Often times some of the biggest hits on the music charts were not written by the artist who sang it, but were penned by a professional songwriter – the unsung heroes of the music world. Shirley Eikhard was one such person.  While she recorded a number of albums in her own right, she also composed songs that were recorded by Cher, Emmylou Harris, Rita Coolidge, Anne Murray, Chet Atkins, and Bonnie Raitt who won a Grammy Award with “Something to Talk About”.

EIkhard died December 15, 2022 at the age of 67 in Orangeville, Ontario as a result of cancer.

While Eikhard herself never won a Grammy Award, she has two Juno Awards (the Canadian version of the American Grammy Awards) and is a member of the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

A multi instrumentalist (she plays nine instruments – guitar, piano, bass, drums, percussion, chromatic harmonica, sax, banjo and mandolin), Eikhard has released 18 albums on her own. She sold her first song – “It Takes Time” recorded by fellow Canadian Anne Murray – when she was just 15 years old.

She was born on November 7, 1955 in Sackville, New Brunswick.

No list of survivors was given.

Shirley Eikhard discography:
“Shirley Eikhard”
“Child of the Present”
“Let Me Down Easy”
“Horizons”
“Taking Charge”
“If I Had My Way”
“Going Home”
“The Last Hurrah”
“End of the Day”
“Stay Open”
“Pop”
“Country”
“The Holidays are Here”
“Stuck in this Groove”
“The Jazz Sessions”
“Riding on the 65”
“On My Way to You”
“My Day in the Sun”
“Just Call Me Alice”
“I Am the Hero”
“Gift of Giving”
“Dream of a Perfect Day”



Songs written by Shirley Eikhard:
“Song for Lesley”
“You Can’t Go Back to Sleep”
“What Could Have Benn”
“Shine Like the Sun”
“I Know Myself too Well”
“Play a Little Bit Longer”
“Let Me Go Down Easy”
“If I Had My Way”
“Roll that Rock”
“Nothin’ Like Love”
“A Little Fun”
“I Live for Then”
“If We Had Never Met”
“Something to Talk About”
“Going Home”
“Emily Remembers”
“Easy Sailin’”
“Desperately”
“Crazy from the Heat”
“About Last Night”
“Timing is Everything”
“The Courage to Love”
“Something that Lasts”
“Smiling on the Inside”
“Pray for Rain”

Feature photo credit: Shirley Eikhard, Canadian singer-songwriter, 1973.png