Blue Rodeo gets place in Canadian Hall of Fame

Blue Rodeo, the rock band known for hits like Side of the Road and Already Gone, will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 2012 Juno Awards.

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced the honour on Monday, calling Blue Rodeo "one of Canada's most beloved bands."

"I'm sure many Canadians feel just like I do...that Blue Rodeo has been there with a song that deeply resonated with certain moments of our lives over the last 25 years or so," CARAS president Melanie Berry said in a press statement.

Blue Rodeo, formed in 1984 in Toronto, has been part of the Canadian music scene since its 1987 album Outskirts.

Led by songwriters Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, the current lineup includes Bazil Donovan, Bob Egan, Glenn Milchem and Mike Boguski.

Cuddy and Keelor began collaborating in 1977, and played in punk-influenced band the HiFis in New York. After returning to Toronto, they put together a band withDonovan on bass, Bob Wiseman on keyboards and Cleave Anderson on drums. The lineup has changed over the past 25 years, but Keelor and Cuddy remain at the heart of Blue Rodeo's pop-country-rock sound.

Blue Rodeo has sold four million records, including 1990s Casino, 1992s Lost Together and 1993s Five Days In July. It also has 11 Juno Awards.

Although Cuddy and Keelor have pursued solo projects, the band continues to tour and was last in the studio in 2009 to record The Things We Left Behind.

The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established in 1978 and recognizes Canadian artists that have attained commercial success while having a positive impact on the Canadian music scene. Previous inductees include Anne Murray, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Oscar Petersen and Tom Cochrane.

The Juno Awards ceremony is scheduled for April 1, 2012 in Ottawa.