Cape Breton singer-songwriter Bruce Guthro dies at 62

Bruce Guthro, one of Cape Breton's most well-known troubadours whose remarkable 40-year career made waves on both sides of the Atlantic, has died.

Guthro passed away on Tuesday evening after a battle with cancer. He had just celebrated his 62nd birthday on Aug. 31.

He leaves behind his wife, Kim Anderson-Guthro, two children, Jodi and Dylan Guthro, as well as many family and friends.

Guthro was born on Cape Breton Island and started his career fronting a band at local clubs and legions — what his longtime friend and colleague J.P. Cormier described as his "first career," as Guthro would reinvent his place in the music industry many times over.

He would later move to the Halifax area and go on to have a successful solo career before fronting the hugely popular Scottish band Runrig for 20 years.

More recently, he brought together both established and up-and-coming artists in his mould-breaking songwriters' circles, where the musicians face each other, away from the audience, allowing a vulnerable and emotional atmosphere of storytelling.

Cormier described Guthro as "one of the most likable people you ever met in your life."

"He was so incredibly proactive and positive. But it was impossible to stop it. And that's what inspired all of us," said Cormier, who knew Guthro for more than 30 years.

"He saw the universality of us as writers, but also saw the thing that made us different, which made us stronger. And he was compelled, for some reason, to demonstrate that to the world over and over and over again, and that's what the circles were."

Guthro marched to the beat of his own drum, said Cormier, forging his own path in a cutthroat industry through his ability to connect with people and brush off negativity.

In his early days, even as he was signed to a major label and rose to number 1 in the Canadian charts with Walk This Road, Guthro always avoided the "troublemakers" of the business and floated above adversity, said Cormier.

"He was very smart. He knew people. He knew more about people than most guys I've met," said Cormier, who has himself sat in Guthro's circle more times than he can count.

"He loved people and so his success was unavoidable."

In the late 1990s, a Celtic band from Scotland called Runrig was looking for a new lead singer. Enter Guthro, who held the band's main microphone until their final performance in 2018, which drew more than 50,000 people.