Born in London, England, Liona Boyd immigrated to Canada with her parents when she was eight years old. Her first performance was aboard the ocean liner playing ‘The Blue Bells of Scotland,’ on a treble recorder as part of a talent show. That same year she had won first prize in her infant’s school for the best story. Five years later when Liona was thirteen, she asked her parents for a classical guitar as a Christmas present. That gift changed her life.
Liona Boyd became known around the world as a classical guitar virtuoso and composer, and since 2009 she has added singing and songwriting to her illustrious classical career. Since 1975, when she made her Carnegie Recital Hall debut, Liona has been known as “The First Lady of the Guitar”. Through her concerts, television specials and various albums, released on London, Sony and Universal, many of which attained Gold and Platinum status, Liona introduced millions of people around the world to the art of classical guitar. 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of her 1974 debut album The Guitar. Since then, she has released thirty albums, her latest being the cinematic ‘Once Upon A Time. Liona has sold over three million albums and has over 50 million streams across various platforms.
Liona Boyd is a Five-time Juno award-winner for Instrumental Artist of the Year, has five honorary doctorates, the Order of Canada (upgraded to ‘Officer’ in 2022), the Order of Ontario, the Diamond Jubilee Medal, and was inducted into Guitar Player magazine’s “Gallery of Greats”. CBC has broadcast several one-hour television specials including Liona Boyd in Havana, Romancing the Guitar – The Life and Times of Liona Boyd and Opening Night. She has been a special guest on dozens of American television shows including The Tonight Show, Today Show, Boston Pops and Entertainment Tonight. She has made many appearances on Canadian broadcasts such as Canada AM, as well as many talk shows, telethons and variety shows including dozens of German, South American and Japanese talk shows and a TV special on NHK Japan.
Liona penned a best-selling autobiography, ‘In My Own Key – My Life in Love and Music’ (1999, Stoddart). Her second autobiography, ‘No Remedy for Love’ was released by Dundurn Press in the fall of 2017, along with a reissue of ‘In My Own Key’. In 2022, Liona published her first children’s book, ‘The Cat Who Played Guitar’.
Liona performed around the globe, playing for dozens of world leaders including the British Royal Family. She remained friends and pen pals with Prince Philip until his death and was invited several times to play at Windsor Castle. She also performed for the King and Queen of Spain, presidents of the United States and Mexico, prime ministers of Canada, France, and Britain, and the chancellor of Germany. Touring extensively throughout her career, Liona’s classical guitar music has filled concert halls in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok, New Delhi, Edinburgh, Paris, Auckland, Frankfurt, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, Bogotá, Havana, London, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Mexico City, to name but a few, and several times across the United States and Canada.
Liona performed solo concerts in almost every state and worked with symphony orchestras such as The Boston Pops conducted by John Williams. She has recorded with Sir Andrew Davis and the English Chamber Orchestra, Yo Yo Ma, Georges Zamfir and The Canadian Brass. Liona has performed for G7 Leaders at an economic summit in Quebec, for NATO Ministers of Defence in Ottawa, for leaders of state across Latin America, for the jurors of the OJ Simpson trial, and at the Kremlin on New Year’s Eve. Breaking with the classical tradition, Liona toured with popular artists Gordon Lightfoot and Tracy Chapman and has recorded with Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Roger Whittaker and Olivia Newton-John, among others. Liona often performs from her repertoire of original compositions, and music composed especially for her. Her playing was featured in the 20th Century Fox film, ‘A Walk in the Clouds’, which won a Golden Globe Award for best musical score.
After spending most of her life in Toronto, Canada, Liona married in 1992 and resided in Beverly Hills, California for 15 years. Alongside her passionate involvement with music, she devoted herself to many charitable causes, helping to raise millions of dollars for causes she believes in. In 2024 Liona sponsored the purchase of thirty classical guitars through Long & McQuade music stores that she gifted to guitar students across Canada.
In 2003, Liona left the stage for six years as overplaying had caused her to develop Musician’s Focal Dystonia in one of her right-hand fingers. She divorced in 2004 and moved to Miami where she focused on reinventing her guitar technique and pursuing a lifelong dream to sing. She returned triumphantly to the stage and recording studio in 2009. Liona relocated several times before returning to live permanently in Canada in 2011 and continued to tour in North America.
Since 2009 Liona has released five albums as a guitarist and songwriter with over five million streams. These include ‘Seven Journeys’, (2009) ‘The Return…to Canada with Love’ (2013) which featured many guests including Jann Arden, Randy Bachman, Divine Brown, Dan Hill, Daniel Lavoie, and Serena Ryder, amongst others. A Winter Fantasy (2014) became the basis for a PBS special that has aired every holiday season since 2018. The album ‘No Remedy for Love’ was released in 2017 along with her second autobiography of the same name. In 2022 her Latin-inspired album L.O.V.E was accompanied by five widely viewed music videos on YouTube.
Boyd’s latest album, “Once Upon A Time,” released at the end of 2023, is a fusion of influences and experiences that have shaped her musical world. The legendary Maestro Vangelis played a pivotal role in inspiring several compositions, offering high praise for Boyd’s melodies and Peter Bond’s production during a visit to his Paris home. In 2024 she released ‘Summer Dreams’ a reimagined version of her single with the late Olivia-Newton John, her friend of many years.
Liona Boyd is a Canadian legend with a career of over fifty years who has touched the lives of millions of people the world over. She has been a musical ambassador for Canada and has also been recognized as a female pioneer in the male-dominated world of classical guitar. Liona is very pleased to be inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.
