R.I.P.: Raylene Rankin

Nova Scotia, Canada’s musical community is mourning the loss of one its most recognizable voices, with the death of Raylene Rankin to cancer in Halifax on Sunday September 30, 2012.

Rankin is being remembered for the purity of her singing voice and the personal strength that she demonstrated in her three battles with cancer.

Coming from a musical family, Rankin grew up performing alongside her siblings. Eventually, she and John Morris, Jimmy, Cookie and Heather, first known as the Rankin Family and later the Rankins, went from their small home village of Mabou and rose to national and international prominence with their blend of traditional Cape Breton and Gaelic tunes and contemporary compositions. MORE HERE