Tom Cochrane
| Tom Cochrane | |
|---|---|
Tom Cochrane (left), Ottawa 2003
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| Background information | |
| Born |
May 14, 1953 Lynn Lake, Manitoba, Canada |
| Genres | Rock, heartland rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, harmonica |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Labels | Capitol, Universal Music |
| Associated acts | Red Rider |
| Website | tomcochrane |
Thomas William "Tom" Cochrane, OC OM (born May 14, 1953) is a Canadian musician known as the front man for the Canadian rock band Red Rider, and for his work as a solo singer-songerwriter. Cochrane has won eight Juno Awards. He is a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, an officer of the Order of Canada, and has an honorary doctorate from Brandon University. In September 2009 he was inducted onto the Canadian Walk of Fame. Cochrane has also been recognized for his significant charitable work.
Cochrane was born in Lynn Lake, Manitoba, to Violet and Tuck Cochrane, a bush pilot. The family relocated to Acton, Ontario, when Tom was four years old and later to Etobicoke, Ontario. He purchased his first guitar at age 11 by selling a toy train set. Cochrane attended Martingrove Collegiate Institute in the late 1960s. In the early 1970s, Tom was performing in coffee houses across Canada. He eventually made his way to Los Angeles where he found a job writing theme music for the movie My Pleasure Is My Business, the Xaviera Hollander story. Unable to find steady income from music, Cochrane returned to Toronto, where he drove a taxi cab and later took a job on a Caribbean cruise liner.
After meeting at the El Mocambo tavern in Toronto, Cochrane joined the Canadian rock band Red Rider in 1978 and served as their lead singer and main songwriter for more than ten years. Red Rider included Ken Greer, Jeff Jones, Peter Boynton and Rob Baker. Bruce Allen managed the band from their debut until 1985. Cochrane recorded six studio albums with Red Rider plus a live album, a best of album, and a box set. By 1986, the band was billed as "Tom Cochrane & Red Rider". He would later refer to this period of his career as a stretch of "manageable success" before the release of Mad Mad World.
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