Tara Slone
Born (1973-09-07) September 7, 1973 (age 50)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
OriginHalifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
GenresRock
OccupationsSinger
LabelsOrange Record Label

Tara Kamala Slone (born September 7, 1973) is a Canadian rock vocalist, actress and television personality.[1][2]

Early life and education

Slone was born in Montreal, Quebec, and raised in Wolfville and Halifax, Nova Scotia.[3] Her stepfather Dr. Tomacz Pietrzykowski was the Dean of the School of Computer Science at Acadia University.[4] She began pursuing classical voice training at the age of 12 with the goal of becoming an opera singer. Her first job was at a Second Cup in Halifax when she was in high school as a barista for a few months before working at Sam the Record Man. She connected with music lovers and indie musicians, which she credits as influencing her taste in music.[5] At the age of 18, she attended first Dalhousie University and then Concordia University to pursue a degree in music. While at Concordia, she switched her aspirations to acting and rock music, and subsequently moved to Toronto, Ontario.[6]

Acting career

In the mid-1990s, Slone played Columbia in the theatre version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in front of sold-out crowds when it stopped at the Grand Theatre in Kingston, Ontario.[7] In 2016, Slone appeared on stage at the Stratford Festival in the play The Hypochondriac.[8]

In 1998, Slone landed a recurring role in La Femme Nikita.[9] She appeared in three episodes. In 2008, she appeared in an episode of the second season of The Border, titled "Prescriptive Measures", as an American pop star who dies early on in the episode, which sparks the main plot of the episode.

Music career

In 1996, Slone became the lead singer of Joydrop after discovering a wanted ad for a singer in the magazine Now. By 1997, Joydrop had a record deal[6] and released two albums. The band had chart hits in Canada with the singles "Beautiful" and "Sometimes Wanna Die,"[10] (which also reached #20 on the American Billboard Alternative chart)[11] and was nominated for a Juno Award.[12]

Since the breakup of Joydrop, Slone worked on a solo album with Jordon Zadorozny. Her latest album, Just Look Pretty and Sing, was released on March 6, 2007, but was completed before appearing on the reality show Rock Star INXS in 2005. Singles released include "My Little Secret", "We Were Stars" and "The Perfect Girl."[10] Joydrop reunited on April 2, 2017, edition of Hometown Hockey in Guelph, Ontario with Slone performing "Beautiful".[13]

Slone competed on Rock Star INXS in 2005, a reality show that sought to find a replacement lead singer for the band INXS.[14] She was the sixth person eliminated from the competition.[15] She previously resided in Toronto, sharing a house with fellow Rock Star INXS contestant Suzie McNeil.[16] The two appeared in an episode of MTV Cribs, giving viewers a tour of their house.[17]

Broadcasting career

From August 9, 2010, to August 28, 2015, Slone served as the host of Breakfast Television on Citytv Calgary.[9]

Beginning in 2014, Slone joined Sportsnet, acting as an on-site co-host for its new Sunday-night Rogers Hometown Hockey broadcasts alongside Ron MacLean.[18] The show was cancelled in 2022 and Slone parted ways with Sportsnet.[19]

In 2020, Slone was named host of a new weekly Sportsnet docuseries called Top of Her Game, which focuses on women's rights through interviews with female athletes, builders and executives.[20][21] In the same year she was host of the summer concert series Budweiser Stage at Home for the Citytv network,[22] for which she received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Host in a Talk Show or Entertainment News Series at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards.[23] In 2022, she accepted a position with the NHL's San Jose Sharks as a content contributor, and has also joined NBC Sports Bay Area on their Sharks broadcasts.[24] After Sharks goalie James Reimer didn’t practice with the team before their LGBTQIA+ Pride Night, Slone said in an interview with The Athletic, that it made her feel “sick to her stomach” that he didn’t participate with the rest of the team.[25]

Personal life

She is separated and has a daughter.[9] Slone now lives in California with former NHL defenceman Dan Boyle.[19]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues[26]
1995 Hart to Hart: Two Harts in 3/4 Time Vivienne
1997 Night of the Demons III Lois
1998 Twist of Fate Melanie Sims
2003 Foolproof Maggie
2004 The Straitjacket Lottery Nancy Leah
2005 Rockstar: INXS Contestant DVD release
2009 Rise Up: Canadian Pop Music in the 1980s Self
2014 The Owen Hart Foundation: A Look Back Self (Documentary short)

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Larissa Episode "Dark Side of Chi"
1997 The Newsroom Episode "Meltdown: Part 3"
1997-98 La Femme Nikita Gail (and Gail as Tara Slone) Episodes "Inside Out", "Darkness Visible", "Noise"
2001 Special Unit 2 Self Episode "The Wall"
2005 Canoe Live Producer
2005 Rock Star: INXS Self Finalist
2007 Best! Movies! Ever! Self (Musician) Episode "Road Trips"
2007–2010 Inside Jam[27] Co-host Sun TV
2008 The Border Kiley Tristano Episode "Prescriptive Measures"
2010–2015 Breakfast Television Calgary[28] Co-host
2014–2022 Hometown Hockey Co-host / Producer
2019 Hudson and Rex Greta Fermi[29] Episode "Bullet in the water"
2020 Budweiser Stage at Home Host 8 episodes
2020–2021 Top of Her Game Host 48 episodes

References

  1. ^ "Tara Slone". Canada.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2015.
  2. ^ Sloane, Tara. "Spent my life being asked if my middle name was "Kamala, like the wrestler?"". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26.
  3. ^ "10 Things You Didn't Know About: Tara Slone". HometownHockey. November 6, 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-11-06.
  4. ^ DeCoste, John (December 1, 2015). "Hometown Hockey host comes home with Annapolis Valley stop". Saltwire. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  5. ^ Niedoba, Sarah (January 13, 2017). ""Hometown Hockey" host Tara Slone on building an unconventional career". Canadian Business. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Atwater, Lee Ann. "In the Spotlight – Tara Slone – Juno-nominated Vocalist, Actor, Producer and Television Personality". Spotlight on Business Magazine. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  7. ^ McAlpine, Ian (November 9, 2017). "Hockey show to pay tribute to military, Downie". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  8. ^ Slone, Tara [@TaraSlone] (October 12, 2016). "About to take the stage at the Stratford Festival!" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-04-02 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ a b c Volmers, Eric. "Tara Slone says goodbye after five years co-hosting Calgary's Breakfast Television". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Bliss, Karen (March 23, 2007). "Tara Slone: Not just a pretty face". Elle. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  11. ^ "Joydrop". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  12. ^ Everett-Green, Robert (February 12, 2002). "Juno smiles on the many". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  13. ^ Saxon, Tony (April 3, 2017). "Guelph celebrates with Rogers Hometown Hockey (13 photos)". Guelphtoday.com. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  14. ^ "INXS winner: from living in a car to rock star". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. September 21, 2005. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  15. ^ "Tara Slone Is the Sixth Performer Eliminated from the Competition on "Rock Star: Inxs"" (Press release). CBS. August 5, 2005. Retrieved December 29, 2022 – via futoncritic.com.
  16. ^ Kates, Kathryn (May 19, 2007). "Last woman standing". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  17. ^ "MTV Cribs Season 3 episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  18. ^ Bradshaw, James. "Rogers' Hockey Night in Canada will be a whole new game for viewers". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  19. ^ a b Fitz-Gerald, Sean (July 15, 2022). "Tara Slone on losing 'Hometown Hockey': 'I wasn't prepared for the grief that I would feel'". The Athletic. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  20. ^ Doyle, John (July 6, 2020). "Sexism and the great Canadian cable sports-TV swindle". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  21. ^ Yeo, Debra (June 22, 2020). "Just four new shows are joining the fall Citytv schedule". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  22. ^ "Black Crowes, the Trews among artists in Budweiser Stage at Home TV concerts". CityNews. Canadian Press. May 25, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  23. ^ Furdyk, Brent (March 30, 2021). "Television Nominees Announced For 2021 Canadian Screen Awards, 'Schitt's Creek' Leads The Pack With 21 Nominations". ET Canada. Archived from the original on April 1, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  24. ^ "Renowned Media Personality Tara Slone Joins the Sharks". San Jose Sharks. July 15, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  25. ^ https://theathletic.com/4329560/2023/03/20/tara-slone-james-reimer-sharks-nbc/?amp=1
  26. ^ "Tara Slone". IMDb.
  27. ^ "Tara Slone joins SUN-TV". article.wn.com.
  28. ^ "Tara Slone says goodbye after five years co-hosting Calgary's Breakfast Television". calgaryherald.
  29. ^ "Bullet in the Water - Guest Cast | TVmaze". www.tvmaze.com.

External links

Rock Star: INXS
Authority control databases
Categories