Dianne Heatherington
Encyclopedia
Dianne Mae Heatherington (May 14, 1948 - October 22, 1996) was a Canadian
singer of several genres, particularly rock, whose musical career spanned nearly two decades. In the latter part of her career, she became a successful businessperson in the film security industry, while at the same time enjoying modest success as a Canadian film and television actress.
She was nominated for a Juno Award in 1981
in the category of Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year
. She also hosted her own national CBC Television
series, Dianne, in 1971.
In May 1993, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer
from which she died on October 22, 1996, aged 48, in Toronto.
. She became a local legend when, in 1970, she personally shamed Led Zeppelin
into performing at the Man-Pop Festival
, when they had already been paid pursuant to a rain clause in their contract, and were preparing to leave Winnipeg without performing.
Heatherington relocated to Toronto from Winnipeg in the early 1970s. To commemorate her departure, The Guess Who
recorded the Kurt Winter-Bill Wallace composition, "Bye Bye Babe", on their 1973 Artificial Paradise album. In Toronto, she formed a band which by 1976 included Dave Garber, Sandy Chochinov and Mark Rutherford. She and her band became increasingly popular in the Toronto and area club scene.
In 1980, her only album, Heatherington Rocks, was released on Epic Records
. The album included a mix of original and cover material. Three of the standout tracks were rearrangements of The Beatles'
"Helter Skelter" and Bruce Cockburn's
"Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long", plus "Mr. Nice Guy", co-written by Heatherington and members of her band. The basic album had been recorded in 1978 for GRT Records, which had gone bankrupt as of the summer of 1979, prior to releasing the album. Heatherington purchased the master tapes from the bankruptcy trustee. "Helter Skelter" was released as a single, with "Mr. Nice Guy" as the B-Side. Despite Heatherington's ownership of the master tapes, the album has not been released in CD format, through her estate or otherwise.
In 1980, a one hour documentary on Heatherington, "Soul Survivor", chronicling the challenges of a woman in the music business, was produced under the auspices of the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre and aired on CBC Television. In 1981, Heatherington was nominated for a Juno Award
in the category of Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year
, but lost to Carole Pope
.
In 1983, Heatherington decided to further her musical career by moving to New York City. For eighteen months, she was the weekend performer at the well-known Joe's Bar in the East Village
. She sang rock songs on Saturdays and, at the insistence of the bar owner, country and western songs on Fridays. Despite her public popularity singing both genres, there was no record company interest. She returned to Toronto in 1985. At various points during the 1980s, she sang jazz and blues standards as a lounge act, accompanied solely by a pianist. This included an 1983 engagement at Winnipeg's prestigious Marlborough Hotel, which was constructed in 1914. It contains one of the largest ballrooms in Canada and is today a premier conference hotel; its guests have included Sir Winston Churchill
In 1987, approaching forty, she abandoned singing professionally.
Cocktail (1988), her roles were generally minor. A notable exception was a co-starring role in Zero Patience
, which "examines and refutes the urban legend of the alleged introduction of HIV
to North America by a single individual, Gaëtan Dugas
".
, a former member of The Guess Who
. Heatherington, Taylor and Leskiw all had originally been Winnipeg-based. She remained married to Taylor until her death.
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
singer of several genres, particularly rock, whose musical career spanned nearly two decades. In the latter part of her career, she became a successful businessperson in the film security industry, while at the same time enjoying modest success as a Canadian film and television actress.
She was nominated for a Juno Award in 1981
Juno Awards of 1981
The Juno Awards of 1981, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 5 February 1981 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Andrea Martin at the O'Keefe Centre....
in the category of Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year
Juno Award for New Artist of the Year
The Juno Award for New Artist of the Year has been awarded since 1974 as recognition each year for the best new artist/musician in Canada. The category was originally divided by separate awards for men and women...
. She also hosted her own national CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
series, Dianne, in 1971.
In May 1993, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
from which she died on October 22, 1996, aged 48, in Toronto.
Early life and musical career
Heatherington was born in Fort Rouge, Winnipeg. Described as "the undisputed First Lady of Winnipeg rock 'n' roll", she commenced her musical career in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she was the lead singer of Dianne Heatherington and The Merry-Go-Round. The band included Bill Wallace, later a member of The Guess WhoThe Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...
. She became a local legend when, in 1970, she personally shamed Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
into performing at the Man-Pop Festival
Man-Pop Festival
The Man-Pop Festival was a music festival held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on August 29, 1970, at which Led Zeppelin was the headlining act. Other artists performing at the festival included The Youngbloods, The Ides of March, Iron Butterfly, Chilliwack, plus local bands, including Dianne...
, when they had already been paid pursuant to a rain clause in their contract, and were preparing to leave Winnipeg without performing.
Heatherington relocated to Toronto from Winnipeg in the early 1970s. To commemorate her departure, The Guess Who
The Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...
recorded the Kurt Winter-Bill Wallace composition, "Bye Bye Babe", on their 1973 Artificial Paradise album. In Toronto, she formed a band which by 1976 included Dave Garber, Sandy Chochinov and Mark Rutherford. She and her band became increasingly popular in the Toronto and area club scene.
In 1980, her only album, Heatherington Rocks, was released on Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
. The album included a mix of original and cover material. Three of the standout tracks were rearrangements of The Beatles'
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
"Helter Skelter" and Bruce Cockburn's
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
"Mama Just Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long", plus "Mr. Nice Guy", co-written by Heatherington and members of her band. The basic album had been recorded in 1978 for GRT Records, which had gone bankrupt as of the summer of 1979, prior to releasing the album. Heatherington purchased the master tapes from the bankruptcy trustee. "Helter Skelter" was released as a single, with "Mr. Nice Guy" as the B-Side. Despite Heatherington's ownership of the master tapes, the album has not been released in CD format, through her estate or otherwise.
In 1980, a one hour documentary on Heatherington, "Soul Survivor", chronicling the challenges of a woman in the music business, was produced under the auspices of the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre and aired on CBC Television. In 1981, Heatherington was nominated for a Juno Award
Juno Awards of 1981
The Juno Awards of 1981, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 5 February 1981 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Andrea Martin at the O'Keefe Centre....
in the category of Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year
Juno Award for New Artist of the Year
The Juno Award for New Artist of the Year has been awarded since 1974 as recognition each year for the best new artist/musician in Canada. The category was originally divided by separate awards for men and women...
, but lost to Carole Pope
Carole Pope
Carole Pope is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose provocative blend of hard-edged New Wave rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian famous entertainers in the world...
.
In 1983, Heatherington decided to further her musical career by moving to New York City. For eighteen months, she was the weekend performer at the well-known Joe's Bar in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
. She sang rock songs on Saturdays and, at the insistence of the bar owner, country and western songs on Fridays. Despite her public popularity singing both genres, there was no record company interest. She returned to Toronto in 1985. At various points during the 1980s, she sang jazz and blues standards as a lounge act, accompanied solely by a pianist. This included an 1983 engagement at Winnipeg's prestigious Marlborough Hotel, which was constructed in 1914. It contains one of the largest ballrooms in Canada and is today a premier conference hotel; its guests have included Sir Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
In 1987, approaching forty, she abandoned singing professionally.
Acting career
Her acting career began to develop in 1982, when she appeared on an episode of the television series Seeing Things. She had modest success in film and television roles, which occurred particularly between 1988 and 1995. While she was in one major international film success,Cocktail (1988), her roles were generally minor. A notable exception was a co-starring role in Zero Patience
Zero Patience
Zero Patience is a 1993 Canadian musical film written and directed by John Greyson. The film examines and refutes the urban legend of the alleged introduction of HIV to North America by a single individual, Gaëtan Dugas...
, which "examines and refutes the urban legend of the alleged introduction of HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
to North America by a single individual, Gaëtan Dugas
Gaëtan Dugas
Gaëtan Dugas was a Canadian who worked for Air Canada as a flight attendant. Dugas became notorious as the alleged patient zero for AIDS, though he is now more accurately regarded as one of many highly sexually active men who spread AIDS widely before the disease was identified.-Patient Zero...
".
Business career
Contemporaneous to her 1988-1995 period as an actress, she started a movie location security company, the Dianne Heatherington Security Company, which provided 24 hour location security. The business became highly successful, providing location security to major budget films and television series being shot in and around Toronto. At its height, it employed approximately thirty people, some of whom were musicians Heatherington had met during her singing career and to whom she now offered more stable economic prospects.Personal life
In 1977, she married musician Gary Taylor, in a Toronto civil ceremony performed by musician Greg LeskiwThe Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...
, a former member of The Guess Who
The Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...
. Heatherington, Taylor and Leskiw all had originally been Winnipeg-based. She remained married to Taylor until her death.
Postscripts
In the years since her passing, there has been increased interest in preserving her memory. A tribute website (www.dianneheatherington.com) was established, containing numerous video and audio clips, plus recollections of friends and fellow musicians. In 2008, tribute concerts were held in Toronto and Winnipeg, for the purpose of raising money for cancer research, as well as the establishment of a music scholarship in Heatherington's name at the University of ManitobaUniversity of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
.
Filmography
- Shamrock Conspiracy (1995) (TV)
- To Save the Children (1994) (TV)
- Zero PatienceZero PatienceZero Patience is a 1993 Canadian musical film written and directed by John Greyson. The film examines and refutes the urban legend of the alleged introduction of HIV to North America by a single individual, Gaëtan Dugas...
(1993) - the Heat (1993) (TV)
- Perfectly NormalPerfectly NormalPerfectly Normal is a Canadian comedy film, released in 1991. Directed by Yves Simoneau and written by Eugene Lipinski and Paul Quarrington, the film starred Robbie Coltrane, Michael Riley and Kenneth Welsh.-Cast:*Robbie Coltrane as Alonzo Turner...
(1990) - Behind the Music (1988) (TV)
- Cocktail (1988)
- Seeing Things (1982) (TV); One episode,"Hear No Evil, See No Evil".
- Soul Survivor (1980) (TV)
- Dianne (1971) (TV)