Alan Frew
Alan Frew | |
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Alan Frew, 2011. | |
Background information | |
Born |
Coatbridge, Scotland, United Kingdom | 8 November 1956
Origin | Newmarket, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | Rock, alternative rock |
Occupation(s) | Singer, Musician, Author and Public Speaker |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
Years active | 1983–present |
Labels | Capitol Records |
Associated acts | Glass Tiger |
Website | www.alanfrew.com |
Alan Graham Frew (born 8 November 1956) is the lead singer for the Canadian band, Glass Tiger, and has also released three solo albums. He has appeared on many television specials, raises money for various causes and continues to perform around Canada as a solo artist, and as the lead singer for Glass Tiger. He was born in 1956 in Coatbridge, Scotland.[1]
Frew has five Canadian Juno Awards, five Canadian Classic Awards and was nominated for a Grammy. In addition to being a singer-songwriter he is an actor and public speaker. He is also a recipient of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award in recognition of his service to Canadian Arts and for his tireless charitable work and dedication mainly on behalf of poverty-stricken children and their needs.
An avid soccer fan, in mid-2008 he recorded a reworked version of "My Town" about Toronto FC. He is also an avid Rangers F.C. Fan.[2]
He also wrote the song "Free to Be" which is used by the Toronto Maple Leafs as their theme song.[3] The song was mixed at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, Ontario.
On August 20, 2015, Frew suffered a stroke causing trauma to his right side.[4]
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and "I Believe"
In 2008 Frew teamed up with songwriter Stephan Moccio to write "I Believe", the theme song of CTV's Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Three versions of the song "I Believe" were written and recorded; an English-language version sung by Montreal jazz singer Nikki Yanofsky, a French-language version ("J'imagine") sung by Quebec artist Annie Villeneuve, and an instrumental version by Moccio. On 26 January 2010 an EP titled "I Believe/J’imagine – CTV’s 2010 Winter Games Theme Song" was released on iTunes Canada. The EP contained all three versions of the song. The strings component of the song English language as sung by Nikki Yanofsky involved the orchestral arrangement and conduction of William Ross, at the Fox Studios in Los Angeles. Grammy winning engineer Armin Steiner engineered the recording.
On 1 March 2010 "I Believe", covered by Nikki Yanofsky, had sold over 90,000 digital units in Canada. The same version achieved #1 status on iTunes Canada and Billboard's Canadian Hot 100 in February 2010.
The Action Sandwich and Public Speaking
Alan Frew wrote The Action Sandwich: A Six Step Recipe for Success by Doing What You're Already Doing (ISBN 978-0-9736863-9-5), a 2007 autobiography with co-writer Sharon Brennan.
Acting career
Frew portrayed the character Ewan McCauley in the 2010 Canadian comedy film GravyTrain.[5][6][7]
Album discography
Solo
- Hold On (1994)
- Wonderland (2000)
- 80290 Rewind (2015)
Singles
- Healing Hands (1994) [#8 CAN]
- So Blind (1995) [#1 CAN][SOCAN AWARD]
With Glass Tiger
- The Thin Red Line (1986)
- Diamond Sun (1988)
- Simple Mission (1991)
- Air Time: The Best of Glass Tiger (1993)
- No Turning Back: 1995-2005 (2005)
- Glass Tiger: Live (2006) - online exclusive from band's official website
References
- ↑ IMDb database - accessed July 2008
- ↑ My Town - Toronto FC Version - accessed August 2010 on YouTube
- ↑ Alan Frew - Free To Be (Go Leafs Go) - accessed August 2010 on YouTube
- ↑ "Glass Tiger Singer Alan Frew Has Stroke". Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- ↑ Levack, Chandler (21 April 2010). "GravyTrain". Eye Weekly. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ↑ Stone, Jay (5 May 2010). Riding+gravy+train+life+Canadian+filmmaker+writing+directing+acting+handing+flyers+Feature/2990233/story.html "Riding the gravy train: the life of a Canadian filmmaker is writing, directing, acting - and handing out the flyers" Check
|url=
value (help). Canwest News Service. Retrieved 2010-07-18. - ↑ Griffen, John (7 May 2010). "Review: GravyTrain". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
External links
- Alan Frew official site, accessed 26 February 2010