Canadians Make History

Music history has been made as a Canadian rock group and a decorated astronaut collaborated on a song together, one of them performing from space.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies’ front man Ed Robertson premiered their song, “I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)” on cbcmusic.ca Feb. 8. “I.S.S.” is a play on words as Hadfield is currently aboard the International Space Station stationed 370 kilometres above the Earth.

The song was written by Hadfield and Robertson and commissioned by CBCMusic and The Coalition for Music Education in partnership with The Canadian Space Agency. It is the official song for Music Monday 2013 to promote and celebrate music education in schools across Canada.

“Chris and I were able to write a song together while he was training in Russia for the mission that he’s currently on and then we were able to record the song with him in space. It’s really incredible when you think about it,” said Robertson in an interview with CBC.

The song was recorded on earth and in space with Robertson and the glee choir of Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts performing at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto, and Hadfield performing in orbit on the ISS The coalition is encouraging everyone to take part.

“(We’re) calling out to millions of Canadians to help us fill the skies with music and unite our nation in song,” said Holly Nimmons executive director for the coalition said in a press release.

“We’re inviting music makers of all ages and backgrounds to learn I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) so we can join together on Music Monday, May 6, in our annual coast-to-coast-to-coast simultaneous concert.”

Hadfield will take control of the space station in the coming weeks. This will make him the first Canadian to do so. In his spare time from Expedition 35, Hadfield will record an album of original music while in space. The first song, “Jewel in the Night” was released via YouTube on Christmas Eve.

The song is available to download for free through the Coalition’s Music Monday website, including the sheet music and lyrics, 14 different musical arrangements and translations of the song into 11 languages. More information can be found at musicmakesus.ca.