The Most Famous

SINGERS from Canada

This page contains a list of the greatest Canadian Singers. The pantheon dataset contains 4,381 Singers, 77 of which were born in Canada. This makes Canada the birth place of the 12th most number of Singers behind Russia, and India.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Canadian Singers of all time. This list of famous Canadian Singers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Canadian Singers.

1. Celine Dion (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 76.43, Celine Dion is the most famous Canadian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 139 different languages on wikipedia.

Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Queen of Power Ballads"; her powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had a significant impact on popular music. With over 200 million records sold worldwide, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, the best-selling French-language artist, and one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. Born into a large family in Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion was discovered by her future manager and husband, René Angélil, and emerged as a teen star in her home country with a series of French-language albums during the 1980s. She gained international recognition by winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, where she represented Switzerland with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Dion went on to release twelve English-language albums. The Colour of My Love (1993), Falling into You (1996), Let's Talk About Love (1997), and All the Way... A Decade of Song (1999) all rank among the best-selling albums of all time. Her catalog of high-charting tracks includes "Beauty and the Beast", "The Power of Love", "Think Twice", "To Love You More", "Because You Loved Me", "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "All by Myself", "I'm Your Angel", "That's the Way It Is", "I'm Alive", and "My Heart Will Go On" – the theme for the 1997 film Titanic, which is the second best-selling single by a woman in history. Dion continued releasing French-language albums between each English record, with D'eux (1995) becoming the best-selling French-language album of all time. During the 2000s, she built her reputation as a successful live performer with A New Day... on the Las Vegas Strip (2003–2007), the highest-grossing concert residency of all time, and the Taking Chances World Tour (2008–2009), one of the highest-grossing concert tours of the 2000s. Los Angeles Times named her the top-earning artist of the decade, with combined album sales and concert revenue exceeding $747 million. In 2022, Dion canceled her tour due to a diagnosis with stiff-person syndrome. Dion's accolades include 5 Grammy Awards, 20 Juno Awards and a recognition from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for selling over 50 million albums in Europe. Seven of her albums have sold at least 10 million copies worldwide, the second most among women in history. She was ranked among the greatest women in music by VH1 and the greatest voices in music by MTV. Dion is one of the highest-grossing touring artists in history and the second woman to accumulate US$1 billion in concert revenue. One of the wealthiest musicians in the world, Forbes ranked her the highest-paid female musician of 1997, 1998, 2004, and 2006. She received honorary doctorates in music from the Berklee College of Music and the Université Laval. In 2013, she was elevated to the Companion of the Order of Canada.

2. Bryan Adams (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 71.02, Bryan Adams is the 2nd most famous Canadian Singer. His biography has been translated into 79 different languages.

Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million records and singles worldwide, placing him on the list of best-selling music artists. Adams was the most played artist on Canadian radio in the 2010s and has had 25 top-15 singles in Canada and over a dozen in the US, UK, and Australia. Adams released his eponymous debut album when he was 20 years of age. He rose to fame in North America with the 1983 top ten album Cuts Like a Knife; the album featured its title track and the ballad "Straight from the Heart", which became his first US top-ten hit. His 1984 Canadian and US number one album, Reckless became the first album by a Canadian to be certified diamond in Canada and made Adams a global star; the album's six charting singles included "Run to You" and "Summer of '69", both top ten hits in the US and Canada, and the power ballad "Heaven", a US number one hit. His 1987 album Into the Fire, with its US and Canadian top ten song, "Heat of the Night", rose to number two in Canada and the top ten in the US. In 1991, Adams released "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", which reached number one in at least 19 countries. The single was number one for 16 straight weeks in the UK; it is one of the best-selling singles of all time, having sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. The song was included on Adams' Waking Up the Neighbours (1991), a worldwide number one album that sold 16 million copies and was certified diamond in Canada. Another major hit off the album was the Canadian number one and US number two hit "Can't Stop This Thing We Started". Beginning in 1993, Adams' hits were mostly ballads, including the worldwide number one or two hits "Please Forgive Me" (1993); "All for Love" (1993); and "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" (1995), the latter two topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Adams was ranked 48th on the list of all-time top artists on the Billboard Hot 100. Adams had won 20 Juno Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media amongst 16 Grammy nominations. He has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards and three Academy Awards for his songwriting for films. Adams has been inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Canada's Walk of Fame, the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. On May 1, 2010, Adams received the Governor General's Awards in Performing Arts – Lifetime Artistic Achievement for his 30 years of contributions to the arts.

3. Paul Anka (b. 1941)

With an HPI of 70.02, Paul Anka is the 3rd most famous Canadian Singer. His biography has been translated into 57 different languages.

Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include "Diana", “You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wrote the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; one of Tom Jones' biggest hits, "She's a Lady"; and the English lyrics to Claude François and Jacques Revaux's music for Frank Sinatra's signature song "My Way", which has been recorded by many, including Elvis Presley. He co-wrote three songs with Michael Jackson: "This Is It" (originally titled "I Never Heard") "Love Never Felt So Good", and "Don't Matter to Me", which became posthumous hits for Jackson in 2009, 2014, and 2018, respectively.

4. Drake (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 68.96, Drake is the 4th most famous Canadian Singer. His biography has been translated into 81 different languages.

Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he is credited with popularizing R&B sensibilities in hip-hop music. Drake first gained recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV Television Network teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2008) and began his music career by releasing the mixtapes Room for Improvement (2006), Comeback Season (2007), and So Far Gone (2009). After signing with Young Money Entertainment, Drake released his debut album Thank Me Later (2010), which debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart. All of his subsequent albums—including Take Care (2011), Nothing Was the Same (2013), Scorpion (2018), Honestly, Nevermind (2022) and For All the Dogs (2023)—reached number-one in the US. Views (2016) led the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks and Certified Lover Boy (2021) set the then-record for most US top-ten songs from one album (9). Drake's collaborative albums include Her Loss (2022), with 21 Savage, and Some Sexy Songs 4 U (2025), with PartyNextDoor. His catalogue of high-charting singles include "Best I Ever Had", "Find Your Love", "Take Care", "Started from the Bottom", "Hold On, We're Going Home", "Hotline Bling", "One Dance", "Passionfruit", "God's Plan", "Nice for What", "In My Feelings", "Toosie Slide", "Way 2 Sexy", "Fair Trade", "Jimmy Cooks", "Rich Flex", "Slime You Out", "First Person Shooter", and "Nokia". As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, he became the "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining their executive committee and later obtaining naming rights to their practice facility OVO Athletic Centre. In 2016, he began collaborating with Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black. Drake heads the OVO fashion label and the Nocta collaboration with Nike, Inc., and founded the production company DreamCrew and the fragrance house Better World. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5% (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. Drake has been subject of widespread media coverage due to his popularity, lifestyle, relationships, and feuds with other rappers, including Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar, the latter of which led to several diss tracks in 2024. Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million units sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His accolades consist of 5 Grammy Awards, 6 American Music Awards, 39 Billboard Music Awards, 2 Brit Awards, and 3 Juno Awards. Billboard named him the Artist of the Decade (2010s) and the fourth greatest pop star of the 21st century. He has achieved 14 Billboard 200 number-one albums, a joint-record among soloists, and 13 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, a joint-record for a male solo artist. Drake holds further Hot 100 records, including the most top 10 singles (80), the most top 40 singles (217), the most charted songs (358) and the most consecutive weeks on the chart (431). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts.

5. The Weeknd (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 66.84, The Weeknd is the 5th most famous Canadian Singer. His biography has been translated into 67 different languages.

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (Amharic: አቤል መኮንን ተስፋዬ; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for his light-lyric tenor vocal range and alternative R&B sound. His accolades include four Grammy Awards, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 22 Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards and a Latin Grammy Award. Tesfaye began releasing music anonymously in 2009. After co-founding the record label XO, he released three mixtapes—House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence—in 2011, and gained recognition for his alternative R&B sound, as well as the mystery surrounding his identity. He signed with Republic Records to reissue the mixtapes into the compilation album Trilogy (2012), and release his debut studio album, Kiss Land (2013) the following year. After a string of collaborations and film soundtrack contributions from 2013 and 2014, Tesfaye began combining his signature alternative R&B sound with a more pop-oriented approach on his second and third studio albums, Beauty Behind the Madness (2015) and Starboy (2016); both debuted atop the US Billboard 200 while spawning the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Can't Feel My Face", "The Hills", "Starboy", and "Die for You". He returned to a more alternative R&B-dominated soundscape for his debut extended play, My Dear Melancholy (2018), which included the US top-ten single "Call Out My Name". He explored the dream-pop and new wave genres with his fourth studio album, After Hours (2020), which spawned the chart-topping singles "Heartless" and "Save Your Tears", as well as "Blinding Lights", which became the best-performing song in the Billboard Hot 100's history and the longest-charting song at the time. Tesfaye began exploring dance-pop, leading to his fifth album, Dawn FM (2022), which included the US top-ten single, "Take My Breath". In 2023, he co-created and starred in the HBO drama series The Idol, which drew significant controversy and was received as a critical failure. His sixth album, Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025), yielded the US top-five single "Timeless" and a critically panned companion film of the same name. Tesfaye has sold over 75 million records, making him one of the world's best-selling artists. He has earned seven diamond-certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for his singles, and is the first artist to simultaneously hold the top three spots on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. He has also set the record for the most songs to have over 1 billion streams on Spotify (27), with "Blinding Lights" being the most-streamed song in the platform's history. Tesfaye was listed by Time as one of the world's most influential people in 2020. He has donated to various causes and as an advocate for racial equality and food security, he was appointed a World Food Programme goodwill ambassador in 2021.

6. Mylène Farmer (b. 1961)

With an HPI of 65.89, Mylène Farmer is the 6th most famous Canadian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 54 different languages.

Mylène Jeanne Gautier (French: [milɛn ʒan ɡotje]; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (pronounced [milɛn faʁmœʁ]), is a French singer and songwriter. Having sold more than 30 million records worldwide, she is among the most successful recording artists of all time in France, where she holds the record for the most number one hit singles, with twenty-one – eight of which were consecutive. Born in Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada (a former city now part of the Montreal borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro), to French parents, the family soon relocated to Chaville, near Paris, where Farmer pursued a career in modelling and acting. She later gained prominence as a recording artist with the release of her debut single "Maman a tort" in 1984. In 1988, she released her second studio album, Ainsi soit je..., which sold 1.5 million copies in France. The album spawned Farmer's first number one on the French singles chart, "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces". Her third studio album, L'autre..., sold two million copies, becoming Farmer's best-selling album to date. Its lead single, "Désenchantée", became Farmer's most successful single, and is often described as her signature song. Departing from the synth-pop and Europop soundscape of her first albums, Farmer reinvented her musical style with the release of her fourth studio album, Anamorphosée, in 1995. Recorded in the United States, the album features more live instrumentation and shows rock and R&B-oriented influences. Her fifth studio album, Innamoramento, was released in 1999, featuring more electronic influences. In the second part of the 2000s, Farmer continued exploring a range of genres on her albums, namely acoustic pop music on Avant que l'ombre... and electronica on Point de suture. In 2010, Farmer released her eighth studio album, Bleu noir. The album marked Farmer's return to the dark synth-pop and Europop production of her first albums. The lead single, "Oui mais... non", sold over 130,000 copies in France. In 2015, Farmer's tenth studio album, Interstellaires, debuted at number one in France; the album was preceded by the lead single "Stolen Car", a duet with Sting, which reached the number one position on the French singles chart in September 2015. Her eleventh studio album, Désobéissance, was released in 2018, debuting at number one and selling over 265.000 copies. In addition to her music career, Farmer also worked as a lyricist for French singer Alizée, while also being responsible for her image and public appearances. Her debut single, "Moi... Lolita", co-written by Farmer, reached number one in several countries in Europe, and peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart in February 2002. Farmer made her film debut in 1994, starring in Giorgino, and in 2018, she starred in the English-language horror film Ghostland. Throughout her career, Farmer has broken a number of records. She is the best-selling French singer since 1984, has a record number of diamond records, and she is the only artist to have obtained a diamond album in four consecutive decades. Selling over two million copies, her 2001 greatest hits album Les Mots is the highest-selling compilation album by a French recording artist.

7. Grimes (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 65.32, Grimes is the 7th most famous Canadian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. The visuals in her videos are elaborate and sometimes have fantasy themes. She has released five studio albums. Born and raised in Vancouver, Grimes began releasing music independently after moving to Montreal in 2006. She released two albums, Geidi Primes and Halfaxa, in 2010 on Arbutus Records, before signing with 4AD and rising to prominence with the release of her 2012 album, Visions. The album received the Canadian music industry Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year, and yielded two singles: "Genesis" and "Oblivion". Following this, her fourth studio album, Art Angels, was released in 2015, and several publications named it the best album of the year. Her fifth studio album, Miss Anthropocene, was released in 2020. Outside of music, Grimes had a voice role in the 2020 action role-playing video game Cyberpunk 2077 and was a judge on the music competition game show Alter Ego. She has three children with Elon Musk.

8. Justin Bieber (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 64.47, Justin Bieber is the 8th most famous Canadian Singer. His biography has been translated into 160 different languages.

Justin Drew Bieber ( BEE-bər; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his multi-genre musical performances. Discovered by Scooter Braun in 2008 and brought to the US by Usher, both of whom formed RBMG Records to sign Bieber that October. His debut EP, My World (2009), was met with international recognition and established him as a teen idol. Bieber rose to mainstream fame with his debut album, My World 2.0 (2010), which topped the US Billboard 200, making him the youngest solo male to do so in 47 years. Its lead single, "Baby" (featuring Ludacris), became a best selling single. His second album, Under the Mistletoe (2011), became the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut atop chart. Bieber explored dance-pop on his third album, Believe (2012); its acoustic re-release made him the first artist in Billboard history to have five US number-one albums by the age of 18. Bieber explored EDM with his 2015 single "Where Are Ü Now", which won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording. This influenced his fourth album, Purpose (2015), producing three Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: "Love Yourself", "Sorry", and "What Do You Mean?", making him the first artist to hold the top three spots in UK chart history. In 2017, his guest singles "I'm the One" by DJ Khaled and "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi peaked the Billboard Hot 100, making him the first artist to replace himself atop chart with new songs in two consecutive weeks. The latter won him a Latin Grammy Award. His fifth album, Changes (2020) and sixth album, Justice (2021) both topped the Billboard 200, with latter featuring "Peaches". He broke Elvis Presley's 1965 record for the youngest solo act to have eight US number-one albums, and released his eighth US number-one single, "Stay", that same year. Bieber is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with over 150 million units sold worldwide and five diamond certifications from the RIAA. His accolades include two Grammy Awards, one Latin Grammy Award, eight Juno Awards, two Brit Awards, twenty-six Billboard Music Awards, eighteen American Music Awards, twenty-two MTV Europe Music Awards (the most wins for any artist), twenty-three Teen Choice Awards, and thirty-three Guinness World Records. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011, and Forbes' listed him among the top ten most powerful celebrities from 2011 to 2013. Billboard ranked him the eighth-greatest pop star of the 21st century.

9. Denny Doherty (1940 - 2007)

With an HPI of 64.39, Denny Doherty is the 9th most famous Canadian Singer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty (November 29, 1940 – January 19, 2007) was a Canadian singer, songwriter and musician. A tenor, he was a founding member of the 1960s musical group the Mamas & the Papas for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

10. Shania Twain (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 62.24, Shania Twain is the 10th most famous Canadian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 70 different languages.

Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( eye-LEEN ... shə-NY-ə; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time and the best-selling female artist in country music history. She received several titles including the "Queen of Country Pop". Billboard named her as the leader of the 1990s country-pop crossover stars. Twain grew up in Timmins, Ontario and from a young age she pursued singing and songwriting before signing with Mercury Nashville Records in the early 1990s. Her self-titled debut studio album was a commercial failure upon release in 1993. After collaborating with producer and later husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange, she rose to fame with her second studio album, The Woman in Me (1995), which brought her widespread success. It sold over 20 million copies worldwide, spawned eight singles, including "Any Man of Mine" and earned her a Grammy Award. Twain's third studio album, Come On Over (1997), is recognized by Guinness World Records as the biggest-selling studio album by a female solo artist. It also became the best-selling country album, best-selling album by a Canadian, and one of the world's best-selling albums of all time, selling over 40 million copies worldwide. Come On Over produced twelve singles, including "You're Still the One", "From This Moment On", "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and earned her four Grammy Awards. Her fourth studio album, Up! (2002), spawned eight singles, including "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!", "Ka-Ching!" and "Forever and for Always", selling over 20 million copies worldwide, also being certified Diamond in the United States. In 2004, after releasing her Greatest Hits album, which produced three singles including "Party for Two", Twain entered a hiatus, revealing years later that diagnoses with Lyme disease and dysphonia led to a severely weakened singing voice. She chronicled her vocal rehabilitation on the OWN miniseries Why Not? with Shania Twain, released her first single in six years in 2011, "Today Is Your Day", and published an autobiography, From This Moment On. Twain returned to performing the following year with an exclusive concert residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Shania: Still the One, which ran until 2014. In 2015, she launched the North American Rock This Country Tour, which was billed as her farewell tour. Twain released her first studio album in 15 years in 2017, Now, and embarked on the Now Tour in 2018. In 2019, she started her second Las Vegas residency, Let's Go! at the Zappos Theater. Her sixth studio album Queen of Me was released in 2023, and she embarked on the Queen of Me Tour in the same year. Twain has received five Grammy Awards, two World Music Awards, 39 BMI Songwriter Awards, inductions to Canada's Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. According to the RIAA, she is the only female artist in history to have three (consecutive) albums certified Diamond by the RIAA and is the seventh best-selling female artist in the United States. Altogether Twain is ranked as the 10th best-selling artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era. Billboard listed her as the 13th Greatest Music Video Female Solo Artist of all time (42nd overall). According to Billboard Boxscore, she is the highest-grossing female country touring artist with $421.1 million gross from her concert tours.

People

Pantheon has 77 people classified as Canadian singers born between 1920 and 2003. Of these 77, 69 (89.61%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Canadian singers include Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, and Paul Anka. The most famous deceased Canadian singers include Denny Doherty, Jon Vickers, and Gordon Lightfoot. As of April 2024, 77 new Canadian singers have been added to Pantheon including Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, and Paul Anka.