STREETHEART Vocalist Kenny Shields Dies Aged 69
July 21st, 2017
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Kenny Shields – vocalist of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada-based rock group Streetheart – died on July 21st, 2017 at the age of 69.
Shields passed away at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, having undergone emergency heart surgery earlier in July. While performing at a Canada Show in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Shields appeared confused and seemed to be forgetting lyrics. Returning to Winnipeg, Manitoba, he was diagnosed with hypoxia, the hypoxia causing a deficiency in the amount of blood and oxygen getting to the brain.
His wife Elena, daughter Julia and sister Sharlene were by his side at the time of his passing. According to guitarist Jeff Neill, Shields’ heart was operating at just 20 percent on the left side, forcing the right side to become damaged as a result of overcompensation and creating “a dangerous buildup of fluid in his lungs along with other serious internal issues.”
Shields was born in 1947 and raised in Nokomis, Saskatchewan, enrolling in an amateur talent show at the age of six. Moving to Saskatoon to attend university, the frontman joined local band Witness Incorporated. Touring Canada alongside the likes of Roy Orbison and Cream, Shields experienced a vehicle accident in 1970 which left him critically injured.
Shields moved to Winnipeg in 1975, teaming with another group from his home province named Wascana, its line-up including bassist Spider Sinnaeve and keyboardist Daryl Gutheil. Relocating to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Wascana morphed into Witness Incorporated.
Witness Incorporated would cease by 1976, rehearsals in Regina, Saskatchewan during October of that year including Shields, guitarist Paul Dean, bassist Spider Sinnaeve, drummer Matt Frenette, and keyboardist Daryl Gutheil. The quintet would resultantly form Streetheart.
Streetheart recorded six full-length studio albums, namely; Meanwhile Back In Paris (1978), Under Heaven Over Hell (1979), Quicksand Shoes (1980), Drugstore Dancer (1980), Streetheart (1982), and Dancing With Danger (1983). A cover rendition of The Rolling Stones track ‘Under My Thumb’ reached position five on the Canadian singles charts, reaching gold certification.
Culled from shows recorded in Western Canada during the summer of 1983, double-disc live effort Live After Dark arrived later in 1983. The band’s overall discography domestically earnt Streetheart six gold discs, four platinum discs, and a gold single.
A Juno award for most promising group of the year was awarded to Streetheart in 1980.
Streetheart were inducted into the Western Canadian Music Association Hall Of Fame in September 2003.
