What is the best-selling song by a Canadian artist?
The amount of talent which comes from Canada is truly astonishing, as the country is feverishly overlooked for its production of exceptional talent.
Consider the likes of Leonard Cohen, Bryan Adams and Joni Mitchell, and you get a mere glimpse into the great sound that the Maple Country has to offer. While a lot of contemporary music is deemed to be the product of countries such as England and the United States, Canada acts as a reminder that the beautiful thing about music is how well it travels, as their artists have contributed massively towards different genres across the world.
Great Canadian artists have released some truly exceptional songs – for instance, Joni Mitchell is often praised as being one of the greatest songwriters and poets of the modern age, and by combining her words with her stunning vocals and unique guitar playing, she is able to elevate folk music and present it in a way that people had previously been unfamiliar with.
“I remember my father playing me ‘Same Situation’ when I was a nipper, and saying how nobody since has done melodies as well as Joni Mitchell. I concur,” said Alana Haim when talking about how much of a big fan of Joni Mitchell she is. “I could listen to a song like ‘A Case of You’ when I was in my early twenties, and that song has taken on a whole new meaning now that I’m almost 30.”
Leonard Cohen is also often considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time, as his commitment to his craft, paired with his vocal and lyrical ability, has led to the creation of some of the most complex and beautiful songs ever written – Bob Dylan was always a big fan, as he admired Leonard Cohen’s poetry, but also how he could twist his words so that they fit seamlessly into a catchy melody. He spoke specifically about the song ‘Hallelujah’ when thinking of an example of such music.
“It’s a beautifully constructed melody that steps up, evolves, and slips back, all in quick time. But this song has a connective chorus, which, when it comes in, has a power all of its own,” he said. “The ‘secret chord’ and the point-blank I-know-you-better-than-you-know-yourself aspect of the song has plenty of resonance for me.”
Despite us mentioning great songs such as ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Same Situation’, neither of these is the best-selling song written by a Canadian artist; they’re not even close. It begs the question, what is?
So, what is the best selling song released by a Canadian artist?
It probably won’t come as a surprise to you to hear that the best-selling song by a Canadian artist is Celine Dion’s offering with ‘My Heart Will Go On’ – popularised by the Titanic movie, the song sold over 18million copies worldwide, and is considered not only the best-selling song by a Canadian artist, but also one of the best-selling songs of all time. The track wasn’t written by Dion, but was instead penned by Will Jennings, who was able to capture the essence of the movie without even seeing a rough cut of it.
“I wrote everything from the point of view of a person of a great age looking back so many years,” he said, concluding, “It was the love story that made the film, of course. It was magnificently done with special effects, the actors were good. But the love story was what it was.”
