John Mann

John Fraser Mann (September 18, 1962 – November 20, 2019) was a Canadian rock musician, songwriter and actor. He was best known as the frontman of the folk rock band Spirit of the West.

Early career

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Mann relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, to study theatre at Studio 58. He left Studio 58 in 1983 and co-founded the band Spirit of the West. The band released its first independent album the following year.

Spirit of the West's music is a mixture of folk, Alternative rock and pop with a Celtic-influenced sound. an "iconic drinking song" by Alex Cooper of the Revelstoke Times Review, and "Canada's unofficial national anthem" by Patricia D'Cunha of CityNews. and was ranked #89 on the National Post list of "The Top 100 Canadian Singles".

Mann also played lead guitar for Spirit of the West until 2013, prior to his diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Weeks after the announcement, Mann performed a concert featuring both his solo material and Spirit of the West, which was broadcast by CBC Television's Absolutely Canadian in July 2015 as "John Mann Here and Now".

Mann also released three solo albums: Acoustic Kitty, December Looms and The Waiting Room. The Waiting Room deals with the topic of Mann's battle with colorectal cancer, and was adapted into a theatrical work by Morris Panych which was produced by Vancouver's Arts Club Theatre Company in 2015. Although Mann was initially slated to play the lead role, due to his health he did not do so, although he performed the songs from the album as part of the show. he appeared in the Millennium episode "Via Dolorosa" that aired in May 1999.

Mann went on to appear on several television shows as a guest actor, including Cold Squad, Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, and Da Vinci's Inquest. He also played recurring characters in the series Whistler, Haunted, Blood Ties, and Intelligence. In the film he portrayed the character Slade Craven—a goth rocker reminiscent of Marilyn Manson who stages a concert in a 747—and Simon Flanders—a passenger of the flight who is a Satanic fan planning to crash the plane in Eastern Kansas while disguised as Craven. In 2010, he starred in the rock musical Beyond Eden, which was mounted by both the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company and Theatre Calgary.

Personal life Mann was married to actress and playwright Jill Daum. Harlan Daumann is also a musician, whose song "By Tomorrow" was recorded by Mann on his solo album December Looms.

Prior to marrying Daum, he was romantically linked with Jean Smith of the band Mecca Normal, who was revealed in the 2001 book Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995 as the inspiration behind one of Spirit of the West's best-known hit singles, "Political".

Illness and death In 2009, Mann was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which he overcame in 2010, and by 2011, he had made a full recovery. Mann said he had noted memory issues during his acting performances as far back as 2001, and he later experienced issues with remembering lyrics and guitar chords during his musical performances. Mann continued to perform occasional small-scale solo shows, including an appearance at a fundraiser for Alzheimer's charities in June 2016.

Mann underwent a stem cell procedure in hopes of helping his Alzheimer's. An online fundraiser in December 2015 quickly amassed more than $55,000 for the procedure. The procedure took place at a clinic in Mexico because the therapy had not been approved in Canada. The film was screened at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in April 2016, and two for Daum's Alzheimer-related theatrical play Forget About Tomorrow.

Following his diagnosis, musicians in Toronto staged an annual benefit concert, consisting of Spirit of the West songs and other favourite songs of Mann's, to raise money for Alzheimer's research. Performers at the 2017 "Spirit of John" event included Steven Page, Danny Michel, Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson of Skydiggers, Tom Wilson, Martin Tielli, Kevin Kane, Danny Greaves, Justin Rutledge, and Damhnait Doyle. A similar show in 2019 included Greaves, Maize, Finlayson, Doyle, Kane, Royal Wood, Andrew Cash, Jim Cuddy, Dayna Manning, and Chris Tait.

In 2017, friends and colleagues organized a similar concert in Vancouver on November 19 at the Commodore Ballroom, with a lineup including Spirit of the West, Odds, Barney Bentall, Dustin Bentall, Jim Byrnes, Kendel Carson, Jim Cuddy, Alan Doyle, Colin James, Sarah McLachlan, Ed Robertson, Shari Ulrich, and Spirit: The Next Generation, an act consisting of the band members' children. Before the Vancouver show, the performing musicians participated in a group recording of the band's signature song "Home for a Rest" as a tribute to Mann.

In 2018, Vancouver's Off the Rail Brewing Company introduced The Spirit Lifter, a limited-edition pilsner, to raise funds for Mann's medical costs.

Mann died in Vancouver on November 20, 2019, at age 57, from complications related to early-onset Alzheimer's.

Discography Acoustic Kitty (2002) December Looms (2007) The Waiting Room (2014)