Sorry to disappoint you, folks, but Anne Murray will not be performing tomorrow at the Rolling Stones concert in Toronto.
The rumour that Canada's 58-year-old songbird would make a guest appearance onstage at Downsview Park took wing last week when organizers of the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert intimated there would be "some nice surprises" in store for the estimated crowd of 400,000 above and beyond the 15 announced acts.
Suddenly, the gossip mill started to grind big time, with name after name -- Sir Paul McCartney, the two Bryans (Ferry and Adams), U2's Bono, Christina Aguilera, Joe Cocker, Sheryl Crow -- serving as the grist.
One of the best rumours had Anne Murray joining fellow Canucks Rush for a number or two during the trio's run-up set to performances by AC/DC and the Rolling Stones at Downsview.
More National Stories
- 'It's a PR war now': Tories to take to the streets and voters' front doors
- Leaders forcing Jean into uncharted territory
- Deficits forcing wave of cuts in Ontario hospitals
- Accused says he was high during killings
- B.C.'s $1.7-billion surplus kept under wraps
- A chat over chicken gets Dion back to the table
- Go to the National section
This highly improbable yet undeniably delicious pairing came as the result of what seemed, on first inspection, to be a plausible foundation -- namely, that Ms. Murray and Geddy Lee, Rush's bassist and lead vocalist, have cottages on the same lake in Ontario's Muskoka region and are pals as a result.
Alas, the foundation was false: While Mr. Lee does have a cottage in Muskoka, the pride of Springhill, N.S., has her summer place in her native province. And she's there right now, indulging in her passion for golf, not reading charts for Closer to the Heart in preparation for a duet with Mr. Lee.
"It would take some kind of forklift to get Anne out of there," Ms. Murray's veteran publicist Marlene Palmer acknowledged yesterday from Vancouver.
If Ms. Murray were to show up at Downsview, "no one would be more surprised than her," Ms. Palmer chuckled.
But what about Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger's fellow peer in the House of Lords? Again, don't wait to exhale.
One of the proprietors of Toronto's fab Beatlemania Shoppe, who requested anonymity, said it might occur -- "when hell freezes over."
The Downsview gig is very much a Stones affair, he said, and there's no way the Stones would let one-half of pop music's greatest songwriting team steal their thunder at what will be one of the largest outdoor concerts in North American history.
"There's a lot of ego at that level," the proprietor observed.
More within the realm of the possible -- but still highly unlikely -- is an appearance by Bono (aka Bono Vox; aka Paul Hewson), lead singer for Ireland's U2.
He joined the Stones in Chicago last year for a rousing rendition of I Know It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) and his band does share, in the figure of Torontonian Michael Cohl, the same tour promoter and manager. Still, if organizers of the Downsview event are looking to Bono to boost ticket sales, they'd have to make the announcement today, and nothing of that ilk is planned.
38