Early life Cochrane was born in the mining town of
Lynn Lake, Manitoba. His father was a
bush pilot. When he was four years old, he and his family moved to
Acton, Ontario and then to
Etobicoke (present-day
Toronto).
Red Rider After meeting at the
El Mocambo tavern in Toronto, Cochrane joined the Canadian rock band
Red Rider in 1978 and served as their lead singer and main songwriter for more than ten years. Red Rider included
Ken Greer,
Jeff Jones, Peter Boynton, Rob Baker, Arvo Lepp,
Steve Sexton, Bjorn Anderson,
Ken Spider Sinnaeve, Kier Brownstone, Randall Correall, and Bill Bell.
Bruce Allen managed the band from their debut until 1985. Cochrane recorded six studio albums with Red Rider plus a live album, a best-of album, and a box set. By 1986, the band was billed as "Tom Cochrane & Red Rider". He would later refer to this period of his career as a stretch of "manageable success" before the release of
Mad Mad World. In 2002, Cochrane reunited with his former Red Rider bandmates Greer and Jones and continues to perform with them.
Solo career Already a household name in Canada from his time with
Red Rider, Cochrane launched his solo career in 1991 with the release of the song "
Life Is a Highway". The single became a global success and was followed by the release of his album
Mad Mad World, which would reach the six million mark in worldwide sales. The albums
Ragged Ass Road,
Songs of a Circling Spirit,
Xray Sierra, and
No Stranger followed. Cochrane's current band consists of Bill Bell,
Jeff Jones, and Davide Direnzo.
Present An avid golfer, pilot, and hockey buff, Cochrane lives in
British Columbia, and spends summers at his cottage/studio on the shores of
Georgian Bay in
Northern Ontario. Cochrane has two daughters. Relationship; M. 1981–2025: Kathleen Cochrane. Cochrane continues to tour and perform in Canada. In 2006, the group
Rascal Flatts charted in the top 10 of the Hot 100 with a cover of "Life Is a Highway", which they recorded for the
Pixar film
Cars. Although the song was not originally released to country radio, several country stations began playing the song, causing it to chart within the top 20 of Hot Country Songs.
Chris LeDoux also had a country hit with "Life Is a Highway". In October 2016, Cochrane celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his album
Mad Mad World with an announcement of the release of a special edition of the album, featuring a demo recording of "Love is a Highway", the working title of "Life Is a Highway", as well as a second disc featuring a live performance from a 1992 Chicago stop on the tour supporting the album. In 2016, the Manitoba provincial government renamed a section of a highway near his hometown of Lynn Lake after the hit "Life Is a Highway". A stretch of Highway 391 was renamed Tom Cochrane's Life is a Highway. == Honours ==