A stretch of Winnipeg’s Disraeli Freeway has been given an honorary name to celebrate an iconic Canadian band that helped put Winnipeg on the rock ‘n’ roll map.
The southernmost portion of street, running off Main Street, was officially given the commemorative name Bachman-Turner Overdrive during an unveiling ceremony on Friday morning.
Last year, city council’s property committee passed a motion by Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie asking for the renaming in honour of the band’s contributions to the music industry, and frontman Randy Bachman’s work “putting Winnipeg on the map during his continuing career.”
As the city officially put up the signs with the new honorary name on an unseasonably cold morning, the celebrated guitarist offered thanks for “the very appropriate weather.”
“It’s the reason I left Winnipeg,” said Bachman, laughing.
“But I love coming back.… It was great growing up here. Rock ‘n’ roll was great,” said Bachman, who rose to fame in the 1960s as the guitarist with another famed Winnipeg band, The Guess Who, before going on to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive in the city in 1973 with his brothers, Robbie and Tim Bachman, along with Fred Turner. Another Bachman brother, Gary, managed the band in its early days.
The band, inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2014, produced hits such as Takin’ Care of Business and You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.
As he thanked the city for the honorary renaming, Randy Bachman paid tribute to his brothers — Tim and Robbie, who died just a few months apart in 2023, and Gary, who died in 2020.
“Gary Bachman, Tim, Robbie.… They’re gone, but this will live on,” Bachman said.
Band member Fred Turner was also on hand for the ceremony.
“I didn’t think this would ever happen, to tell you the truth,” he said. “I can’t tell you what it means … especially because I came home.”
Winnipeg’s music scene, Turner said, has always been filled with talented artists, a spawning ground that gave his band the tools to take their songs to an international stage.
“When I was a kid, I hoped. It was always a dream to do this,” said Turner. “How many people have a childhood dream that becomes real?”
Matt Derraugh, a born and raised Winnipeg drummer and Bachman–Turner Overdrive fan who attended Friday’s public ceremony, said the band laid the groundwork for performers like him.
“Just seeing where they took [their music] to … and how far you can take it to, that is definitely an inspiring piece,” he said.
The band’s records encapsulated Winnipeg’s “grit and grime,” Derraugh said, capturing its essence in their lyrics.
“The great heritage of music, what we have here in BTO, is absolutely an essential part of that, and it’s essential for me,” Derraugh said.
Like Derraugh, BTO formed part of the soundtrack of Ronnie Ladobruk’s childhood. The Winnipeg guitarist, who was at the unveiling ceremony, studied the band’s record to learn how to play and create his own music.
“Freddy’s voice, Randy’s voice, the guitar playing, the bass, drumming — everything is just incredible,” he said. “It’s next level. It’s powerful.”
WATCH | Winnipeg road gets honorary Bachman-Turner Overdrive name:
Winnipeggers can now take a ride down Bachman–Turner Overdrive, with a stretch of Disraeli Freeway given an honorary name in tribute to one of the bands that helped put the city on the rock ‘n’ roll map.
He said the honorary name brings a sense of pride, as well as a reminder of how much can be accomplished when someone dedicates their life to their craft, like BTO did.
“It’s very inspiring to see them recognized,” he said.
“They set the bar and they set the road, and we walk down it. We try to forge our own names and our own road,” he said.
“You can see what’s possible if you just keep going.”
