Guitarist, songwriter.
Born at Glasgow, Scotland around 1952, he attended a boarding school in Switzerland before coming to Canada with his family in 1957. They settled at Winnipeg where he attended Grant Park High School. In the late 1970s, he was a guitarist with the local band Wood 'N Hannah and was a founding member of the band Harlequin.
He rose to fame, from Fall 1978 to Spring 1981, as a guitarist and singer with the band Streetheart, and contributed to several of its classic songs on three platinum-selling albums: Under Heaven Over Hell (1979), Quicksand Shoes (1980), and Drugstore Dancer (1980). He was a band member when it received a Juno Award for the most promising group of 1980 but left for health reasons the following year. He released a solo album Desperate Times in 1983 but generally kept a low profile, joining jam bands on occasion. He divided his time between Winnipeg in summers and Scotland in winters.
He stayed in Scotland after the COVID-19 pandemic and died at his residence in Ayr on 20 February 2026.
“Obituaries: Hit songwriter Billy Steinberg, Streetheart guitarist John Hannah, festival booker Randi Fratkin,” Billboard Canada, 23 February 2026.
“From guitar hero to human frailities” by John Einarson, Winnipeg Free Press, 28 February 2026.
We thank Carl James for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 March 2026
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