By Lola Augustine Brown
Did you know that it’s been 25 years since k.d. lang released the Grammy-award winning “Constant Craving,” the single that made her an international superstar? The single and the album that it came from, Ingénue, were released in 1992.
To mark the milestone—and Canada’s 150th birthday—lang will launch a solo 23-show, 17-city tour across the country on August 12 at Victoria’s Royal Theatre and then hit at least one major city in every province, finishing up in Hamilton, ON, on September 19. The September 16 show in Ottawa will be a National Arts Centre Gala featuring the NAC orchestra—and a meet-and-greet and dinner. Named an official Canada 150 Ambassador, lang is a four-time Grammy winner, multiple Juno-award winner, and Canadian icon.
In addition to songs from Ingénue, lang will celebrate Canada by performing songs from her 2004 album Hymns of the 49th Parallel, which featured hits by fellow Canadians including Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Jane Siberry, and Bruce Cockburn. No stranger to collaboration, lang has performed and recorded with, among others, Tony Bennett, Elton John, Ann Wilson, and the late great Roy Orbison.
At 55 lang continues to blow audiences away, and this set of shows is sure to thrill her fans—especially in her home province of Alberta, where she got her start in a Patsy Cline tribute band.
Photo: Dreamstime/Sbukley.