- Walt Grealis
Walter Grealis OC (
18 February 1929 -20 January 2004 ) was a Canadian publisher and music industry leader. With partnerStan Klees , he co-founded Canada's national music honours, theJuno Award s.Walt Grealis was born in
Toronto and attended Central High School of Commerce in that city until his tenth grade. His initial career was in law enforcement, first as anRoyal Canadian Mounted Police officer then as a Toronto city policeman.Music career
He entered the music industry in 1960 after leaving policing and trying various careers in the late 1950s. He founded Canadian music industry magazine "RPM" in February 1964, publishing weekly for most of its existence until November 2000.
With partner Stan Klees, the Gold Leaf Awards were founded to honour Canadian music industry achievements. From 1964 to 1969, winners were announced in "RPM" at the end of each year. In 1970, this was expanded to a formal ceremonial event and renamed to
Juno Award s later that year.Later life
Grealis was appointed an Officer of the
Order of Canada in 1993. In 1999, Grealis was inducted into theCanadian Country Music Hall of Fame . Grealis, a non-smoker, died at Klees' residence in 2004 following several years oflung cancer . At theJuno Awards of 2004 , he was posthumously honoured with the music industry achievement award which bears his name.ee also
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Juno Award
*RPM (magazine) External links
*cite web | url=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/rpm/028020-200-e.html | title=The RPM Story | accessdate=2007-03-25 | first=Richard | last=Green | publisher=
Library and Archives Canada
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