmer’s Song,” which earned him the first of 11 Juno Awards. He is also an accomplished visual artist and a popular radio and TV host. Deeply committed to the art of songwriting and creators’ rights, he has had a long association with the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN). He continues to tour regularly, both on his own and with the band Lunch at Allen’s.
 
Mr. McLauchlan was born in Scotland in 1948 and moved to Canada in 1953. He began writing and performing songs in his teens, and studied art under renowned landscape painter Doris McCarthy before deciding to concentrate on music.
 
His hit songs include “Down by the Henry Moore,” “Child’s Song,” “On the Boulevard,” “Try Walkin’ Away,” and “Whispering Rain.” He has released 19 albums, most recently Love Can’t Tell Time (2017).
 
From 1989 to 1994, he hosted CBC Radio’s “Swinging on a Star,” a showcase for Canadian songwriters that became the top-rated music show in the country.
 
As a licensed commercial pilot, he flew across Canada in 1985 in a Cessna 185 floatplane. Accompanied by a CBC film crew, he visited and performed with such guests as Gordon Lightfoot, Buffy Sainte‑Marie, Levon Helm and Édith Butler. The resulting TV special, “Floating Over Canada,” became a mainstay of Canada Day broadcasts for several years.
 
His autobiography, Getting Out of Here Alive: The Ballad of Murray McLauchlan, was published in 1998.
 
He currently serves on the board of the Room 217 Foundation, which works to integrate music into person-centred care.
 
Murray McLauchlan is a Member of the Order of Canada. His other awards and honours include the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals; 11 Juno Awards; 3 RPM Gold Leaf Awards and 2 Big Country Awards; SOCAN National Achievement Award; inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Mariposa Folk Foundation Hall of Fame. He has an honorary degree from the University of Calgary and is a fellow of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.