January 12, 2000
Publication title: Canadian Press NewsWire, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Toronto
Writer: Unknown
Sarah McLachlan appointed to Order of Canada
TORONTO (CP) – After the initial shock wore off, Sarah McLachlan felt somewhat humbled to learn she had been named to the Order of Canada.
“It’s very flattering, I’ve got to say,” McLachlan said Wednesday in a telphone interview from Vancouver. “What an incredible honour.”
The Juno and Grammy Award-winning singer was among 81 Order of Canada appointees announced this week, a list that included newspaper columnist Jeffrey Simpson and fellow entertainers actor/singer Tom Jackson and St. Catharines, Ont., “polka king” Walter Ostanek.
“I do feel overawed, and a bit young to receive it, because just a couple of years ago Joni Mitchell got it, and Neil Young,” said McLachlan, who rose to fame over the last three years as the founder of the internationally successful all-female Lilith Fair Tour.
“You think: these are people who have been doing it 30 years plus and they’ve made a huge contribution to the music industry.”
The announcement came just weeks before the singer’s 32nd birthday Jan. 28, and a month after she won a courtroom battle against Darryl Neudorf, a record producer who tried to claim cash and credit for work on four songs on the pop singer’s 1988 debut album Touch.
McLachlan said she has always felt proud to represent Canada on her tours around the world.
“Any time I get an award in Canada it almost means more to me than anything else,” she said.
“It may sound corny, but for me I feel really proud that I got recognized here first. It doesn’t always happen that way. Especially when I started out, a lot of Canadian artists had to go to the States to get recognized.
“I’ve been all over the world and I’ve seen a lot of countries and this is kind of it for me.”
Companions, officers and members are to receive their honours from Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson at an investiture in Rideau Hall. No date has been set for the ceremony, but the appointments were effective Oct. 21.
