Chantal Kreviazuk – Under These Rocks And Stones (1996)

A competition-winning classical pianist, Chantal Kreviazuk attracted the attention of major labels as a singer and songwriter, releasing a debut album of adult pop, Under These Rocks and Stones, on Sony in 1997. It was a hit, and she went on to win two Juno Awards for the follow-up, 2000's Colour Moving and Still. Her fourth long-player, 2006's Ghost Stories, became her highest-charting to date, reaching number two on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. She later recorded a collaboration with Drake in 2011 and issued her first live album, In This Life, in 2012. She and her husband, Our Lady Peace's Raine Maida, were the subject of the documentary I'm Going to Break Your Heart in 2019. It was accompanied by a collaborative soundtrack by the couple under the moniker Moon Vs. Sun.

Manitoba-born Kreviazuk was a prodigy at the piano, winning competitions and receiving classical training on piano as well as voice. Similar to many top-flight pop musicians who turn away from their classical past as part of adolescent rebellion, she began writing pop songs, especially after a 1994 motorcycle accident in Italy left her immobile for several months. The songs earned her a record deal with Sony before she'd ever performed live as a singer. Then 22, Kreviazuk began working with producers Peter Asher and Matt Wallace on her debut album, Under These Rocks and Stones. Released in 1997, the record went twice-platinum largely on the strength of her singles "God Made Me" and "Surrounded." A couple of well-placed soundtrack singles -- covers of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (Armageddon) and Randy Newman's "Feels Like Home" (Dawson's Creek) -- in 1998 helped boost her exposure outside of Canada.

Kreviazuk's sophomore album, Colour Moving and Still, was issued in 2000, netting her a pair of Juno Awards for Best Female Artist and Best Pop/Adult Album. Her third full-length, 2002's What If It All Means Something, featured a number of collaborations with her husband, Our Lady Peace singer Raine Maida. For her next release, Kreviazuk chose to record at home with Maida producing. The result was 2006's Ghost Stories, which reached number two on Canada's main album chart while landing on the Independent and Heatseekers Albums charts in the U.S. Prior to the release of her fifth studio album, Kreviazuk issued her first anthology, 2008's Since We Met: The Best of 1996-2006. Plain Jane followed in 2009 on the Maple Music Recordings label. It reached number 16 in Canada. Over the next several years, she continued to split her time between living in California and Toronto and made a guest appearance on fellow Canadian Drake's 2011 album Take Care. Her first live release, In This Life, arrived a year later. In 2014, Kreviazuk appeared on rapper Jay Rock's track "Pay for It," which she then performed alongside Rock and Kendrick Lamar on an episode of Saturday Night Live.

In late 2015, Kreviazuk made her Warner Music Canada debut with "Into Me," her first solo single in five years. It appeared on the next year's Hard Sail, which peaked at number 65 on Canada's album chart. May 2019 saw the release of I'm Going to Break Your Heart, a documentary focusing on the sometimes tense relationship between Kreviazuk and Maida as they collaborated on songs for an album. The resulting film soundtrack saw the duo credited as Moon Vs. Sun. That same year, Kreviazuk delivered the holiday album Christmas Is a Way of Life, My Dear on Hummingbird Recordings. She re-teamed with Warner Music Canada for 2020's Get to You, her eighth studio album. ~ Timothy Monger & Marcy Donelson