Larry LeBlanc
Larry LeBlanc was the recipient of the 2013 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award, recognizing individuals who have made an impact on the Canadian music industry.
Legendary BBC 2's Bob Harris has described the veteran journalist/broadcaster/archivist as, "the glue that holds the Canadian music industry together."
While Larry has been an influential figure in Canadian music for nearly five decades, he is also recognized as one of the leading music industry journalists in the world.
Canadian bureau chief of Billboard magazine from 1991-2007, Larry was also the Canadian editor of its late competitor Record World, 1970-1980. As well, he was co-founder of the late Canadian music trade, The Record 1981-1991.
He is currently senior writer of the weekly U.S. entertainment trade CelebrityAccess overseeing the influential profile series, "In The Hot Seat". As well, he is an on-going consultant to the National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta.
Larry has acted as a consultant for The Canadian Competition Bureau, The Canadian Private Copying Collective, The Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Metrolyrics, Heritage Canada, Musicians' Rights Organization Canada, Astral, CHUM Ltd., and the Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada.
Larry has had his own music program on Toronto radio stations Q107, CKFM, and CJCL, and has worked extensively at CBC Radio, including being the music producer for "Morningside" and "Dayshift" programs. He was a regular music commentator on "Canada A.M" for 35 years, and has been featured on numerous CBC-TV, CTV, YTV, MuchMusic, and Newsworld programs in Canada as well as VH-1, and E Entertainment in the U.S.; and BBC in the U.K.
His byline has appeared in over a thousand publications including Rolling Stone, Guitar Player, the Globe & Mail, and Maclean's. He has been extensively quoted on music issues in hundreds of publications including Time, Forbes, The Times (London) and the New York Times.
Larry was the associate producer of the 1996 four-CD box set Oh What A Feeling, and co-executive producer of its follow-up Oh What A Feeling 2 in 2001. The two comprehensive retrospectives of Canadian music raised $6 million for Canadian charities.
He is co-author of the 2010 book Music From Far And Wide: Celebrating 40 Years Of The Juno Awards. He is a board member of the Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, Ontario.
11 articles
List of articles in the library
Report by Larry LeBlanc, Hit Parader, February 1968
CANADA'S POP music industry is still in the planning stages, in comparison with the U.S. recording market. It is small and disorganized. When 'Shakin' All ...
The Band, Ronnie Hawkins: Ronnie Hawkins: Preaching Rock-A-Billy
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Hit Parader, December 1969
LIFE ON Yonge St. in Toronto, is a crackerjack maze of flickering neon lights, honking car horns and fast people. ...
Joni Mitchell: Joni Takes a Break
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Rolling Stone, 4 March 1971
CANADIANS are stunned by the vague, awesome level that Joni Mitchell has reached. She was the least-known of the Toronto group of folksingers of the ...
R. Dean Taylor: An Insider's View Of Motown
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Hit Parader, July 1972
MOTOWN IN the Sixties. The image, if we can narrow it down to one, was slickly packaged blackness. It was Holland-Dozier-Holland producing bump-and-grind jukebox hits. ...
Justin Bieber, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, Asher Roth: Industry Profile: Scooter Braun
Profile and Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 13 December 2010
This week In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Scooter Braun, founder, SB Projects ...
Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick: Industry Profile: Hal David
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 26 July 2011
HAL DAVID'S NAME should be a lyric. This prolific American lyricist who turned 90 on May 25, 2011, is chairman emeritus of the Songwriters Hall ...
Salaam Remi, Amy Winehouse: Industry Profile: Salaam Remi
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 8 January 2014
This week In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Salaam Remi, composer, producer, musician and label executive. ...
Brian Eno: In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Brian Eno, musician, artist, producer, thinker
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, July 2018
IT IS APPARENT that there's no measure in contemporary culture to absolutely gauge Brian Eno. His staggering command of several creative disciplines places him alongside ...
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 30 August 2018
YOU ARE GOING to have to wait for a film to make much sense of Toby Mamis' fabulously winding career. ...
The Beatles: Interview: Cousin Brucie Morrow
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 6 February 2020
IT'S THE PERFECT American fantasy of the '60s. Riding in a Mustang down a rural stretch of highway to the strains of the car radio ...
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 29 March 2021
This week In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Desmond Child, songwriter and producer. ...
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