Ronnie Hawkins was born in Huntsville, Arkansas, on January 10, 1935, two days after Elvis Presley. Hawkins’ love of music started in high school and he formed the first version of his band The Hawks while studying at the University of Arkansas in the 1950s.
In 1958, on the recommendation of Conway Twitty, who considered Canada to be the promised land for a rock singer, Hawkins moved to Hamilton, Ontario to play a club called The Grange. He never left, adopting Canada as his home and becoming a permanent resident in 1964.
In 1958 his hit, Hey Bo Diddley, was released, followed by Marylou, which turned Hawkins into a teenage idol. In 1959, Morris Levy signed him to Roulette Records for five years and tried to lure him back to the United States. But Hawkins had fallen in love with Canada and didn’t want to leave his new home.
Over the years, Hawkins gained renown for recruiting and grooming outstanding Canadian talent. The membership of his band, The Hawks, kept changing as the talent flowed in and out of the band, but the name stayed the same. Hawkins has befriended many of the music industry’s greats. At the height of the 1960s peace movement, Hawkins invited John Lennon and Yoko Ono to his Ontario farm to plan a peace festival during the couple’s peace crusade. Hawkins later toured the world at Lennon’s request as a peace emissary for Lennon’s “Love Not War” message.
Hawkins won a Juno for Best Country Male Vocalist in 1984 for his hit, Making It Again. Eight years later he received another Juno nomination for Let it Rock. In 1996, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences honoured him with the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award for his contribution to developing Canada’s music industry.
Ronnie Hawkins is also an accomplished television and film actor. He’s hosted his own television show and made guest appearances on television variety shows and many Canadian dramatic and comedy series.
