Laurel Ward

Canadian singer, musician and songwriter born January 1, 1950 and died August 24, 2014 in Vancouver, B.C. (aged 64). Growing up at Delta Marsh in Manitoba (Portage Collegiate Institute high school), she first performed at age 16 on the nationally televised Oscar Brand show “Let’s Sing Out”. At 17 she travelled to Toronto where she joined the cast of the musical "Hair". She performed solo and as a duo with Gordon Lowe on the coffeehouse circuit in Toronto. Her connections with Bill Gilliland helped them get signed to his Yorkville Records where they released their sole LP (as a duo) “Prisms” in 1967. She connected with Sid Dolgay of folk group "The Travellers" as well as record producer Bill Gilliland of ARC Records. In 1969 as part of Doug Riley’s Dr. Music she recorded hits including “Sun Goes By” and “One More Mountain to Climb”. She married singer Terry Black in 1970 and together they recorded a number of singles at Sir George Martin’s Air Studios Ltd., including the hit “Going Down (On the Road to L.A.)”. She also lent her voice to other artists, singing background vocals for Anne Murray, Alice Cooper, Myles and Lenny, and Bob Seger. Raising two boys, sometimes on her own, she continued to write, record, and play good music. In 2009 she was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy. Soon after, her voice and her hands weakened, and the music stopped.