Kreviazuk, in her own voice Winnipeg-born singer talks latest album, Order of Manitoba induction By: Eva Wasney Posted: 4:00 PM CDT Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Chantal Kreviazuk is in the midst of a very busy year.

In May, the Winnipeg-born singer-songwriter released her 11th studio album, In My Own Voice — a project that reclaims and reimagines a selection of hit songs she’s written for some of the world’s biggest artists.

The 12-track album features Kreviazuk performing ethereal covers of Pitbull’s Feel This Moment, Drake’s Over My Dead Body and Gwen Stefani’s Rich Girl, among others.

But she didn’t stop there.

Kreviazuk also has an album of originals, titled Rockstar Joy, coming out later this year. And on Tuesday, she and husband Raine Maida, lead singer of Our Lady Peace, are set to release their joint memoir, I’m Going to Break Your Heart: A Rock N Roll Love Story.

The book details the ups and downs of the couple’s 25-year marriage, during which they’ve raised three boys while juggling demanding music careers. It’s a topic Kreviazuk and Maida have explored in other formats, including a 2019 documentary of the same name and an active Substack page.

The couple will share the spotlight this fall on their Break Your Heart Tour, which stops at Burton Cummings Theatre on Nov. 25.

Earlier this month, the Free Press met with Kreviazuk at Passage Café on Main Street to discuss this hectic, fulfilling season of life over a decaf latte and a dill pickle scone. The Juno Award-winning artist was in town to receive her investiture into the Order of Manitoba.

Free Press: How does it feel to be inducted into the Order of Manitoba?

Chantal Kreviazuk: I mean, I don’t want to pooh-pooh the Order of Canada, but this is special.

Not that many people have received it. When the lieutenant-governor (Anita Neville) called … I just became so emotional and said, ‘Well, I haven’t done anything,’ because I have friends that are nurses and doctors and front-line workers.

She said to me, ‘You’ve brought so much honour to Manitoba,’ and that made me cry. It’s very humbling.

FP: You’ve also been very busy creatively lately; what’s prompted that?

CK: I think it’s because my last son turned 18. It was like the last feather in my wing went pop and I just (jumped) off the cliff. Something shifted in me so hard watching him become a young man. I’ve done my job and if they come to me… I’ll bend over backwards for them, but I’m no longer micromanaging them and they no longer want or need that.

It’s not easy to be a mom of three and have a career and I worked really hard at both sides of it. I kept working, but in a different way, with a lot of other artists and celebrities to be their dream enabler.

FP: With In My Own Voice, you’re literally singing songs that you wrote for other people, in your own voice. Why was that a project you wanted to pursue?

CK: My agent suggested it years ago. And I have to say, I did not really want to do it. When I work with these superstars or whoever, I’m tight-lipped and super respectful. I’m incredibly grateful that I got to be in the room with all these amazing people and have experiences with them; it’s a privilege.

So it took me a long time to feel like it would be OK for me to do that. I could probably do another two albums like it, but I think that chunk of songs are the ones I felt most attached to.

FP: You and Raine have a book coming out shortly. Why did a memoir feel like a good addition to the conversations you’ve had publicly about your relationship in the past?

CK: Every medium provides such a different opportunity. There’s so much power to the literary word, for good and for bad. Words are like toothpaste, you can’t put them back and I’m petrified of that.

There are things that went wrong, there are things that got overlooked … and there are things I added and expanded on. (The editing process) is so interesting and you cannot do that with a song.

FP: The chapters go back and forth between your individual perspectives. Did you write separately and then put everything together?

CK: Yeah, I don’t even know if Raine read mine — that’s how much he trusts me.

FP: Have you read his chapters?

CK: Yes.

FP: Were you surprised by his recollections?

CK: I was blown away by his voice, I’m a hot mess compared to him. And that’s very indicative of us, I’m very different from him.

When you’re married to somebody, they have their own brain and their own narrative and you don’t have to agree. So you can read a chapter on a topic like the night we met at a Pearl Jam concert at Maple Leaf Gardens, how I remember the night may line up with his and it may not.

And there’s chapters where it’s so blatantly different and that’s OK — you can go through periods where you’re not compatible.

I think some of that comes across in the book, the acceptance and surrender and being at peace with things not being perfect or agreeable all the time.

FP: Part of the book describes your experiences with couple’s coaching. Why was that important to include?

CK: I believe in skill-building. I’m taking on another human being, they’re in my care and I’m not gonna ask some questions about it? What?

I only get to live one time, that person only gets to live one time… there’s a bit of a responsibility there to be accountable and dig around and find out.

If I was going to garden and plant a flower, I’d want to know how much shade it needed — I’d ask someone, I’d call my mother. When it comes to your relationship, it’s supposed to be a baptism by fire; like, no, it’s not.

FP: What do you hope people take away from reading I’m Going to Break Your Heart?

CK: I hope it’s a revolution, no matter how small or large. Because the world is designed for this marriage and coupling thing to fail.

Work ethic is a great teacher of mastery and excellence and your partnership should not be excluded from that. It isn’t a gift that is given to you, it’s something that you give to.

FP: What can people expect from your Winnipeg show in November and what are you looking forward to about the tour?

CK: I love my show alone, but my show with Raine is the ultimate date night for me. It’s really fun — it’s really fun.

You’ll get (Our Lady Peace) songs, you’ll get Chantal songs. I think it’s a really special show.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com