The Rankin Family
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The Rankin Family is a Canadian folk music family group from Mabou, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
Members
- Jimmy Rankin - vocals (born May 28, 1964)
- John Morris Rankin - piano, fiddle (April 28, 1959 - January 16, 2000)
- Cookie Rankin - vocals (born May 4, 1965)
- Raylene Rankin - vocals (born September 15, 1960)
- Heather Rankin - vocals (born October 24, 1967)
History
The Rankins come from a family of 12, all of whom would entertain the neighbours musically every third weekend as part of a ceilidh.
Five of the siblings began performing professionally in 1989. The Rankins released their own independent cassettes The Rankin Family (1989) and Fare Thee Well Love (1990) featuring original songs and the a combination of traditional jigs, reels and celtic folk songs. Their television debut was on the CBC variety show On The Road Again in 1989.
Their most successful album was EMI's re-release of Fare Thee Well Love in 1992, which went quadruple platinum, selling over 500,000 copies. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, 6 Juno Awards, 4 SOCAN Awards, 3 Canadian Country Music Awards and 2 Big Country Music Awards.
On September 17, 1999, the group issued a press release stating that they would no longer perform as a group in order to pursue independent interests and careers.
John Morris Rankin was killed in a car accident in Cape Breton on January 16, 2000.
Discography
- The Rankin Family (independent, 1989)
- Fare Thee Well Love (independent, 1990)
- Fare Thee Well Love [CD re-issue] (Capitol, 1992)
- The Rankin Family [CD re-issue] (Capitol, 1992)
- North Country (EMI, 1993)
- Endless Seasons (EMI, 1995)
- Grey Dusk Of Eve (EMI, 1995)
- Collection (EMI, 1996)
- Do You Hear...Christmas (EMI, 1997)
- Uprooted (EMI, 1998)