Tom Cochrane exhibit at Studio Bell a humbling tribute to music legend

"Ghostlike" and strangely "flattering" that's how legendary musician Tom Cochranedescribed the new exhibit in Calgary, honouring his life's work and contribution to Canadian music.

Seeing his awards, music memorabilia, old clothes and beloved instruments on display at Showcase: TomCochranesaid it was a humbling experience that held "memorial" like qualities for him, Cochrane told CBC's The Homestretch.

The temporary exhibition launched Friday at Studio Bell features the iconic outfit Cochrane wore in his 1991 video for his chart-topper Life is a Highway,as well as his '61 Gretsch Tennessee and'63 Gretsch National guitars.

"They're both my beautiful, wonderful breeding horses that I put out to pasture, just because there's more practical stuff to play on stage," he said.

The opening of the exhibition coincides with a deluxe reissue of Cochrane's 1991 smash albumMad Mad World, and the announcement of a coast-to-coast Canadian tour in early 2017 celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Life is a Highway a form of personal therapy

When Cochrane released his first solo album in 1991, he never imagined he'd break a million sales.

"I knew there was some special energy about it," he said of itsmassively successful singleLife is a Highway.

The 1993 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee described the hit as "a song that I needed as therapy to getthrough what I was going through."

He had just returned from an "eye-opening" but "traumatic" trip through Africa, where he travelledthrough war zones, dodging bullets andwitnessing death on a massive scale.

Tom Cochrane special exhibit opens at Studio Bell for 25th anniversary of Life is a Highway

8 years ago

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The opening of the exhibition coincides with a deluxe reissue of Tom Cochrane's 1991 smash album Mad Mad World.

"I needed this song as a pep talk to myself to get me out of that psychological funk I was in once I got home."

The fact that it resonated so deeply with people across the world speaks to music's unique and incomprehensible ability to touch the soul, he said.

"It really quintessentially defines what songwriting at its best is about, which is it makes people feel a little less alone in the world."

With files from The Homestretch