Overview
Steven Jay Page (born June 22, 1970) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies. Page left the band in February 2009 to pursue a solo career.
Early life
Page was born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, in Ontario. After skipping grade one, he was enrolled in Scarborough's gifted program at Churchill Heights Public School. Page's father, Victor, was a drummer, as is his brother, Matthew. As a child, Page would attempt to play songs on the piano, while his dad would keep the beat on the drums. Page took ten years of piano lessons (though claimed he did not learn to play). He also was a member of the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir.
During childhood, Page had his best friend "stolen" by a schoolmate, Ed Robertson, and resented Robertson for some time. The two went to high school at Woburn Collegiate Institute but steered clear of each other until Page spotted Robertson at a Harvey's restaurant after a Peter Gabriel concert and was surprised to find that Robertson was also a fan. This led to Page and Robertson talking, becoming friends, and ultimately, forming BNL. They were both counsellors at the Scarborough Schools Music Camp in the summer of 1988, where some of their early collaborations in music were born. Page wrote songs with his friend Geoff Pounsett and made tapes of those songs. Robertson had obtained a tape the two had made, and knew some of Page's songs.
Career
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).