Born 81 Years Ago Today in Nova Scotia, the First Canadian Solo Female Artist To Reach No. 1 in the US

On June 20, 1945, Morna Anne Murray was born in the rural coal mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada. Today she celebrates her 81st birthday with four Grammys, three CMA Awards, and more than 55 million records sold under her belt. Without Murray’s love for music, we may never have witnessed the likes of Canadian songstresses Shania Twain and Celine Dion on U.S. soil. Today, we’re celebrating the life and legacy of Canada’s songbird.

Anne Murray Grew Up Singing

Nursing a passion for music from a young age, Anne Murray was reared on traditional artists like Bing Crosby, Pat Boone, Perry Como, and Rosemary Clooney. By age 15, she was taking the bus from Springhill to Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, for singing lessons.

She also studied piano for six years. And in 1962, Murray sang “Ave Maria” at her high school graduation.

After high school, Murray studied physical education at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. Upon earning her degree in 1966, she taught high school physical education in Prince Edward Island. That lasted all of a year before Murray landed a role on the CBC musical variety show Singalong Jubilee.

Taking the advice of the show’s musical director, Brian Ahern, Murray moved to Toronto and recorded her debut album, What About Me. Produced by Ahern and released in 1968, the record’s title track brought Murray’s first taste of radio success in her home country.

Arriving on U.S. Soil

Switching to Capitol Records, she followed up with 1969’s This Way Is My Way. The album’s lead single, “Snowbird”, surprised everyone by rocketing to the top of the U.S. adult contemporary chart.

It also reached the top 10 on the country and pop singles chart, becoming the first gold-certified single ever by a Canadian solo female artist

“Well, it changed my life. It was so exciting,” Anne Murray recalled of “Songbird” in a 2022 interview. “I can still remember watching the charts and, all of a sudden, it was No. 45 with a bullet. “And here I was in Nova Scotia, for heaven’s sake, so far removed from anything show business. And there it was, climbing up the charts…  I didn’t know what hit me.”

[RELATED: Anne Murray Looks Back on Her Historic 40 Years as One of Music’s Most Legendary Artists]

And it didn’t stop there. The next decade brought even more U.S. chart hits, including 1978’s “You Needed Me”. Reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100, “You Needed Me” won Murray a Grammy Award for best female pop vocal performance. She was the first Canadian artist to ever take home that trophy.

Despite retiring from music in 2008, Murray delighted fans with Here You Are, an album of previously unreleased tracks, in 2025.

Featured image by Watal Asanuma/Shinko Music/Getty Images

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