The David Suzuki Foundation reveals new performers and announces Vancity as presenting sponsor for David Suzuki’s milestone 90th birthday benefit concert, Legacy: A Celebration of David Suzuki at 90, in concert with Vancity, taking place on Friday, May 22, at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Sam Roberts Band, Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Tia Wood join the concert lineup, which includes host George Stroumboulopoulos, performances by acclaimed artists Bruce Cockburn, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sarah McLachlan, Danny Michel, William Prince and Tanya Tagaq, and special appearances by David Suzuki, Tara Cullis, Jane Fonda, Al Gore and Rick Hansen.
Vancity, a values-driven leader in Canada’s financial services sector and the country’s largest credit union, joins the event as exclusive presenting partner, reinforcing its commitment to community and climate action alongside the David Suzuki Foundation.
“Vancity was built on the belief that values matter and that a better future is possible,” said Wellington Holbrook, president and CEO of Vancity. “As we celebrate David Suzuki’s 90th birthday, we’re proud to partner in a legacy that creates hope, inspires optimism, and calls all of us to act for a more sustainable and equitable world.”
“Vancity, the artists, attendees and supporters reflect the power of community and oneness at the heart of the David Suzuki Foundation’s mission,” said Pierre Iachetti, executive director of the David Suzuki Foundation. “For more than 50 years, David Suzuki has helped shape public opinion, and this benefit concert will be a powerful reflection of his ability to bring people together.”
More than a tribute, the concert is a rallying call to safeguard Earth’s life-support systems. It serves to honour Suzuki’s legacy and ignite climate action, nature protection and community resilience. Looking back on a lifetime of impact over 90 years, David Suzuki’s message to act now for future generations has never been more important.
The David Suzuki Foundation is a Canadian environmental non-profit organization, founded in 1990. We operate in English and French, with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. We aim to collaborate with many different people in Canada, including Indigenous leadership and communities, all governments, businesses and individuals to find solutions to create a sustainable Canada through scientific research, traditional ecological knowledge, innovative policy and legal solutions, communications and public engagement. Our mission is to protect nature’s diversity and the wellbeing of all life, now and for the future. We envision a world where we all act every day on the understanding that we are interdependent with nature and each other.
Vancity is a values-based financial co-operative serving the needs of its 588,000 member-owners and their communities, with offices and more than 60 branches located in Metro Vancouver and Squamish, the Fraser Valley, the Sunshine Coast, the Vancouver and Gulf Islands and Alert Bay, within the territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw Peoples. With $41 billion in assets plus assets under administration, Vancity is Canada’s largest credit union. Vancity uses its assets to help improve the financial well-being of its members while at the same time helping to develop healthy communities that are socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable.
David Suzuki is a grandfather, scientist, former host of CBC’s The Nature of Things, emeritus professor at the University of British Columbia and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Through radio, television and more than 55 books, he has communicated about humanity’s collective impact on the natural world, which now threatens the future of human life. Among his many accolades, Suzuki has been conferred with more than 30 honorary degrees from universities in Canada, the United States and Australia. He has been honoured with adoptions and names from eight Indigenous nations in Canada and Australia.
Tara Cullis is an award-winning author, activist and president of the David Suzuki Foundation. She has been a key player in environmental movements in the Amazon, Southeast Asia, Japan and British Columbia. She co-founded the David Suzuki Foundation with David Suzuki “to collaborate with people in Canada from all walks of life, to conserve our environment and to find solutions that will create a sustainable Canada through science-based research, education and policy work.
George Stroumboulopoulos is a globally renowned storyteller, broadcaster and producer, synonymous with music, television, film and the creative arts in Canada. For more than three decades, he has shaped the national conversation through iconic prime-time news and late-night programs, including CBC’s The Hour and George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, his interview series on CNN and as anchor of Hockey Night in Canada. He also fronted and produced The Strombo Show on Apple Music, further cementing his reputation as one of the most trusted and influential voices in contemporary culture.
Bruce Cockburn has enjoyed an illustrious career shaped by politics, spirituality and musical diversity. His remarkable journey has seen him embrace folk, jazz, rock and world beat styles while earning high praise as a prolific, inspired songwriter and accomplished guitarist. He remains deeply respected for his activism and humanist song lyrics that thread throughout his career. On all his albums, Cockburn has deftly captured the joy, pain, fear and faith of human experience in song. Cockburn has won 13 JUNO Awards, an induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada, among many other accolades. He has 22 gold and platinum records, including a six-times platinum record for his Christmas album. Cockburn continues to tour internationally.
Jane Fonda is a two-time Academy Award–winning actor, producer, author, activist and fitness guru. Her career has spanned over 50 years, accumulating a body of film work that includes more than 50 films and significant contributions to political causes such as women’s rights, Indigenous rights and environmental protection. She is a seven-time Golden Globe winner and was honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2021. She accepted The Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. In April 2024, Fonda accepted the TIME Magazine Earth Award. She also received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in February 2025.
Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States, is the founder and chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a nonprofit devoted to solving the climate crisis, a founding partner and chairman of Generation Investment Management and a co-founder of Climate TRACE. He is also a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a member of the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees and a past member of the board of directors at Apple.
Rick Hansen, C.C., O.B.C., is a six-time Paralympic medallist and Canadian icon best known as the “Man In Motion” for undertaking an epic 26-month, 40,000-kilometre journey around the world in his wheelchair. He is the founder of the Rick Hansen Foundation, an organization committed to inspire, create and deliver innovative solutions that accelerate a global movement to remove barriers to inclusion for people with disabilities.
Chantal Kreviazuk made her critically acclaimed full-length debut, Under These Rocks and Stones, in 1997. Since then, the Winnipeg-born and internationally celebrated three-time JUNO Award– and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and musician, classically trained pianist, actress, movie producer, philanthropist, humanitarian and proud wife and mother of three has recorded 10 albums, including a live album, a holiday album and a collaboration with her husband and Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida. A prolific songwriter, Kreviazuk has written global smashes for the likes of Drake, Gwen Stefani, Pitbull, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Avril Lavigne, Shakira, Kelly Clarkson and Kendrick Lamar. Equally committed to helping those in need, Kreviazuk was awarded the Order of Canada in 2014, along with Maida, for their efforts to raise awareness and support for human and animal rights, mental health, education and the environment. Kreviazuk has been an ambassador to War Child for more than two decades and is one of the organization’s founding artists.
Sarah McLachlan is one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters in entertainment with more than 40 million albums sold worldwide. She has received three Grammy Awards and 12 JUNO Awards over her career and has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. Sarah’s music embodies the art of songwriting on its most personal level, and her indelible vocals resonate with people everywhere. Her songs have had a profound influence; “Angel,” “Building A Mystery,” “Fallen,” “I Will Remember You,” “Adia,” “Sweet Surrender,” “World On Fire,” “Possession” and countless others are an inspiration to music lovers around the globe.
Danny Michel is a Canadian songwriter and producer who has built a decades-long career on curiosity and creative risk-taking. Blending rock, pop, folk, world and even classical influences, his “musical ADD” has earned him a devoted fan base, multiple JUNO and Polaris Prize nominations, CBC’s Heart of Gold award and CFMA honours, including Producer of the Year and the Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries Award. Beyond music, he founded the DM Ocean Academy Fund to support a non-profit high school in Belize and has performed at milestone celebrations for Jane Goodall and David Suzuki, as well as toured with Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe.
William Prince is a songwriter shaped by powerful legacies of family and craft, and his perspective is both singular and resonant. His fifth LP, Further From The Country, is a striking work of reflection and ambition, marked by clarity, humanity and emotional depth. The distance travelled on this new album is generational, aspirational and deeply personal. Expansive and declarative, the record finds Prince meeting the challenge of writing enduring songs for an age of uncertainty. A two-time JUNO Award winner, Prince continues to build an exceptional body of work, earning the John Prine Songwriter Fellowship and an Americana Honors & Awards nomination. From Newport Folk Festival to sold-out performances at Massey Hall, from NPR’s Tiny Desk to tours with The War and Treaty and Yola, he has appeared on some of music’s most storied stages. In June 2025, Nipissing University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) recognizing his contributions to music, storytelling, and cultural bridge-building.
Sam Roberts Band is an award-winning rock act with over 125 million career streams to date. They maintain their tradition of delivering chart-topping singles, consistently surpassing expectations with their music. Originating from Montreal, the double-platinum-selling band is known for their radio hits since their debut album We Were Born in a Flame, which included hit singles “Brother Down”, “Don’t Walk Away Eileen”, “Hard Road” and “Where Have All The Good People Gone?”. Sam Roberts Band continues to release critically-acclaimed and fan-loved albums, touring constantly across Canada and the world. The band is a perennial favourite and continues to bring new fans into the fold. Their legacy of hit singles is now etched into the Canadian music landscape. Songs such as “We’re All In This Together”, “Bridge to Nowhere”, “Them Kids” and “Picture of Love” continue to be heard on the airwaves, rock and lifestyle playlists and at unforgettable shows.
Snotty Nose Rez Kids tore into the music scene with an unmistakable talent and an unforgettable name. Showing off their lyrical prowess and natural storytelling ability, Yung Trybez and Young D jumpstarted the band with two back-to-back albums in 2017. Their follow-up albums, TRAPLINE, LIFE AFTER and IM GOOD, HBU? have solidified their career with greater industry recognition, collecting 13 Western Canadian Music Awards, a Prism Prize award, two Juno nominations and four appearances on the Polaris Prize shortlist. The band has taken their high voltage live show to the road, performing hundreds of shows across six countries. SNRK have gone on to dominate hip-hop music, most recently achieving their biggest milestone, signing to Sony Music. SNRK are blazing their own path, weaving together a musical fabric of hard-hitting lyricism, revealing stories about the struggles they and their people have encountered, empowering protest songs for the front lines, and a humour that keeps even the heaviest of topics something you can vibe to.
Tanya Tagaq is an internationally celebrated artist from Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay, Nunavut). She is an improvisational singer, avant-garde composer and bestselling author. A member of the Order of Canada, Polaris Music Prize and JUNO Award winner and recipient of multiple honorary doctorates, Tagaq is an original disruptor and a world-changing figure at the forefront of seismic social, political and environmental change.
Tia Wood followed her heart from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation rez in central Alberta to the bright lights of Los Angeles to make her musical dreams come true. Her powerful, soulful voice carries the spirit of her peoples’ songs that have echoed from her homelands since time immemorial. Growing up in Treaty 6 territory in a home rich with music and culture, Wood began singing as soon as she could talk, inspired by her parents, siblings and dual Plains Cree and Coast Salish heritage. Her father, Earl Wood, co-founded and was a member of the renowned powwow group Northern Cree, while her mother, Cynthia Jim, and sister, Fawn Wood, are also accomplished musicians. These early influences shaped Wood’s artistic path and continue to inform her work today. Her debut songs, including “Losing Game,” “Dirt Roads,” “Sky High,” “Catch and Release” and “Sugar and Cream,” are as eclectic and rich as the young adult experience. With sonically rich vocals and deeply personal storytelling, Tia Wood is carving out a distinctive voice in today’s music landscape.
