How much do you know about Canadian music? – answers and explanations
Here are the answers to all 15 questions in the How much do you know about Canadian music? quiz, each with a short explanation. From Joni Mitchell to The Weeknd, test your knowledge of Canada's biggest musical exports. Haven't played yet? Take the quiz first and compare your score.
Play the quiz · 15 questions1. Which Leonard Cohen song became a huge hit through Jeff Buckley's famous cover?
Answer: Hallelujah
Leonard Cohen first released 'Hallelujah' on his 1984 album Various Positions. Jeff Buckley's cover on his 1994 album Grace later became the best-known version of the song.
2. Alanis Morissette's hits 'Ironic' and 'You Oughta Know' come from which album?
Answer: Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill came out in 1995. It produced the hits 'You Oughta Know' and 'Ironic' and became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
3. Bryan Adams' '(Everything I Do) I Do It for You' featured in which 1991 film?
Answer: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Bryan Adams recorded '(Everything I Do) I Do It for You' for the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner. The song spent a record 16 weeks in a row at number one on the UK singles chart.
4. In Joni Mitchell's 'Big Yellow Taxi', they paved paradise and put up a what?
Answer: Parking lot
In Joni Mitchell's 'Big Yellow Taxi', paradise is paved over to make a parking lot. The song appeared on her 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon and is an early environmental protest song.
5. Celine Dion made her comeback at the Paris 2024 Olympics singing from which landmark?
Answer: The Eiffel Tower
Celine Dion closed the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony on July 26, 2024, singing Edith Piaf's 'Hymne a l'amour' from the Eiffel Tower. It was her first live performance since being diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome.
6. Which Neil Young song from the album 'Harvest' was his only US No. 1 single?
Answer: Heart of Gold
"Heart of Gold" was Neil Young's only US No. 1 single. It came from his 1972 album Harvest and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on March 18, 1972.
7. Which Rush song shares its title with a famous Mark Twain character?
Answer: Tom Sawyer
Rush's "Tom Sawyer" has the same name as the boy hero of Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The song opens the band's 1981 album Moving Pictures.
8. Which Shania Twain hit opens with the famous shout 'Let's go, girls!'?
Answer: Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" opens with the shout "Let's go, girls!" This country-pop song was released as a single in 1999, after "That Don't Impress Me Much".
9. Which Drake hit's music video shows him dancing in a glowing, colour-changing room?
Answer: Hotline Bling
In the video for Drake's 2015 hit "Hotline Bling", he dances in rooms that glow and change colour. Many people noted that the look resembled the light installations of artist James Turrell.
10. Which The Weeknd hit opens with the line 'I've been tryna call'?
Answer: Blinding Lights
The first verse of The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" begins "I've been tryna call". The song was released as a single on November 29, 2019, and appears on his album After Hours.
11. Which 2002 Avril Lavigne debut single asks why things have to be made so... what?
Answer: Complicated
Avril Lavigne's debut single was 'Complicated', taken from her 2002 debut album Let Go. Its chorus asks why things have to be made so complicated, and the song was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year.
12. Which Canadian band wrote and performed the theme song for The Big Bang Theory?
Answer: Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies, a band from the Toronto area, wrote and recorded the theme for The Big Bang Theory. The song is officially called "The History of Everything," and the band has played the whole song live at a Comic-Con cast panel.
13. Which rapper featured on Justin Bieber's 2010 breakout hit 'Baby'?
Answer: Ludacris
Justin Bieber's 2010 hit 'Baby' features a rap verse by Ludacris. The song was the lead single from the album My World 2.0, and its music video became one of the most-viewed videos on YouTube.
14. Celine Dion won the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest representing which country?
Answer: Switzerland
Celine Dion won Eurovision 1988 for Switzerland with the song 'Ne partez pas sans moi'. The contest was held in Dublin, and she beat the United Kingdom's entry by just one point.
15. Which Canadian band topped the US charts in 1970 with 'American Woman'?
Answer: The Guess Who
'American Woman' by The Guess Who, a band from Winnipeg, reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. It was the first number-one hit in the US by a Canadian band.