April Wine Leader, Myles Goodwyn, Dies at 75
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Myles Goodwyn, singer, guitarist, writer, producer and leader of the multi-Platinum selling rock band April Wine, who shaped and directed the group from its earliest beginnings, died today (December 3, 2023) at the age of 75. The news was shared by publicist Eric Alper. No further details on cause of death, location or funeral details will be disclosed at this time and the family asks for privacy. Goodwyn, along with longtime April Wine members Jerry Mercer and Brian Greenway, were in attendance when the band was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame just two months ago.
Among those paying tribute was fellow Canadian music star Burton Cummings who wrote, “Myles and I went back to the earliest days of the Canadian music industry (when there were only about half a dozen or so acts in Canada actually making records). Myles and I always got along and were pretty good friends even though we didn’t see each other that often. Rest well Myles, you sure worked hard…”
Goodwyn formed April Wine in 1969 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and continued to lead them until his retirement earlier this year. The band released well over a dozen studio albums with a run of success beginning in the mid-’70s. Their 1976 LP, The Whole World’s Goin’ Crazy, reached #1 in Canada and they consistently reach Platinum or Gold levels there.
Goodwyn was misidentified as Myles Goodman in this photo that appeared in the July 10, 1976 issue of Record World
Half a dozen of their albums charted in the U.S. with 1979’s Harder… Faster certified Gold. Dozens of their songs charted in Canada and 1981’s “Just Between You and Me,” written, sung and co-produced by Goodwyn, was their biggest international single and the 14th video played by MTV on its first day of broadcast on Aug. 1, 1981. All told, they sold over 10 million recordings worldwide.
Goodwyn’s voice is as distinctive and immediately recognizable as his song writing skills are prolific. He and the other members of April Wine were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame in 2010.
In 2016 he released his memoir named, Just Between You and Me, which became an instant best seller on the Globe and Mail’s Non-Fiction List. His second book, Elvis and Tiger (fiction) was published in 2018.
Goodwyn left April Wine for live performances earlier this year, and continued to perform live with his acoustic trio which includes himself, Jim Henman and Bruce Dixon until recently.
Related: Musicians we’ve lost in 2023
2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationMyles Goodwyn is leaving us at 75 and it saddens me. It’s way too young. April Wine was one of my favorite English Canadian groups from 1971 with the songs Fast Train, You Could Have been a Lady, Lady Run Lady Hide, Wings Of Love. The 1978 album First Glance is a true hard rock gem. I went to see April Wine at the Montreal Forum in April 1980 during the Harder…Faster tour with my girlfriend who loved The Guess Who. She fell in love with the voice of Myles Goodwyn with his ballads I Wouldn’t Want To Lose Your Love, Like A Lover Like A Song, on the piano (a Yamaha grand piano at a rock concert, incredible! me who was only used to seeing Marshall amps and Fender guitars). The songs I Like To Rock and, above all, Roller, with its hectic guitars, really excited me. And yes, Myles Goodwyn and his band played 21st Century Schizoid Man. It was really daring… It was a memorable rock show. Rest in peace, Myles.
It was always cool to listen to American Top 40, and hear the occasional Canadian act pop up. Stampeders, FMEB, April Wine. They were popular in Minnesota, where I grew up. The Guess Who was VERY popular there.
I remember April Wine’s early hit, “You Could Have Been A Lady” from the early 70s. They rocked.