Shane Yellowbird (July 7, 1979April 25, 2022) was a Canadian

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer-songwriter from

Hobbema, Alberta Maskwacis (; cr, ᒪᐢᑿᒌᐢ, ), renamed in 2014 from Hobbema (), is an unincorporated community in central Alberta, Canada at intersection of Alberta Highway 2A, Highway 2A and Alberta Highway 611, Highway 611, approximately south of the C ...

. A

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

, in 2007, he was named the Aboriginal Entertainer of the Year at the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards, Chevy Trucks' Rising Star of the Year at the

Canadian Country Music Awards The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3rd, 1973 when a gr ...

and his song "Pickup Truck" was one of the year's ten most played country songs.

Early life

Yellowbird was born in

, on 7 July 1979. He attended Ponoka Composite High School. He first began singing while in

speech therapy Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...

to treat his severe

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

Career

Yellowbird was signed by O'Reilly International in 2003. Three years later, he released his debut album titled ''Life Is Calling My Name''. The album includes the singles "Beautiful Concept," "They're All About You," "Pickup Truck" and "I Remember the Music." In November 2006, Yellowbird won three awards at the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards ceremony, including Best New Artist, Single of the Year ("Beautiful Concept") and Best Video ("Beautiful Concept"). Yellowbird opened for

Emerson Drive Emerson Drive is a Canadian country music band consisting of Brad Mates (lead vocals), Danick Dupelle (guitars, backing vocals), Mike Melancon (drums), and Dale Wallace (keyboards, backing vocals). The band was founded in 1995 as 12 Gauge, which ...

on their cross-Canada tour, and was chosen to represent his native Canada by performing at the Fourth Annual Global Artist Party at the

CMA Music Festival The CMA Music Festival is a four-day music festival centered on country music, hosted each June by the Country Music Association (CMA) in Nashville, Tennessee. Beginning in 1972 under the name Fan Fair, the event now draws over 400 artists and c ...

in June 2007. Yellowbird was named the Chevy Trucks Rising Star of the Year at the 2007

. "Pickup Truck," Yellowbird's third single, also became his first Top 5 song on the Canadian Country Singles chart in the summer of 2007. The song also peaked at No. 64 on the all-genre

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

, while the video topped the CMT Chevy Top 20 in July. It was one of the ten most played country music songs of the year in Canada. Yellowbird opened the 2007 Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards, starring with

Lorne Cardinal Lorne Cardinal (born 6 January 1964) is a Canadian stage, television and film actor, best known for portraying Davis Quinton on ''Corner Gas''. He is a former rugby union player. Early life Cardinal was born on a reserve of the Sucker Creek ...

and

Gabrielle Miller Gabrielle Sunshine Miller (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress who, since the start of her career in 1993, has appeared in many television films and series episodes, including leading roles in two of Canada's most popular concurrently-r ...

of ''

Corner Gas ''Corner Gas'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Re-runs still air on CTV, CTV2, CTV Comedy Channel, Much, MTV, E! and are streaming on Crave and Amazon Prime. The serie ...

''. Later that evening, he was named the Aboriginal Entertainer of the Year. He also won awards for Best Country CD (''Life Is Calling My Name'') and Best Music Video ("Pickup Truck"). Yellowbird later won three trophies at the 2007 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, including Best Male Artist, Best Country Album and Best Album of the Year (''Life Is Calling My Name''). He was also nominated for the 2008

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for Country Recording of the Year, for ''Life Is Calling My Name''. Yellowbird's second album, ''It's About Time'' was released on November 17, 2009, featuring the single, "Bare Feet on the Blacktop". In the United States, the video received a nomination from the Native American Music Association. Yellowbird won two Native American Music Awards for Best Country Recording for "Life Is Calling My Name" in 2011 and won Best Country Recording for "It's About Time" in 2012.

Personal life

At the time of his death, Yellowbird was in a

domestic partnership A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...

with fiancée Sarah Garrow. The couple announced their engagement hours before his death was announced. He had four children. He suffered from

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

and had occasional

seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...

s. Yellowbird died on April 25, 2022, in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. He was 42 years old.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yellowbird, Shane 1979 births 2022 deaths Canadian Country Music Association Rising Star Award winners Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Cree people First Nations musicians Musicians from Alberta People from Ponoka County 21st-century Canadian male singers 306 Records artists People with epilepsy