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Salome Bey — Canada’s First Lady of the Blues
Salome Bey’s journey from Newark, New Jersey to Toronto is the story of how one woman reshaped the sound and presence of Black music in Canada. Known to audiences as Canada’s First Lady of the Blues, she was far more than a singer: she was a storyteller, an educator, and a force who brought jazz, blues, gospel, and theatre into one dynamic career.
Born October 10, 1933 in Newark, Bey was raised in a working-class family where music was a natural part of daily life. She attended the city’s renowned Arts High School, the same incubator that produced Sarah Vaughan and Wayne Shorter. With her brother Andy Bey and sister Geraldine Bey de Haas, she formed the trio Andy and the Bey Sisters. Their sound—tight harmonies delivered with jazz sophistication—carried them to stages across the U.S. and Europe. They recorded for RCA Victor and Prestige, even catching the ear of Chet Atkins, who produced their debut LP.
By 1964, Bey had chosen Toronto as her new home. The city’s club circuit gave her a platform, and almost immediately she stood out: not only for her commanding voice, but for her ability to connect popular standards with a deep blues tradition. In a country still shaping its cultural identity, her arrival was transformative.
Her career spanned multiple art forms. She collaborated with Horace Silver, recording two albums that underscored her jazz credentials, but she also brought her talents to theatre. On Broadway, she appeared in Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, earning a Grammy nomination for the cast recording. In Toronto, she created Indigo, a sweeping revue on the history of Black music that won two Dora Mavor Moore Awards and later became a televised special.
Bey never allowed herself to be confined to a single stage. She performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, recorded live with the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir, and even shared musicians with hip-hop’s early pioneers—Run-DMC bassist and producer Larry Smith once held down her rhythm section. Her holiday special Salome Bey’s Christmas Soul became a CBC favourite, uniting her with artists like Molly Johnson and Jackie Richardson, while her participation in the all-star charity single Tears Are Not Enough placed her alongside Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, and Bryan Adams as part of Canada’s response to the Ethiopian famine.
Equally significant was her work offstage. Alongside her late husband Howard Matthews, co-founder of Toronto’s Underground Railroad restaurant, she nurtured spaces where Black culture could thrive. She mentored younger singers—including her own daughters tUkU and SATE—and continually championed representation in Canadian arts. Her later years brought recognition equal to her influence: the Toronto Arts Award (1992), the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for lifetime achievement (1996), the Order of Canada (2005), and induction into the Canada Walk of Fame (2021).
Bey’s final years were marked by dementia, but her legacy never dimmed. She remains celebrated not only for her voice but for her vision: an artist who carried the weight of history with joy, who bridged the blues of the Deep South with the stages of Canada, and who opened doors for those who followed. In every sense, Salome Bey embodied her title—Canada’s First Lady of the Blues.
-Robert Williston
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