Hearts are heavy today in Cape Breton and beyond with the passing of Cape Breton’s first lady of song, Rita MacNeil. Rita died last evening (April 16^th, 2013) from complications following surgery, at the age of 68.

Her music is ingrained in our hearts and our traditions here on Cape Breton Island. Never does a Christmas go by without our family sitting down to enjoy Rita’s Christmas television special. I’ll forever remember dancing and singing to Rita’s songs with my nieces and nephews in the kitchen of my parents’ home. I will always think of Rita with her bare feet and hat, standing on the stage singing with a power to her voice that sends chills down your spine. Then quickly shifting to a light melodic tone that makes you close your eyes and savour the sweet, soothing sound.

Rita, I’ll have a little tea and a gab this summer at the Tea Room. Godspeed.

Rita MacNeil
Born in Big Pond, Cape Breton on May 28^th, 1944 to Neil and Catherine (Rene) MacNeil, Rita was one of eight children. It wasn’t an easy life, as depicted in her autobiography “On A Personal Note”(released in 1998), but with determination and a passion for writing songs and singing, Rita pushed beyond a profound shyness and found her way to a stage at Expo 86 in Vancouver. It was here that the world discovered Rita MacNeil.

In 1987 she won her first Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist. She was 42. “Flying on Your Own” followed in 1987 and in 1989, her Juno performance with Cape Breton’s Men of the Deeps of “Working Man”, brought the house down.

“Working Man”, “Flying on Your Own”, Reason to Believe”, “I’ll Accept The Rose Tonight” and “Home I’ll Be”, are just a few of the songs that endeared Rita to fans in Canada, the U.K and Australia. Over the course of her career, Rita recorded more than 24 albums which sold in the millions. She won 3 Juno’s, as well as numerous East Coast Music Awards, Country Music Awards, and a Gemini for her CBC variety show 'Rita & Friends' that ran from 1994 to 1997. She was a Member of the Order of Canada, was awarded the Order of Nova Scotia and is the recipient of five honorary doctorates. In 1986 she opened up Rita’s Tea Room in her hometown of Big Pond, which in the past few years enjoyed frequent visits from Rita herself.

A mother to Laura (Dana) and Wade (Lori), a grandmother, a dear friend, and a sister, Rita was a Canadian icon – a woman who had a dream that became a reality - who brought joy and inspiration to so many.