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| Divine Brown covers "Can’t Stop Loving You" while performing at "Can’t Stop Loving You: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Haydain Neale". THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese |
TORONTO - Prominent Canadian music stars and family members of Haydain Neale, the former frontman for Jacksoul, sang his praises at a benefit concert Monday night, remembering him as "a treasure."
Nelly Furtado, Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, k-os, and Chantal Kreviazuk were among the artists who performed in honour of Neale, who died Nov. 22 at the age of 39, after a seven-month battle with lung cancer.
He died shortly before the release of Jacksoul’s comeback album, "SOULmate," which his family said was a gift to fans for their loving support after he was seriously injured in a traffic accident in the summer of 2007.
"In the two years and four months (since the accident) my family has rode this emotional rollercoaster," his daughter Yasmin told the audience, and recalled a lasting memory the Neale family shared before he died.
"Battling every disbelieving doctor, every negative nurse, and pleading with some angels to keep my dad’s positive energy here, it was all worth it in that one moment," she said during an emotional address to the packed crowd at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre.
Neale’s wife, Michaela, said his songs were mostly about love and encouraged the audience to embrace the message in his music.
"Those of us who are fortunate enough to have been touched by Hayden’s music directly know that the subject he wrote most often was about love, in fact love was the guiding force in his daily life," she said.
"Hayden would love to see us all here gathered tonight, celebrating his life, listening to his music, loving each other all in one room, but he’d also like us to wake up tomorrow and remember to keep loving each other, no matter what life throws at us."
The concert was headlined by Furtado, who thanked Jacksoul for helping give her early career a boost, as she once opened for the band in the same venue back in 2000.
Cuddy performed the Blue Rodeo song "Try," which Jacksoul had covered.
The last time he got together with Neale was at a Blue Rodeo show in Vancouver, where Neale joined the band to sing the song, Cuddy said.
"He had an enthusiasm that - if you wanted to put a word to it - it was love. He was a guy who really wanted to transfer joy through music," Cuddy said.
He hoped the concert would give a little more exposure to Neale’s music, which got radio airplay and award recognition - including two Juno Awards and five nominations - but never quite elevated him to star status.
"People should be aware of what a talent he was," Cuddy said.
"The man can sing and that’s a much rarer gift than you think. Somebody with the spirit and the rhythm and the vocal chops to actually do what he did - Canada doesn’t produce those all the time, he was a treasure."
Another performer at the concert, Keshia Chante, broke down when talking about Neale’s legacy.
"He broke the barriers, he wasn’t just an R&B artist, he was soul, he had funk, he had rock, he had reggae, he had everything," she said.
"He stuck to his artistic vision and his soul and his heart."
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