Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, Oscar Peterson and Neil Young all have a spot in one building. It sounds like the start of a joke, but it’s simply what Studio Bell does. And no, we’re not complaining.
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre at 850 4 Street SE, houses four halls of fame. Visitors find musical artifacts, one of a kind memorabilia and tributes to inductees. If you’ve ever wanted to see Canadian music history lined up in one place, this is it.
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame is the big one. It was established in 1978 by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, known as CARAS. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, the first inductees were Guy Lombardo, honoured after his death, and Oscar Peterson. Inductees are announced at the JUNOs, and the National Music Centre collects and shows the collection in partnership with CARAS, including a display of plaques with the winners’ names.
Here’s the charming part. For decades the hall had no physical home. A 2005 plan for a Toronto hall at Yonge-Dundas Square never came together. Then in 2011, CARAS teamed up with the National Music Centre in Calgary and the Canadian Country Music Association to build a facility in the East Village. Construction of the $191 million Studio Bell began in early 2013, and the doors opened on Canada Day 2016. So a hall of fame that spent years waiting for an address found one in the East Village. Calgary, you did good.
The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame has called Studio Bell its official home since 2009, when the National Music Centre acquired a large collection of country memorabilia from the estate of founder Gary Buck. The centre now works with the Canadian Country Music Association to collect and exhibit related artifacts.
The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame is the country’s only songwriting hall of fame, a bilingual non-profit honouring the people behind the songs. SOCAN acquired it in 2011, and it moved into Studio Bell in 2016.
The ADISQ Hall of Fame arrived in 2020 through a partnership with the National Music Centre. ADISQ is Quebec’s music industry association, founded in 1978, so Quebec’s story now sits alongside the rest.
One more good detail. Since 2019, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame has honoured several inductees each year at a separate ceremony at Studio Bell. That means the building isn’t only a place to look back. It’s a place where new names get added to the wall.
In July 2026, Studio Bell’s website featured an exhibition on Nelly Furtado, listed as a 2026 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee. Check the site to see what’s on now, and let that be your reason to visit.
Four halls, four different doors into Canadian music. There are the pop and rock stars, the country storytellers, the songwriters and Quebec’s industry. Pick the one you grew up with and start there, because it’s a lot more fun to wander when you already know a few of the names.
New to the building? Start with how one organ became Studio Bell, then read about how The Hip’s farewell came to Studio Bell. Then go, wander the halls and see which plaque makes you grin. We’d bet you’ll find a favourite within five minutes.
Sources: Studio Bell, Canadian Music Halls of Fame; The Canadian Encyclopedia, Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
There’s more where this came from. Start with W.O. Mitchell made High River a literary address, or jump to Fred Bagley Taught Calgary How to March in Time.
More from the archive: A College Orchestra Carried Calgary’s Symphony Charter.
Quick answers
Four halls of fame are at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre at 850 4 Street SE in Calgary’s East Village. They are the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and the ADISQ Hall of Fame.
Studio Bell opened on Canada Day 2016. Construction of the $191 million building began in early 2013, after CARAS, the National Music Centre and the Canadian Country Music Association teamed up in 2011 to build a facility in the East Village.
According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, the first inductees were Guy Lombardo, honoured after his death, and Oscar Peterson. CARAS established the hall in 1978. Since 2019 it has honoured several inductees each year at a separate ceremony at Studio Bell.
