chantal and raine

How They Met: Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida on 25 years in harmony

This month, Chantal Kreviazuk is taking the stage at Massey Hall in honour of the 25th anniversary of her double-platinum selling album, Colour Moving and Still. But thereโ€™s another 25th milestone for her to celebrate โ€” her wedding anniversary with Our Lady Peace lead singer Raine Maida. With a double memoir on the way and upcoming tours for both members of this musical power couple, Chantal shares the details of their Roman proposal and rock โ€™nโ€™ roll meeting.ย 

How they met

Raine and I met at a Pearl Jam concert at Maple Leaf Gardens on Sept. 21, 1996.

The first date

 

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Raine joined me at my wrap party for my video for my first single, โ€œGod Made Me,โ€ at the Rivoli on Queen. I donโ€™t remember much about the party.โ€ฆ We left the Riv, and he took me back to my hotel. We ultimately couldnโ€™t stay apart!ย 

The proposal

Raine and I were at the Vatican, and he was behaving a bit strangely, dragging me quickly through rooms and corridors. Eventually I learned that his plan to propose in the Sistine Chapel was botched by how congested it was in there with tourists, so he landed us in the octagonal courtyard at a stone bench. He got on one knee and then the world stopped. He asked me if I would do him the honour of being his wife. I said yes. He had a box with a solitaire diamond in it. It fit perfectly. We then drove through Rome via horse and buggy and stopped in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and took it all in.ย ย 

The wedding and honeymoon

We were married on Dec. 19, 1999, at the Estates of Sunnybrookโ€™s McLean House. We honeymooned in Barbados. Short and sweet โ€” Raine had a tour!

The kids

 

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We have three sons; Rowan is 20, Lucca is 19, and Salvador is 16.

Shared hobbies and interests

We love to hike and stand-up paddle. We love to do almost everything together including singing and writing songs and performing together, talking about bloody everything, watching movies and collecting art, giving to causes we care about and growing with them, including War Child.

The secret to success

One of my best friends says that weโ€™ll be together forever because we talk all the time about everything, and weโ€™re really just the closest of friends. I think weโ€™re lucky because we like each other and also weโ€™re inexplicably in love.

Balancing careersย and a relationship

We have our own individual lives and purposes that we constantly are called to, and so I think it brings a perfect balance or โ€œinterdependencyโ€ to the relationship. I am not obsessed with or micromanaging him in every area of his life, nor is he mine.ย 

The future together

Raine and I will simply take care of each other, grow old together and share ourselves with our audiences as individuals and as a couple until the end of time. Somewhere in there, the kids forgive us for a lot of stuff and bring the grandchildren home often. We love our family and the life we have created together and start each day with a fresh and positive outlook, as though itโ€™s our first and maybe our last together. We reset, refresh and repeat, and I canโ€™t see it stopping anytime soon.ย 

Whatโ€™s next

I am thrilled to have my family present when I play my show at Massey Hall in Toronto this Nov. 8 in honour of the 25th anniversary of my album Colour Moving and Still. Then weโ€™ll celebrate 25 years married with the release of our double memoir, and weโ€™ll keep pushing our message of hope and joy for couples and normalize the challenges we all face. Raine has a giant arena tour across Canada in the new year, and I have a few projects coming out in 2025, so it is sure to be a jam-packed few more years!

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