Anne Murray says she’s ready to divert from memory lane after new documentary

TORONTO — Anne Murray says she’s revisited her illustrious singing career so many times in recent years that she’s ready to focus on the present.

The 76-year-old “Snowbird” and “Danny’s Song” performer has been retired for well over a decade now, choosing to make up for lost years with family, friends and the golf course.

But interest in her trailblazing music career hasn’t faded much.

She published a 2009 autobiography, has re-issued some of her most successful works and most recently consulted with filmmakers on “Anne Murray: Full Circle,” a documentary that puts her four-time Grammy-winning career into context.

Using audio interviews with Murray and a handful of popular musicians she influenced, the film begins with the young singer’s rise from a small East Coast mining town and moves onto the pressures she faced balancing her responsibilities as an international star with the obligations of motherhood.

“Anne Murray: Full Circle” debuts Friday on CBC and CBC Gem.

Aside from celebrating her music, it also puts into context Murray’s work as a successful female artist in the male-dominated music industry of the 1970s, recalling times she faced misogyny from members of her backing band.

“People don’t see that,” Murray said of the tougher experiences she recalled in the film.

“People see glamour…. They don’t see the hard work that it takes.

“Back then I had to work my bloody ass off. I had to promote everything. I did interviews morning, noon and night, and did television shows to promote other television shows to promote records.”

These days, Murray appreciates everything life has given her, but she’s mostly signed off from the industry, choosing to move back to Halifax after spending decades in Toronto.

“I’m ready to stop going down memory lane,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2021.

David Friend, The Canadian Press