Triumph were one of the three musical acts to receive notable distinctions at Canada’s Walk Of Fame 21st annual gala staged at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre Saturday night (November 23).

The Walk Of Fame was first conceived in 1996 when co-founder Peter Soumalias suggested a Walk Of Fame for famous Torontonians to the board of the Toronto Entertainment District Association. They rejected his idea, but he went on to establish a Walk Of Fame for Canadians in partnership with Bill Ballard, Dusty Cohl and Gary Slaight.

Triumph’s Gil Moore, Mike Levine and Rik Emmett were given entrance to accept their honorary award by longstanding friend and fellow journeyman Tom Cochrane, who was both serious in his praise of the trio’s accomplishments and in his demeanour.

Formed in 1975 and signed to Attic Records a year later, Triumph's hook-laden power rock caught the ear of San Antonio concert promoter and DJ Joe Anthony who put several of their songs into power rotation and booked them for five shows across Texas. It was the band’s breakout moment and they just kept going, selling several million albums along the way and becoming giants on the stadium rock circuit in North America and Europe.

Among their notable headlining shows was an appearance at California’s US festival in 1983. The brainchild of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and staged in conjunction with concert promoter Bill Graham, the festival reportedly attracted 670,000 fans over three days, and lost US$12M. Triumph’s Sunday show was set between Judas Priest and the Scorpions, in front of an audience pegged at about 225,000 people.

Following Sport Of Kings in 1986, the band members went their separate ways, with Emmett forging a successful solo career, Moore founding the Metalworks studio complex and music academy, and Levine actively merchandising the band’s brand and songs. They sold their copyrights for a high figure to an American IP firm several years ago, and more recently have reunited for a documentary. Entitled Triumph: Lay It On the Line. The 2020 release is a co-production between Banger Films, in association with Revolver Films and Bell Media’s streaming service Crave. Gary Slaight is a co-investor in the project.

The doc is likely to be released in conjunction with a ‘tribute’ album featuring notables in the genre performing the band’s string of hit songs and there is talk of some reunion shows featuring Emmett, Moore and Levine.

Following Triumph's moment on stage, Gowan took to the spotlight to perform a medley of the band's best-known songs with a nine-piece Rock Army. It was an electric performance as the frontman from Styx commanded the stage in perfect pitch and played his electronic keyboard as if he were part Billy Joel, part Elton John. The show ended with a waterfall of white lightning from flash pods and sundry other pyrotechnic gear.

The awards broadcast is slated for December 2019 on CTV. Read more at FYIMusicNews.ca.

At the ceremony Rik Emmett, Mike Levine and Gil Moore discussed recently getting the band back together to film their documentary, Lay It On The Line, and how their fans reacted to seeing them play as a group again. Watch this video from ET Canada.

Ecstatic to present #Mississauga’s home-grown @TriumphTheBand with Keys to the City 🗝 tonight as they were inducted into the @CWOFame Thank you for putting Mississauga’s music scene on the map and for championing music for job creation and growth. Congratulations! #CWOF2019 pic.twitter.com/mBLguXkffv

— Bonnie Crombie 🇨🇦 (@BonnieCrombie) November 24, 2019