Illustration by Alex MacAskill
2026 culture lookahead | | | | Classical and Opera |
The Reunion
Though impending reunions by Canadian guitar-rock icons Triumph and the hit-making Guess Who will sell tickets like mad, the return of progressive rock legends Rush has excited the music press more.
The musically meticulous band recruited Germany’s Anika Nilles to handle the tricky time signatures of the trio’s late drummer Neil Peart. She joins co-founders Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson for the Working Man band’s first tour in 11 years, beginning June 7 in Inglewood, Calif., and finishing at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on Dec. 17.
Jenn Grant’s Cradled by the Waves tour starts in March and will feature music, film, theatre and dance.Deedee Morris/Supplied
Multimedia
The lead single from the Nova Scotia-based Jenn Grant‘s forthcoming Queen of the Strait is titled Jim Cuddy Dress – a nod to the outfit her mother wore to the 2012 Juno Awards. At the event, the smoke-and-velvet-voiced singer-songwriter introduced her mom to the Blue Rodeo front man. The dress had been chosen not only for its colour and fabric but because it also helped conceal stomach swelling caused by metastatic breast cancer. She died three weeks later and was laid to rest in the same garment. Grant’s national tour, dubbed Cradled by the Waves, which will employ music, film, theatre and dance, kicks off in Vancouver on March 7.
Miranda Mulholland’s Letters to the Future concerts start in Glasgow.Jen Squires/Supplied
Like Grant’s ambitious live show, Miranda Mulholland’s multimedia Letters to the Future production received support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund. The 75-minute interactive show from the singer/fiddler features new songs written by Aysanabee, Catherine MacLellan and others, as well as original letters penned by such luminaries as David Suzuki, Robert Macfarlane and Peggy Seeger. Concerts in Glasgow (Jan. 31) and London (Feb. 7) precede an eventual Canadian premiere.
Jazz
Diana Krall spells romantic passion the same way German bandleader Bert Kaempfert did, which is L-O-V-E. That swing classic and other standards are a big part of the repertoire of the star from Nanaimo, B.C., whose spins on traditional material are silky and elegant. The two-time Grammy winner turns up the quiet on a nine-date tour in April of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
Bucket-list venues
Bruce Cockburn will perform at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara in February.Daniel Keebler/Supplied
For many music aficionados, the venue is almost as important as the artist on stage. So, while most Bruce Cockburn fans will be more than satisfied to see the veteran guitar star and adroit songwriter perform on Feb. 20 at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ont., the more adventurous types may venture to Phoenix (Musical Instrument Museum, Feb. 27 and 28) or Santa Monica, Calif. (McCabe’s Guitar Shop, April 10, 11 and 12).
Likewise, why not burn frequent-flyer points to catch Kathleen Edwards at legendary West Hollywood club the Troubadour on Feb. 17 and 18? The Canadian singer-songwriter’s latest album, Billionaire, was co-produced by Americana star Jason Isbell and Grammy-winning engineer Gena Johnson.
Multigenerational
When filmmaker and Indigenous rights activist Alanis Obomsawin released her only album, 1988’s Bush Lady, Tobique First Nation member Jeremy Dutcher was two years away from being born. On Jan. 28, the two-time Polaris Music Prize winner from New Brunswick joins the 93-year-old Obomsawin for a concert at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts connected to the exhibition Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors.
Jeremy Dutcher speaks after winning the Polaris Music Prize at Massey Hall in Toronto on Sept. 17, 2024.Paige Taylor White/The Canadian Press
Hip hop
When Doja Cat opened her Ma Vie World Tour in November in New Zealand, a few fans criticized the show online for its lack of razzle-dazzle. The U.S. singer/rapper responded in kind: “I make music for people who enjoy music. I’m not a Broadway act.” If not a theatre performer, the feisty Paint the Town Red star is not without drama. In support of her 2025 album, Vie, she plays arenas in Vancouver (Oct. 13), Toronto (Nov. 25) and Montreal (Nov. 27).
Doja Cat performs for OutKast's induction during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Los Angeles, Nov. 8, 2025.Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Multigenre
Anyone who hasn’t already snapped up tickets for Rosalía’s tour will likely be out of LUX − as in the name of the art-pop auteur’s latest critically acclaimed album. The recording from the Spanish visionary features the London Symphony Orchestra – and because promoter Live Nation promises the tour will bring the album “to life,” perhaps Toronto Symphony Orchestra members should keep June 13 open. That’s the lone Canadian date, at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
While Joe Jackson’s debut album Look Sharp! and hit single Is She Really Going Out with Him? made the Englishman an overnight star in 1979, the music suggested a stylistic excitability that could sustain a career. Judging by his 2023 conceptual music-hall album What a Racket!, Jackson’s exclamative ways are still intact. He steps out in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in May.