It’s been 25 years since the release of Tom Cochrane’s landmark album, Mad Mad World, and now the Red Rider rocker is about to have audiences singing Life is a Highway all over again.
The never-at-rest artist has announced a cross-Canada tour, where he will perform Mad Mad World in its entirety with additional fan favourites.
The tour arrives at Kelowna’s Prospera Place March 3.
On stage with Cochrane will be his reunited Red Rider bandmates Kenny Greer and Jeff Jones and joining the tour will be Meghan Patrick.
Not only is Cochrane celebrating this milestone anniversary with a tour, he has released a deluxe edition reissue of Mad Mad World in stores and at streaming services via Universal Music Canada.
The remastered 2-CD set includes the previously unreleased original demo recording of Love Is A Highway, from which grew the career-defining single Life Is A Highway, and also a 1992 concert performance from Chicago which features key tracks from the album alongside Red Rider classics.
Mad Mad World remains among the top-selling albums in Canadian music history, achieving rare Diamond-certified status on the strengths of such hit singles as the title track, No Regrets, Washed Away, Sinking Like A Sunset, and, of course, Life Is A Highway, which reigned at #1 for six weeks in Canada, reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and went on to become recognized the world over.
Cochrane is recipient of eight Juno Awards and a Grammy nominee, a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Industry Hall Of Fame. He holds an honorary doctorate, has a place on Canada’s Walk of Fame, and has been honoured with both the Order of Manitoba and the Order of Canada. He is recipient of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and is a former Honorary Air Force Colonel in the 409 squadron.
Cochrane has also been tireless in his philanthropic works for decades, working with War Child, Waterkeeper Alliance, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières, Make Poverty History, World Animal Protection, The United Way, Tree Canada, Unison and Tempo, to name a few. He has and continues to lend his support to several other causes, including helping spearhead the Canada for Asia initiative, entertaining our troops in Afghanistan, and raising money for Parkinson’s research. He was a performer at Live 8, and in both Tears Are Not Enough and Young Artists for Haiti.
Recently, he was honoured by World Vision Canada for his years of service to their philanthropic initiatives. From first traveling in 1989 to Africa with them to visiting Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon earlier this year, he has been an inspiration and mentor to countless people in need. The Toronto event featured a special premiere screening of 25 Years on The Highway, a documentary on Cochrane’s humanitarian efforts, an award presentation, and a special acoustic performance by the artist who emerged from Lynn Lake, Manitoba more than four decades ago with guitar in hand and harmonica in pocket…and is still riding the highway.
Tickets for Cochrane’s March 3 performance at Prospera Place (doors open at 7 p.m. Show starts at 8 p.m.) go on sale Friday, Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. Tickets are $69.50, and $49.50 plus charges at www.selectyourtickets.com, 250-762-5050 or at the Prospera Place Box Office.
