Remembering Streetheart’s Kenny Shields
Kenny Shields, the brash lead singer of Canadian rock band Streetheart who swaggered across the country’s stages for decades, died of heart failure on Friday. He was 69.
The Juno-winning artist was part of the homegrown brand of guitar-driven hits that became rock radio staples throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Action, Hollywood, Look in Your Eyes, What Kind of Love Is This, and a cover of the Rolling Stones classic Under My Thumb.
Guitarist Jeff Neill said Shields died Friday at St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg after multiple heart problems.
“Everyone who knew Kenny, who’s seen him play, would agree with me that Kenny Shields is one of the greatest singer frontmen that rock ’n’ roll has ever produced,” Neill said.
“He’s always been a friend to me, he’s been a friend to so many people. He’s a very honest individual. He was a deep-feeling person. He was there for you when things were down. He demanded things out of you, he demanded your best and I think that that’s a great thing and he demanded the best out of himself as well.”
Shields was born and raised in the small farming community of Nokomis, Sask. and was forever a “very proud Saskatchewan boy,” Neill said.
His knack for playing music started taking shape around the time he enrolled in an amateur talent show at six years old. He moved to Saskatoon to attend university, where he joined local band Witness Incorporated.
Shields travelled across Canada with the band, touring with legendary acts including Roy Orbison and Cream, but his career was sidetracked in 1970 following a car accident that left him critically injured.
After the dissolution of his first band, Shields moved to Winnipeg in 1975 to return his focus to music. He teamed up with another group from his home province, and in the years that followed, they would shuffle band members to eventually become Streetheart.
The band recorded six studio albums and a double-disc live album, which garnered several achievements, including six gold records, four platinum albums and a gold single. They’d also tour with AC/ DC, Styx and Max Webster and were considered one of the bestselling rock bands to emerge from Western Canada in the 1970s.
“Kenny Shields never received the recognition that he deserved for his talent, for his ability to engage his fans. He had a unique voice that was unmistakable. He always had the best players around him,” Neill said.
His bandmate stood among the best in the business for his ability to command a stage and surprise the audience with theatrics, he added.
“If there was something to be climbed up — put a mic in his back pocket and climb up some scaffolding — he was more than willing to do that,” he said. “That bit of excitement, that bit of the unknown, was always a part of who he was.”
Streetheart was an early pioneer of music video experimentation in Canada. It brought home a Juno Award for most promising group of the year in 1980 and was inducted into the Western Canadian Music Association Hall of Fame in 2003.
“I never really ever aspired to be in anything like this,” Shields said during the ceremony. “I never would have planned it.”
Despite some heart problems in the past, Shields continued to perform until earlier this year when illness forced him to back out of a 40th anniversary tour.
Earlier this month, he became confused and disoriented during a Canada Day concert in Sherwood Park, Alta. The band quickly scrapped its tour with an announcement on Facebook.
Streetheart planned to play a farewell concert at the Winnipeg Classic RockFest next month as a tribute to Shields, with friends substituting for the singer. Organizers say their performance will still move forward on Aug. 29 as scheduled.
Shields is survived by his wife and daughter.