Platinum Blonde

Platinum Blonde is a Canadian alternative rock group formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1979. Vocalist and bassist Mark Holmes, had emigrated from Mansfield, England, and had previously worked in commercial art and hairdressing before recruiting guitarist Sergio Galli and drummer Chris Steffler through a Toronto newspaper ad. The band released the Platinum Blonde EP in 1983, followed by the studio album Standing in the Dark in 1984, which sold over 200,000 copies in Canada and was certified double platinum; singles such as "Standing in the Dark" and "Doesn't Really Matter" received Juno nominations for Video of the Year. In 1985 the group added bassist and keyboardist Kenny MacLean and issued Alien Shores, a funk‑inflected album that produced the chart‑topper "Crying Over You", a gold single that won a Gemini Award for its video. Subsequent releases included Contact (1987) and Yeah Yeah Yeah (1990, released as The Blondes). The band disbanded in 1989, after a brief reunion in 1990. Following MacLean’s death in 2008, Mark Holmes, Sergio Galli, and Chris Steffler reformed the group in 2010, recording Now & Never in 2012. In 2010 the band was inducted into the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame, and on 28 September 2023 they were added to Canada’s Walk of Fame.