Kevan Staples, the co-founder and sonic backbone of Toronto’s genre-defying alt-rock outfit Rough Trade, has died aged 74.
Carole Pope, his longtime creative partner and fellow band founder, confirmed his death via social media. “He was a bright light that will burn forever,” she wrote. No cause of death has been shared.
Staples helped shape one of Canada’s boldest and most controversial bands of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Their music was confrontational, queer, and fearless. It cut through radio airwaves with tracks like ‘High School Confidential’, ‘All Touch’ and ‘Birds of a Feather’. Their lyrics also didn’t dance around subtext, they charged straight at it. Their songs exploring BDSM, sexual identity, and gender politics in a time when few dared.
The band started in Toronto’s club circuit before gaining national traction. They released their debut Rough Trade Live! independently, then teamed up with True North Records for five more studio albums. Tracks like ‘Weapons’ and ‘Shaking the Foundations’ found success on Canadian radio, but it was their live shows that solidified their cult status.
In 1983, they opened for David Bowie on the Canadian leg of his Serious Moonlight tour. It was arguably their biggest stage yet. But by 1986, Rough Trade split. Not because they lost their edge, but because they were worn down by the public’s obsession with the sexual side of their art.
“Besides writing about sexuality, we were also writing about politics,” Pope later said. “People didn’t pick up on that as much.”
Staples pivoted into film and TV scoring, working on projects like the 1978 film One Night Stand. Though he mostly stayed out of the spotlight, his legacy endured. In 2023, he and Pope were inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame. It was a nod to their role in shifting the country’s cultural needle.
Rough Trade reformed a few times over the years, but Staples’ impact didn’t rely on nostalgia. He helped carve out space for artists and audiences who didn’t fit the mould. A true provocateur until the very end.
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