The honourary wall in celebration of Lethbridge music promoter Ron Sakamoto is unveiled at the ENMAX Centre, November 7, 2022. (Photo: City of Lethbridge)

By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Was raised near Medicine Hat

Lethbridge promoter Ron Sakamoto reflects on his career ahead of JUNOS special achievement award

Feb 1, 2023 | 2:15 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A legendary music promoter from Lethbridge is set to receive a lifetime distinction at the 2023 JUNO Awards.

Ron Sakamoto is the 2023 recipient of the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award, which is given to those whose work has significantly impacted the growth and development of the Canadian music industry.

He says it is incredible to receive such a high honour, adding that only 38 people have ever won the award.

“It’s overwhelming, in a way, because it’s an award given to me by my peers, you know, from all aspects of the music industry,” says Sakamoto. “This time, it’s especially great that a legend and hall of famer, Bruce Allen, who manages Michael Bublé, Bryan Adams, Jann Arden, Anne Murray and on and on, you know, an industry leader, he’s going to induct me.”

Sakamoto says he is looking forward to yet another celebration of the entire Canadian music industry and to see Nickelback being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

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He has spent more than half a century working in music promotions, first opening the Honeycomb A Go Go club in Lethbridge back in 1964, and started his record label, Gold & Gold Productions Ltd., four years later.

In the nearly 60 years that followed, he has managed artists such as The Beach Boys, Doobie Brothers, Gordon Lightfoot, Bryan Adams, KISS, Keith Urban, Johnny Reid, Shania Twain and Old Dominion, among others.

He says so many of the people he has worked with are incredibly talented and genuinely good people, so while he could never pick just one artist as his favourite to work with, he highlighted Reid, Urban and Twain.

“I think that, you know, if you are honest and if they know you work hard and you work for the band, the key ingredient [to Sakamoto’s success] is to work for the band and make them stars,” says Sakamoto. “I think you really gotta work smart to do that.”

Sakamoto told LNN that early in his career he was pressured by many in the music industry to move away from Lethbridge and work from one of the major music hubs, but says he did not want to do that.

“I tried to live in Vancouver and I tried to live in Calgary, but, you know, growing up on a farm, I didn’t like the big cities, and I get enough of the big cities – I just came back from Ottawa and Toronto and London doing Old Dominion shows – but it’s so busy and so packed and it takes so long to get anywhere you want to get to,” says Sakamoto.

He was raised in a rural area outside of Medicine Hat and later decided to call Lethbridge home, where he lives and resides to this day.

Sakamoto says he loves the smaller size of the city, the easier commutes, and the community itself.

“I love the people of Lethbridge and that’s why I brought a lot the artists here to Lethbridge like KISS and Keith Urban and now Old Dominion, and Bryan Adams and The Bee Gees and all the big artists, they came here to play for me because I live here and the people of Lethbridge deserve it,” Sakamoto adds.

Those big shows not only provide entertainment for those in Southern Alberta, but are also great for the economy. Between ticket sales and boosts to restaurants, hotels, tourist activities, and more, Sakamoto says a single sold-out show at the ENMAX Centre can result in more than $1 million in local economic activity.

The 2023 JUNO Awards are set to take place in Edmonton on March 13, the same month as Sakamoto’s 80th birthday.

He says he plans to continue working in music for as long as he is able to and is still setting long-term goals for himself.

“My next goal and my next deadline is when I’m 100, and so, I want to run the 100-metre dash,” Sakamoto says.

According to a media release from the City of Lethbridge in November 2022, Sakamoto’s long list of accomplishments include:

• 1964 – Opens first nightclub, Honeycomb A Go Go in Lethbridge for teens
• 1968 – Launches Gold & Gold Productions Ltd.
• 1975 – First event at Lethbridge Sportsplex, a Doobie Brothers concert
• 1993 – Wins first Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Promoter of the Year. After receiving this honour for the next 17 years, the award is re-named to “Ron Sakamoto Talent Buyer or Promoter of the Year” in 2010
• 1996 – Receives Award of Exceptional Citizenship from Lethbridge Mayor David Carpenter
• 2001 – University of Lethbridge creates Ron Sakamoto Scholarship
• 2001 – Wins Country Music Association (CMA) International/Talent Buyer of the Year Award
• 2003 – Receives Honourary Doctorate of Law degree from the University of Lethbridge
• 2006 – Wins second CMA International/Talent Buyer of the Year Award
• 2007 – Awarded CCMA Hank Smith Award of Excellence
• 2008 – Presented Key to the City by Lethbridge Mayor Bob Tarleck
• 2010 – Establishes Digital Audio Arts Scholarship with wife Joyce, for the Digital Arts and Music Program at the University of Lethbridge
• 2012 – Awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
• 2012 – Becomes owner of Paradise Canyon Golf Resort
• 2013 – Donates 28 guitars to Galbraith Elementary School to start their music program
• 2013 – Launches Sakamoto Agency
• 2013 – Wins International Entertainment Buyer’s Association (IEBA) International Buyer of the Year Award
• 2014 – Inducted into Canadian Country Music Association Hall of Fame
• 2015 – Presented the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce Business Legacy Award
• 2017 – Honoured with Blackfoot Name Komahniisihnskii (Owns Many Songs)
• 2017 – Substantial donation to Angel Tree Program enabling Lethbridge Family Services to fulfil every child’s dream of a Christmas gift
• 2019 – Sponsors One District One Book with 13,000 books distributed to Lethbridge School District No.51
• 2019 – Awarded the Music Managers Forum (MMF) Canada Brian Chater Pioneer Award for instrumental contributions to artist management in Canada (for immeasurable contributions to Music Management Canada)
• 2019 – Becomes a member of the Alberta Order of Excellence

Nominees for the 2023 JUNO Awards were just announced on Jan. 31. The full list of nominees and other details on the awards show is at JunoAwards.ca.