Suzie McNeil

Born in Mississauga, Ontario in 1976 to a family with strong musical leanings, Suzie McNeil began performing as a youngster alongside her mother and sister. Her versatile voice opened doors to commercial jingle work and backup vocal duties while she shared bills with Canadian notables including Garth Hudson, Jeff Healey, Ronnie Hawkins, and Alan Frew of Glass Tiger. She also fronted original outfits such as Fourstar and Rounder, yet her largest crowds came through tribute projects: AbbaMania, handling Agnetha Faltskog’s parts, and Sweetleaf, where she channeled Ozzy Osbourne in a Black Sabbath cover band.

Eager to expand beyond Canada, McNeil relocated to Los Angeles in 2005 to audition for Rock Star: INXS, competing among fifteen vocalists for the chance to front veteran Australian band INXS. She quickly became a viewer favorite and advanced to the Final Four, though J.D. Fortune ultimately won the role. Still, she appeared on the subsequent INXS album Switch recorded with Fortune; the exposure also secured a tour slot as a backing singer for Pink and a guest spot on Clay Aiken’s A Thousand Different Ways, where she dueted with the American Idol alumnus on the Foreigner staple “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

In spring 2007 McNeil issued her debut solo album, Broken and Beautiful, around the same period she joined the Toronto cast of We Will Rock You, the musical built from Queen’s catalog.