Tara Slone

Tara Kamala Slone (born September 7, 1973) is a Canadian rock vocalist, actress and television personality.

Early life and education Slone was born in Montreal, Quebec, and raised in Wolfville and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her stepfather Dr. Tomasz Pietrzykowski was the Dean of the School of Computer Science at Acadia University. She began pursuing classical voice training at the age of 12 with the goal of becoming an opera singer. Her first job was at a Second Cup in Halifax when she was in high school as a barista for a few months before working at Sam the Record Man.

At Sam's, she worked alongside future Sloan member Jay Ferguson, connected with music lovers and indie musicians, which she credits as influencing her taste in music. At the age of 18, she attended first Dalhousie University and then Concordia University to pursue a degree in music. While at Concordia, she switched her aspirations to acting and rock music, and subsequently moved to Toronto, Ontario.

Acting career In the mid-1990s, Slone played Columbia in the theatre version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in front of sold-out crowds when it stopped at the Grand Theatre in Kingston, Ontario. In 2016, Slone appeared on stage at the Stratford Festival in the play The Hypochondriac.

In 1997, Slone starred in Night of the Demons 3, and in 1998, she landed a recurring role in La Femme Nikita. (which also reached #20 on the American Billboard Alternative chart) and was nominated for a Juno Award.

Since the breakup of Joydrop, Slone worked on a solo album with Jordon Zadorozny. Her latest album, Just Look Pretty and Sing, was released on March 6, 2007, but was completed before appearing on the reality show Rock Star INXS in 2005. Singles released include "My Little Secret", "We Were Stars", and "The Perfect Girl."

Slone competed on Rock Star INXS in 2005, a reality show that sought to find a replacement lead singer for the band INXS. She was the sixth person eliminated from the competition. She previously resided in Toronto, sharing a house with fellow Rock Star INXS contestant Suzie McNeil. The two appeared in an episode of MTV Cribs, giving viewers a tour of their house.

Broadcasting career From August 9, 2010, to August 28, 2015, Slone served as the host of Breakfast Television on Citytv Calgary.

Beginning in 2014, Slone joined Sportsnet, acting as an on-site co-host for its new Sunday-night Rogers Hometown Hockey broadcasts alongside Ron MacLean. The show was cancelled in 2022 and Slone parted ways with Sportsnet.

In 2020, Slone was named host of a new weekly Sportsnet docuseries called Top of Her Game, which focuses on women's rights through interviews with female athletes, builders and executives. In the same year she was host of the summer concert series Budweiser Stage at Home for the Citytv network, for which she received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Host in a Talk Show or Entertainment News Series at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards. In 2022, she accepted a position with the NHL's San Jose Sharks as a content contributor, and has also joined NBC Sports Bay Area on their Sharks broadcasts. On June 8, 2024, Slone announced she was moving back to Canada to work for Sirius XM radio in music and entertainment programs.

Personal life She is separated and has a daughter named Audrey. 1995 Hart to Hart: Two Harts in 3/4 Time Vivienne 1997 Night of the Demons III Lois 1998 Twist of Fate Melanie Sims 2003 Foolproof Maggie 2004 The Straitjacket Lottery Nancy Leah 2005 Rockstar: INXS Contestant DVD release 2009 Rise Up: Canadian Pop Music in the 1980s Self 2014 The Owen Hart Foundation: A Look Back Self (Documentary short)

Television Year Title Role Notes 1996 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Larissa Episode "Dark Side of Chi" 1997 The Newsroom Episode "Meltdown: Part 3" 1997-98 La Femme Nikita Gail (and Gail as Tara Slone) Episodes "Inside Out", "Darkness Visible", "Noise" 2001 Special Unit 2 Self Episode "The Wall" 2005 Canoe Live Producer 2005 Rock Star: INXS Self Finalist 2007 Best! Movies! Ever! Self (Musician) Episode "Road Trips" 2007–2010 Inside Jam Co-host Sun TV 2008 The Border Kiley Tristano Episode "Prescriptive Measures" 2010–2015 Breakfast Television Calgary Co-host 2014–2022 Hometown Hockey Co-host / Producer 2019 Hudson and Rex Greta Fermi Episode "Bullet in the water" 2020 Budweiser Stage at Home Host 8 episodes 2020–2021 Top of Her Game Host 48 episodes