In Canada: How Blue Rodeo’s ‘Hasn’t Hit Me Yet’ Became a ‘Rallying Call’ After Trump’s Lake Ontario Renaming Order
Also up north this week: The announcement of two high-profile executive departures.
Blue Rodeo’s “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet” has taken on a new significance.
Over the weekend, the longrunning Toronto band performed their annual hometown show at Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre. Notably, that’s a venue that sits on Lake Ontario’s waterfront. During their set, the group played the 1993 track, a staple of their concert setlist, and includes the lyric: “Watching the snow fall on this cold December night / And out in the middle of Lake Ontario.”
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Before the group started the song, they asked the audience of 16,000 to sing the “Lake Ontario” lyric with “full authority and ownership,” Of course, the crowd delivered, as they confidently screamed the lyric.
While the song has always been a celebration of the Great Lake, their Saturday night (Aug. 29) performance came at a pertinent time. Recently, U.S. president Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America amid escalating trade tensions.
It’s undoubtedly caused quite the controversy, with many artists including Blue Rodeo showing their support for their home country. This weekend, JoJo and Iron Maiden also spoke out against the Lake Ontario name change during their respective Toronto shows.
In a new interview with Canadian Press, frontman Greg Keelor, explains how Blue Rodeo wanted to take a stance on the outlandish situation.
Despite wanting to “go off on Trump and just call him a lot of bad names,” Keelor had a better idea: “I knew that the song would do the work,” he explained. “I didn’t have to say much. Just getting to that line was going to blow the roof off the place.” While they performed, a map highlighting the name Lake Ontario took over the screens behind the band, which Keelor says he requested.
Multiple clips of Blue Rodeo’s performance have taken off on social media, with users taking to the comments to express their gratitude for the band’s boldness.
The response, Keelor says, was unexpected. “We were all just a little shocked at the wave of emotion that came from the audience when they got to that line,” he explains. “It has a different meaning now. I’m very happy for that.”
While Lake Ontario’s name remains on Canadian maps, it has reportedly been changed to Lake America on Google Maps in the U.S.
Keelor says it’s “another aspect of his idiocy” and “so un-Canadian,” but the band will continue to stand up for what’s right. “We’re not pushovers. We dig in.”
He continues: “The Indigenous people had a relationship with this lake thousands of years before any of us showed up.”
Randy Lennox Out as CEO of LOFT, Departure’s Executive Director Steps Down
Departure’s former executive director and head of programming is starting his own venture.
Pat Murphy has left his role at the conference and festival to launch Post Script — a new artist-focused entertainment company combining artist management, recorded music, media and intellectual property.
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Murphy’s departure comes just weeks after former executive producer Kevin Barton also left to pursue new ventures.
LOFT’s co-founder Randy Lennox has also left his post as CEO of LOFT Entertainment, the co-owner of Departure alongside Oak View Group, Billboard Canada has learned. Jackie Dean has been named president and CEO of LOFT. Lennox remains in a “strategic advisory role” as the executive chair of the company’s board of directors.
Jason Carlos, formerly Departure’s senior director of brand, marketing & communications, succeeds Murphy as the conference’s executive director.
A spokesperson from Departure says “the recent team changes created a good opportunity to finalize the reorganization plans that had been under discussion for some time.”
That major reorganization comes after just two editions of Departure, which was rebranded from Canadian Music Week (CMW) following its purchase by Oak View Group and LOFT Entertainment in 2024.
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