Two of the city’s most recognizable rock icons are now publicly backing different candidates in Toronto’s mayoral race, with Rush frontman Geddy Lee throwing his support behind Brad Bradford and Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy supporting incumbent Mayor Olivia Chow.
Lee made his surprise endorsement on Instagram on Monday, sharing a series of pics with Bradford, who’s the city councillor for Beaches-East York. In one, the Rush singer and bassist is holding his cute Norwich terrier, Dottie Wasserman, while posing alongside the mayoral candidate.
“I was born in Toronto and have built a life with my family here. It was always a place I’ve been proud to call home. But it’s changing, and not for the better,” Lee said in his post. “I’m not one to make public statements about politicians, but I truly fear for the future of Toronto with its current leadership, and believe that Brad has energy, fresh ideas and really cares about ALL of this city’s communities.”
It was a rare political intervention from the Toronto-born rock star, who expanded on his connection to the city in a statement released through Bradford’s campaign. Lee said that throughout 50 years of travelling the world, he always felt a sense of relief when he returned home to Toronto, but now believes the city is no longer the same.
“Something has gone wrong, and it isn’t the people. It’s the leadership. My parents came here with nothing, after surviving the worst the world could do to them,” Lee wrote (Lee’s parents, Morris and Mary Weinrib, were Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Canada after the war). “This city gave them the one thing they wanted most: a safe place to raise their kids. That was the promise of Toronto. I believe Brad Bradford gets that.”
Just a few weeks earlier, another Toronto rock legend had stepped into the mayoral campaign, although Jim Cuddy’s support came with live music rather than an official Insta statement.
The Blue Rodeo co-founder took the stage during Chow’s Sept. 9 re-election campaign launch at the Danforth Music Hall, where nearly 1,000 people attended. Before Chow spoke, Cuddy performed Blue Rodeo’s 1997 song It Could Happen to You, a song focused on socioeconomic inequality.
Both musicians’ careers are deeply intertwined with the city. Rush was formed in Willowdale in 1968, after Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson met growing up in the North York neighbourhood. The band spent its early years playing around Toronto before eventually becoming one of Canada’s most internationally successful rock acts (Lee and Lifeson were back in the Toronto spotlight at TIFF last month for the world premiere of Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple, a documentary honouring their late Rush bandmate).
Cuddy’s Toronto roots run just as deep. He was born in the city and attended North Toronto Collegiate, where he met his longtime musical partner Greg Keelor.
The pair eventually formed Blue Rodeo in Toronto, with the band becoming a fixture of the city’s Queen West music scene in the 1980s. The Horseshoe Tavern was very important to the band’s early years: Cuddy has said that playing for crowds there was when the band’s success first started to feel real. Blue Rodeo even ran its independent label, Risque Disque, out of the Horseshoe’s basement!
And naturally, Toronto’s music scene had thoughts about the city’s new rock ’n’ roll divide.
Lee’s Insta endorsement drew mixed reactions, including a very apt response from Toronto hardcore punk band F**ked Up, which replied to his post with a string of vomit emojis.
Toronto voters will have the final say later this month. Election day is Monday, Oct. 26, with advance voting running from Oct. 6 through Oct. 11.