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2005 will go down musically as yet another year where album sales continued to decrease and Internet downloading skyrocketed, Canadian band The Arcade Fire boomed internationally, Mariah Carey made an unbelievable comeback, controversial rapper 50 Cent dominated sales charts while diversifying into movies, books, and video games and U2 had the biggest tour of the year.
Here's a look at the music year that was:
OH, CANADA - Also waving the Canadian flag mightily in 2005 were Metric, Death From Above 1979, K-OS, Feist, Kathleen Edwards, Jason Collett, Martha Wainwright, Hot Hot Heat, Daniel Lanois, Sarah Harmer, Broken Social Scene, Stars, and Neil Young. Significantly, Young survived surgery for a brain aneurysm, which prevented him from attending the Junos in April, and wrote about the experience on his new album, Prairie Wind. Let's not forget, too, Young's show-ending appearance at Live 8 on Canada Day in Barrie, Ont., our much maligned contribution to the global concert, and his double Grammy nominations. Canadian singer J.D.Fortune was also chosen to front Aussie rock veterans INXS via a popular summer reality show and is now poised to travel the world with his new bandmates in one of the fastest-selling tours of 2006.
PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS? - Mother Nature was a real bitch this year and musicians came together in a big way to raise funds following both the Boxing Day tsunami in Asia and Hurricane Katrina on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September. Not even Kanye West's controversial utterance during the Katrina telethon -- "George Bush doesn't care about black people" -- could dampen the proceedings. In fact, they livened things up.
BRITISH RULE - Robert Plant, Oasis, The Rolling Stones, Paul Weller and Depeche Mode all produced some of their best reviewed albums in years, while Coldplay didn't disappoint with third disc X&Y and one of the hottest tours of 2005. The Stones set up shop in Toronto this summer to rehearse and performed a club show at the Phoenix before wowing fans at Rogers Centre later in the year.
IRISH EYES WERE SMILING - Irish rockers U2 picked up three Grammys, were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and drew more than three million people to 90 sold-out concerts. They also came to Toronto for a week to rehearse and launch the second leg of their North American tour with four shows at the ACC. Topping all that off, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb was just nominated for a best album Grammy.
SOGGY PEAS - Was it just me or were the Black Eyed Peas performing at everything short of an envelope opening this year? In Canada alone, they turned up at the MuchMusic Video Awards and Grey Cup half-time show, and headlined their own cross-Canada tour, which included a stop at the Molson Amphitheatre. The hip-hop-pop group also succeeded in producing the single worst song of the year with My Humps.
DIVAS DOMINATE - Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani were the divas to beat. After a disastrous couple of years that included the movie bomb Glitter, getting dropped from her record label and a nervous breakdown, Carey picked up almost every music award imaginable this year. Her latest, The Emancipation Of Mimi, was just been nominated for album of the year at the 2006 Grammys. Meanwhile, Stefani stepped out of No Doubt's shadow with a successful solo album and tour and goes up against Carey in the best album Grammy race with Love.Angel.Music.Baby.
RAPPER'S DELIGHT - 50 Cent had the biggest album with The Massacre, starred in the movie Get Rich Or Die Tryin', released a video game and announced plans to publish hip-hop novellas and graphic novels. Controversy followed his every move, from outrage over U.S. movie billboards depicting him with a gun to a Canadian MP wanting to keep him out of the country for supposedly promoting gun violence.
2005 SHOWCASE AWARDS
ARCADE FIRE
MUSIC ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Canadian indie rock royalty came in the form of Montreal band The Arcade Fire this year. Their debut disc, Funeral, actually came out in September 2004 but the accolades, notably two Grammy nods earlier this month including one for best alternative music album, began in 2005. They opened for David Bowie, David Byrne and U2, played three sold-out shows at the Danforth Music Hall, and stole the MuchMusic Video Awards with their exciting orchestral-rock performance. They also appeared on the cover of Time, who called them "Canada's most intriguing rock band," while Spin hailed them out for making Montreal "the next big scene." Their sophomore effort is due in late 2006 and we can hardly wait!
PREVIOUS WINNERS
2004 Usher
2003 OutKast
2002 Eminem