David Friend, The Canadian Press
Posted Thursday, December 15, 2022 2:34 PM EST
Last updated Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 2:34 PM EST
Canadian singer-songwriter Shirley Eikhard, whose seductive track “Something to Talk About” gave Bonnie Raitt her biggest hit and a Grammy win, has died after a battle with cancer.
Longtime friend Deborah Duggan said the musician died early Thursday at a hospital in Orangeville, Ont. surrounded by her loved ones. She was 67 years old.
Eikhard, born in Sackville, New Brunswick, tasted success in her early teens when Anne Murray recorded her 1971 song “It Takes Time,” which made it a Canadian hit.
A year later, Eikhard’s self-titled debut album, released when she was just 16, gave her a boost. She went on to win the Juno Awards for Female Country Artist in 1973 and 1974.
Eikhard released several albums in the years that followed, but Raitt’s “Something to Talk About” offered an unexpected twist.
Originally intended for Murray, the East Coast singer’s producers vetoed the track in the mid-1980s, saying it was not bang-worthy. Several years later, it landed in the hands of Raitt, who recorded it for his 1991 album “Luck of the Draw.”
“Something to Talk About” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year and won Raitt a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female Artist.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on December 15, 2022.
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