Canada Day is here and there is no better time to test your knowledge of Canadian music.
What follows are 40 questions about homegrown artists and bands spanning several decades. Challenge yourself or someone else — but don’t cheat and use Google or ask Siri!
When you’re done, scroll down for the answers and to see if you’re an aficionado of Canadian music.
1. Name the two Canadian singers who released different songs titled “Diana” 28 years apart.
2. What Canadian singer was born Valerie Anne Poxleitner?
3. Which singer who was born in Ontario and raised in Nova Scotia was briefly the lead singer of Australian band INXS?
4. List any of the three bands named for Canadian cities or towns.
5. Name two successful recording artists who placed third on different seasons of Canadian Idol.
6. Which Canadian pop star was born in the same city as actors Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling and Victor Garber?
7. Which Canadian country singer has had two hit songs with the word "song" in the titles?
8. Who was both the youngest Canadian female artist to perform on Saturday Night Live and the only one to appear on the show three times?
9. Name any of the three Canadians who co-wrote the 2013 Pitbull ft. Christina Aguilera hit “Feel This Moment.”
10. Eilleen Edwards was born in Windsor in 1965 but you know her better as…
11. Name any of the four Canadian female artists with the initials “A.M.” who have won a Juno Award.
12. Currently working as a teacher at a Toronto high school, this former pop singer was twice-nominated as Female Vocalist of the Year at the Junos thanks to songs like "Dancing Under a Latin Moon."
13. Which Canadian singer was married to Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher from 2008 to 2014?
14. The Jerry Cans are a band from what remote Canadian city?
15. Name the two Canadian bands that have recorded songs with “Superman” in the title.
16. Which two Canadian music stars were married in France on Canada Day in 2012?
17. American actor Eddie Cibrian, currently married to singer LeAnn Rimes, was part of what Canadian boy band that had a hit song called “Into You” in 1999?
18. Toronto duo Dream Warriors sampled Quincy Jones’ “Soul Bossa Nova” in their 1991 hit single — the same instrumental that was used as the theme for which long-running Canadian game show?
19. Name the two Canadian music stars who appeared on both Degrassi: The Next Generation and Saturday Night Live.
20. Who was the first Canadian female solo artist to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts?
21. Abel Makkonen Tesfaye and Keinan Abdi Warsame are better known to music fans as…
22. Bryan Adams sang back-up on which 1986 hit by Glass Tiger?
23. Name any of the Canadian music acts made up entirely of siblings.
24. Name the Canadian singer with hits like “We Should Be Lovers” and “Nothing Can Stand In Your Way” who sings the jingle for Ontario restaurant chain Pizza Nova; or the Canadian singer with hits like “Believe” and “Supergirl” who sings the jingle for Ontario’s Marineland.
25. Name the former MuchMusic host who co-wrote the Grammy-winning 1989 single “Black Velvet” for Alannah Myles?
26. What band won the Juno Award for Group of Year in 2017 — 27 years after winning Most Promising Group of the Year?
27. American singer Kelly Clarkson’s hit “Walk Away” was co-written by which Canadian couple?
28. Name any of five Canadian recording artists with Portuguese roots.
29. Before doing away with gender-specific categories, which three female singers won the most Juno Awards?
30. Ashton Simmonds is the real name of what 23-year-old Canadian R&B star?
31. What Canadian comedian, performing as M.C. Bones in a group called Organized Rhyme, had a Juno-nominated single called “Check the O.R.” in 1992?
32. What Grammy-winning Canadian composer-producer was previously the stepfather of Brody Jenner and Gigi Hadid?
33. Which former Canadian boy band member provided vocals for Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren’s hit single “This Is What It Feels Like”?
34. Put the following Canadian singer-songwriters in order from oldest to youngest : Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Anka.
35. Keith Urban's 2016 hit "Blue Ain't Your Color" and Carrie Underwood's 2005 hit "Jesus Take The Wheel" were co-written by Canadians. Name either one.
36. Which Canadian singer won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2018 – three years after the release of her debut album?
37. Name the Canadian music producer who co-wrote hits for artists like Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Kesha as well as hits like Nicki Minaj’s “The Night Is Still Young,” “Sugar” by Maroon 5 and The Weeknd’s “I Feel It Coming.”
38. Eleven Canadians have been nominated in the Original Song category at the Academy Awards but only two have won the Oscar. Can you name them?
39. Which Canadian folk singer-songwriter was killed in 1983 in a fire onboard an Air Canada jet?
40. London, Ont. natives Andrew Fedyk and Joseph De Pace are better known as what chart-topping EDM act?
1. Paul Anka in 1957 and Bryan Adams in 1985.
2. Lights
3. J.D. Fortune
4. Chilliwack, Hedley, Toronto
5. Carly Rae Jepsen (Season 5) and Jacob Hoggard of Hedley (Season 2)
6. Justin Bieber was born in London, Ont.
7. Brett Kissel ("Started With A Song" and "We Were That Song")
8. Avril Lavigne was 19 in 2003 when she made her first of three SNL appearances.
9. Chantal Kreviazuk, Nasri Atweh of MAGIC! and Adam Messinger
10. Shania Twain
11. Amanda Marshall, Alanis Morissette, Anne Murray and Alannah Myles.
12. Candy Russo, who was lead singer of Candi & The Backbeat in the late ‘80s and had hits like “Dancing Under a Latin Moon” and “Under Your Spell.”
13. All Saints member Nicole Appleton of Hamilton, Ont.
14. Iqualuit, Nunavut
15. Our Lady Peace (1997’s “Superman’s Dead”), Crash Test Dummies (1991’s “Superman’s Song”).
16. Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger of Nickelback
17. 3Deep
18. Definition, which ran from 1974 to 1989.
19. Drake (cast member on Degrassi, host and musical guest on SNL) and Alanis Morissette (guest star on Degrassi, musical guest on SNL).
20. Anne Murray, with “Snowbird.”
21. The Weeknd and K’naan
22. “Don’t Forget Me When I’m Gone”
23. Choose from: The Moffatts (Bob, Clint, Dave and Scott); RyanDan (Ryan and Dan Kowarsky); Tegan and Sara (Tegan and Sara Quin); The Rankin Family; The Partland Brothers (G.P., Chris and Robin); BROS (Ewan and Shamus Currie).
24. Alfie Zappacosta (Pizza Nova) and Suzie McNeil (Marineland).
25. Christopher Ward
26. The Tragically Hip won the Juno for Most Promising Group of the Year in 1990 and won Group of the Year in 1995, 1997 and 2017.
27. Chantal Kreviazuk and her husband, Our Lady Peace singer Raine Maida.
28. Shawn Mendes, Shawn Desman, Danny Fernades, Tyler Medeiros, and Nelly Furtado.
29. Anne Murray (9), Celine Dion (6), Luba (3).
30. Daniel Caesar
31. Tom Green
32. David Foster
33. Vancouver’s Trevor Guthrie, formerly of soulDecision
34. Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Anka, Bruce Cockburn, Neil Young
35. "Blue Ain't Your Color" was co-written by Ontario's Steven Lee Olsen; "Jesus Take The Wheel" was co-written by Nova Scotia's Gordie Sampson.
36. Alessia Cara
37. Henry Walter
38. Buffy Sainte-Marie (“Up Where We Belong”) 1982; Howard Shore (“Into the West”) 2003.
39. Stan Rogers was 33
40. Loud Luxury
• • •
30 to 40 correct answers – Hallelujah! Put your toque on and get yourself to Tim Horton's immediately to treat yourself to a maple donut and a double-double. You're about as Canadian as they come!
20 to 30 correct answers – You're not quite a CanCon connoisseur but you're definitely in tune with homegrown music. A steaming bowl of poutine for you!
10 to 20 correct answers – To paraphrase Alanis Morissette, you oughta know more about Canadian music. Put down that "Stronger Beer" and "Let Your Backbone Slide" while you discover the pure joy of Northern Pikes, Spoons and Chalk Circle.
0 to 10 correct answers – You shouldn't even be getting free health care, eh.
This is an update of a post that was originally published in 2017.