This cat will come back: Fred Penner's anniversary tour sidelined but not squashed by COVID-19

The cat came back the very next day. The cat came back, they thought he was a goner, but the cat came back. He just couldn't stay away

A generation of Canadian kids who grew up in the 1980s and 90s are likely to remember this chorus from The Cat Came Back, an infectious children's song and the titular track on longtime entertainer Fred Penner's 1979 debut album.

And like the cat he made so popular, Penner just couldn't stay away either until the pandemic struck.

Penner was in the midst of his cross-country tour celebrating 40 years since The Cat Came Back when COVID-19 physical distancing measures started to roll out.It was just hoursbefore a mid-March performance in Edmonton when Alberta Health Services told him he could not take the stageand the tour ground to a halt.

"It was surreal," said Penner, speaking to The Early Edition Friday from the home he shares with his wife, Rae Ellen Bodie, on Vancouver Island.

"She was very pleased when we finally did pull the plug for safety reasons," said Penner.

Now in his 70s, Pennerhas been playing foraudiences for almost 45 years and said he rarely has gone two months without performing during the last four decades.

And this current downtime is not going to stop him using song totry and lift Canadian spirits up.

Watch Fred Penner perform live on The Early Edition:

Fred Penner performs live on The Early Edition

5 years ago

Duration 2:41

Popular childrens entertainer dedicates song to Canadian front-line workers

Penner has played a few virtual shows while home and Friday morning was no exception when he pulled out his guitarand performedProud,a song he first played more than 30 years ago.

Penner dedicated his pre-sunrise performance to front-line workers across the country.

The Winnipeg-born star of CBC's Fred Penner's Place for 13 seasons, from 1985 to 1997, said he will be back on stage when the coast is COVID-19 clear.

"I never thought I would retire actually, there are so many gigs that I really love and I just love being on stage," said Penner.

But involuntary retirement isn't all bad. Penner said he is taking the time to play guitar, do some drawing, plant a garden, and catch up on a little Netflix viewing.

Watch an episode of Fred Penner's Place where Penner comforts a friend starting school for the first time:

Some of Penner's tour dates are tentatively on the books for 2021 and he said when he does get to perform before people again he expects it will be pretty emotional.

"I think there will be tears," he said.

And until then, if there are tears in your house, it might be worth watching some classic Fred Penner's Place to help calm and entertain the little people, or the aging millennials, in your life.

Click here to watch episodes of Fred Penner's Place on CBC Kids.

Click here to watch the documentary, Take Good Care of Each Other: The Fred Penner Story, on CBC Gem.

To hear the complete interview with Fred Penner on The Early Edition, tap the audio link below: