Sylvia Tyson
Sylvia Tyson, CM (born Sylvia Fricker, 19 September 1940, Chatham, Ontario, Canada), is a musician, performer, singer-songwriter and broadcaster.
Early years
The second of four children, her father was an appliance salesman for the T. Eaton Company, and her mother was a church organist, who also led the choir. Although her parents both loved music, they tried to discourage Sylvia from pursuing a career as an entertainer. But she says she knew from a young age that she wanted to be a singer, and she left Chatham in 1959 to perform in Toronto.
Ian & Sylvia
From 1959 to 1974, she was half of the popular folk duo Ian & Sylvia with Ian Tyson. The two met after a friend of Ian Tyson's heard her sing at a party and let Ian know about her; Ian had been performing in Toronto clubs as a solo artist, but after he and Sylvia met, they decided to work together as a duo. From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, she and Ian Tyson also fronted the country rock band Great Speckled Bird. Since 1993, she has been a member of the all-female folk group Quartette.
