Sam Roberts (born October 2, 1974) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has released seven albums. His debut EP '' The Inhuman Condition'', reached the Canadian charts in 2002. He and his bandmates have released three albums as Sam Roberts and four albums as Sam Roberts Band. He is also a member of Canadian supergroup Anyway Gang, who released their debut self-titled album in 2019. Roberts has been nominated, together with his band, for fifteen

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 o ...

s, winning six, including Artist of the Year twice (2004 and 2009) and

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

once (2004).

Early life and Northstar

Born in Westmount, to South African immigrants who had arrived in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

three weeks earlier, Roberts grew up on Cedar Avenue in

Pointe-Claire Pointe-Claire (, ) is a Quebec local municipality within the Urban agglomeration of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in Canada. It is entirely developed, and land use includes residential, light manufacturing, and retail. As of the 2021 c ...

, where his family moved to when he was five years old. Roberts is an alumnus of

St. Edmund Elementary School Beaconsfield is a suburb on the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the Greater Montreal region locally referred to as the West Island. It is a prestigious residential community located on the north shore of Lac Saint-Louis, bordered on ...

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

, Loyola High School, N.D.G. and

John Abbott College John Abbott College (French: ''Collège John Abbott)'' is an English-language public college located in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada, near the western tip of the Island of Montreal. John Abbott College is one of eight English public ...

Ste. Anne de Bellevue Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue () is an on-island suburb located at the western tip of the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is the second oldest community in Montreal's West Island, having been founded as a parish in 1703. The ol ...

and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. He holds a BA in English from McGill University, graduating in 1998. Roberts' first band was William in 1993, that changed into Northstar in 1998. As William they put out a single, "Piranha EP" on Northern Assembly Records in 1996, while as Northstar they released a self-titled independent EP in 1998, but broke up in 1999.

As "Sam Roberts" (2002–2010)

After disbanding Northstar, Roberts recorded a twelve track demo, "Brother Down", which formed the basis for the EP, '' The Inhuman Condition'' released in 2002. Recorded with Jordon Zadorozny, Roberts "recorded a song a day". Roberts signed with artist manager Dave Spencer and began to perform live. With the assistance of Linda Bush at Universal Music Publishing Canada, he signed a publishing contract with UMPG and a record contract with

MapleMusic Recordings Cadence Recordings, formerly MapleMusic, is a Canadian independent record label founded by Andy Maize, Jeff Maize, Mike Alkier, Evan Hu, Lorique Mindel and Grant Dexter in 1999 and based in Toronto, Ontario. Other investors include Gary Slaight ...

. MapleMusic released the six track EP culled from the demo with Roberts noting that "it is not something I had intended to be my first real foray into the music world but I couldn't turn my back on such a chance". It included two breakthrough singles, "

Brother Down "Brother Down" is the debut single by Canadian musician Sam Roberts. It was first featured on Roberts' demo recording ''Brother Down,'' and selected for his 2002 EP '' The Inhuman Condition''. The song reached No. 3 on Canada's Nielsen rock airp ...

" (released in mid-2002) and "Don't Walk Away Eileen" (released in late 2002) which were heavily promoted in the Canadian market. In August 2002, Roberts signed with

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. In November 2002, Roberts won the CASBY Award for "Favourite New Artist". In 2003, he released his major label debut album, ''

We Were Born in a Flame ''We Were Born in a Flame'' is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian rock musician and singer/songwriter Sam Roberts. A re-recorded version of "Where Have All the Good People Gone?" was released as the album's first single in Canada and ...

'', with the singles "

Where Have All the Good People Gone? "Where Have All the Good People Gone?" is a song by Sam Roberts. The song was originally released in 2002 on Roberts' EP ''The Inhuman Condition''. The song was re-recorded and released as the lead single from his major label debut album, ''We We ...

" and "Hard Road" garnering success in the Canadian market. The album achieved double platinum sales status in Canada and won two

s in 2004:

and Rock Album of the Year, with Roberts winning the

Juno award for Artist of the Year The Juno Award for Artist of the Year is an annual award presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to the best individual musician in Canada. The five nominees in the category are decided through a combination of sale ...

Roberts’ second album, ''

Chemical City ''Chemical City'' is the second studio album by Canadian musician Sam Roberts, released in Canada on April 11, 2006, and in the United States on May 16, 2006. The album debuted at number three on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 10,000 units in ...

'', was released in April 2006, with the first single "The Gate" topping as a No. 1 hit on Canadian radio. The second single, " Bridge to Nowhere", won the

for Video of the Year in 2007 and the album achieved platinum sales status. Roberts' third album, '' Love at the End of the World'', released in May 2008, debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian album chart, a first for Roberts. The lead single, " Them Kids", debuted on iTunes on March 4, 2008. Roberts again won the

and the album took home Rock Album of the Year and reached gold sales status.

As Sam Roberts Band (2011–present)

Roberts released his fourth studio album, ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

'', on May 10, 2011. It is the first album under the moniker "Sam Roberts Band" instead of "Sam Roberts". The first single, "

I Feel You "I Feel You" is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 15 February 1993 as their 27th UK single and the first single from their eighth studio album, ''Songs of Faith and Devotion'' (1993). The song peaked at number ei ...

" was officially released to Canadian radio on February 28, with an iTunes Canada release of March 8. On November 20, 2013, Roberts announced the release of next album, ''

Lo-Fantasy ''Lo-Fantasy'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock musician Sam Roberts, and the second released as "Sam Roberts Band". The album debuted at number 3 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 5,800 copies during its first week. The album was n ...

'', which was released by

Paper Bag Records Paper Bag Records is a Canadian independent record label, artist-management company, and music publisher founded in 2002 and based in Toronto. History The label was created to focus on the Toronto-area indie rock music scene. Initial signings w ...

on February 11, 2014. Sam Roberts' Band released the ''Counting the Days'' EP on April 18, 2015. In 2015, the band collaborated with Toronto's Spearhead Brewery to release the "Sam Roberts Band Session Ale". Their sixth studio album, ''Terraform'', was released October 28, 2016. On September 12, 2016, a North-American tour was announced to promote their new album. ''Terraform'' was later nominated for a 2017 Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year, losing to The Tragically Hip's '' Man Machine Poem''. The band's seventh studio album, ''All of Us'', was released worldwide on October 16, 2020 on Secret Weapon / Known Accomplice.

Sam Roberts Band members

The members of Sam Roberts Band as of 2020 are: * Sam Roberts (lead vocals, guitar) * Dave Nugent (lead guitar) * Eric Fares (keyboard, guitar) * James Hall (bass) * Josh Trager (drums) Past Members: * Corey Zadorozny (drums) *

Chet Doxas Chet Doxas is a saxophonist, clarinetist and composer based in Brooklyn, NY. His work has been nominated for numerous Juno, Grammy and Academy Awards. Doxas has released a number of albums as a leader and has received accolades for his work as a per ...

(tenor saxophone)

Discography

As Sam Roberts

*''

'' (2003) *''

'' (2006) *'' Love at the End of the World'' (2008)

As Sam Roberts Band

*''

'' (2011) *''

'' (2014) *''TerraForm'' (2016) *''All of Us'' (2020)

With Anyway Gang

*''Anyway Gang'' (2019)

Awards and nominations

Juno Awards

The

Juno Awards 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 o ...

is a Canadian awards ceremony presented annually by the

Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) is a non-profit organization responsible for promoting Canadian music and artists. It administers the Juno Awards, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the MusiCounts music education cha ...

. , - , rowspan="2", 2003 , , rowspan="2", "

" , , Single of the Year , , , - , New Artist of the Year , , , - , rowspan="3", 2004 , , rowspan="3", ''

'' , ,

, , , - , Rock Album of the Year , , , - , Artist of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2", 2007 , , " Bridge to Nowhere" , , Video of the Year , , , - , ''

'' , , Rock Album of the Year , , , - , rowspan="3", 2009 , , rowspan="2", '' Love at the End of the World'' , , Artist of the Year , , , - , Rock Album of the Year , , , - , " Detroit '67" , , Video of the Year , , , - , rowspan="3", 2012 , , rowspan="2", " Them Kids" , , Video of the Year , , , - , Group of the Year , , , - , ''

'' , , Rock Album of the Year , , , - , 2017 , , ''TerraForm'' , , Rock Album of the Year , , , - , 2021, , ''All Of Us'' , , Rock Album of the Year , ,

MuchMusic Video Awards

The

MuchMusic Video Awards The iHeartRadio MMVAs were an annual awards show broadcast on Much to honour the year's best music videos that was last held in 2018. Originally debuting in 1990 as the Canadian Music Video Awards, the awards were renamed in 1995 to the MuchMus ...

was an annual awards ceremony presented by the Canadian music video channel

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

. Roberts has received five awards from fourteen nominations. , - , rowspan="4", 2003 , , rowspan="3", "Brother Down" , , Best VideoFACT , , , - , Best Pop Video , , , - , Best Independent Video , , , - , Sam Roberts , , People's Choice – Favourite Canadian Artist , , , - , rowspan="6", 2004 , , rowspan="6", "Hard Road" , , Best Director , , , - , Best Cinematography , , , - , Best Post-Production , , , - , Best Video , , , - , Best Pop Video , , , - , People's Choice – Favourite Canadian Artist , , , - , rowspan="2", 2006 , , rowspan="2", "The Gate" , , Best MuchMoreMusic Award , , , - , People's Choice – Favourite Canadian Artist , , , - , rowspan="2", 2008 , , rowspan="2", " Them Kids" , , Best Director , , , - , Best Post-Production , ,

Notable performances

*July 30, 2003: Opening performer at Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto, otherwise referred to as SARStock, promoted to mitigate the economic downturn in Toronto following a limited outbreak of

severe acute respiratory syndrome Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, '' se ...

(SARS). *June 12, 2003:

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

's (NHL) NHL Awards ceremony main performer *November 16, 2003:

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

's (CFL) 91st

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

halftime show in Regina, Saskatchewan. *July 2, 2005:

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...

concert in Barrie, Ontario. *January 1, 2008: AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic, outdoor ice hockey game in Buffalo, New York. *August 2, 2008: Opened for

The Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because o ...

, New Brunswick *March 29, 2009: Performed at the 2009 Juno Awards *July 18,19 2009: Performed at Folk on the Rocks, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. *August 7, 2009: Performed a free concert at Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, in honour of

Sidney Crosby Sidney Patrick Crosby (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed "The Next One", he was selected first o ...

and his Stanley Cup win. *February 20, 2010: Performed at 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. *December 31, 2010: Performed free concert in

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it the ...

, Ontario for New Year's Eve celebrations. *June 25, 2011: Performed at Bobcaygeon Musicfest in Bobcaygeon. *July 1, 2011: Performed a free concert in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

on Canada Day for

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was edu ...

, and his wife

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

. *December 31, 2013: Performed at

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

' New Year's concert alongside Serena Ryder and

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

References

External links

Sam Roberts Band
*
Sam Roberts Band collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Sam 1974 births Anglophone Quebec people Canadian rock singers Canadian singer-songwriters Singers from Montreal Juno Award for Artist of the Year winners Living people McGill University alumni Canadian people of South African descent People from Westmount, Quebec Musicians from Quebec MapleMusic Recordings artists Juno Award for Album of the Year winners Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year winners 21st-century Canadian male singers Canadian male singer-songwriters