Terry Jacks

Decades after Canadian artist Terry Jacks scored a massive 1974 success with "Seasons in the Sun," the sentimental single continues to rank as the highest-selling release ever from any Canadian act. The track lingered beyond three months on American charts and beyond four months north of the border while moving in excess of eleven million units worldwide. Jacks later turned to production work for the Beach Boys, Nana Mouskouri, DOA, and Chilliwack, enjoying the proceeds enough to christen his speedboat after the same hit. Additional earnings flow from "Which Way You Goin' Billy?," the 1969 Poppy Family recording he made with then-wife Susan Pesklevits; that single reached number two in the United States, topped Canada's listings, earned four Juno Awards, and surpassed two million copies sold.

Personal matters proved bumpier. The union with Pesklevits ended in 1973. A subsequent marriage yielded a daughter named Holly yet also triggered accusations of spousal abuse; when police responded at Jacks' Sechelt, British Columbia residence in 2001, Canada's CNEWS reported an added charge of improper firearm storage alongside the assault allegation, though the rifle played no part in the claimed incident.

As a teenager Jacks declined family urging toward architecture, choosing instead to play guitar and sing with Vancouver group the Chessmen. The band issued two singles on London Records and two more on Mercury Records in the mid-sixties. He met his first wife during a Chessmen appearance on the Canadian television program Music Hop; together they later assembled the Poppy Family by adding guitarist Craig McCaw and tabla player Satwant Singh.

Prior to the breakthrough of "Which Way You Goin' Billy," the group placed two unsuccessful singles, "What Can the Matter Be" and "Beyond the Clouds." Subsequent modest successes arrived with "Where Evil Grows" and "That's Where I Went Wrong." Discomfort with live performance, combined with the demands of fame, prompted Jacks to disband the act. In 1973 he produced his wife's self-titled debut album and contributed the track "I Thought of You Again," which received a Juno Award nomination; despite the collaboration, the couple separated the same year.

Environmental pollution remains a central cause for the musician, who has positioned himself as a vocal adversary to major pulp and logging operations believed to breach Canadian regulations. He founded the group Environmental Watch to pursue that mission.