The Ajax, Ont. pop-punk legends play their final show at the ceremony in Vancouver on March 30 to celebrate their induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, presented by JUNOS Premier Sponsor, TD.
By Dave MacIntyre • Postmedia Content Works
Published Feb 13, 2025
Last updated Feb 13, 2025
4 minute read
Formed in 1996, Sum 41 will give their final performance at this year’s JUNO Awards. Photo by 2024 TRAVIS SHINN
This article originally appeared in the National Post.
Ending your band on a high note 25 years after your first EP is a poetic way to go out. Especially when you’re Sum 41.
The veteran Canadian pop-punks are calling it quits after their final cross-country tour ended last month, capped off by a performance at this year’s JUNO Awards in Vancouver. The band will also be inducted into The Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the ceremony, presented by TD Bank Group.
If you’d told them back in the mid-‘90s that this is where they’d be nearly three decades later, guitarist Dave “Brownsound” Baksh admits they probably wouldn’t have fully grasped the impact a JUNO can have.
“We’d probably be a little bit snotty, but I think that came from a place of not understanding what it means to actually be a part of something like this,” he says. “We would’ve just had our heads down and been like, ‘Great — we’re writing more songs. Thanks for the news, but we’re busy.’”
The band has won two JUNO Awards previously, first in 2003 for Group of the Year, and Rock Album of the Year in 2005 for their third album, Chuck. Baksh recalls how frontman Deryck Whibley’s award for their 2003 win was left at his house for more than a decade and wasn’t returned until Baksh rejoined the band in 2015, after leaving in 2006.
With their final performance just weeks away, the band’s 25-year-long mark on pop-punk is punctuated by their induction into The Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Photo by 2024 TRAVIS SHINN
“I feel like he just thought it was missing from a party at his place or something like that, but no — the thief the whole time was me,” he says, laughing.
Baksh is keeping details of the band’s JUNOS performance “really hush-hush” but like everything they do, it’ll be the product of a lot of hard work, with visuals and “a meaning behind it.” As for their Canadian Music Hall of Fame induction presented by TD, Baksh admits his imposter syndrome kicks in whenever he thinks about it, and his bandmates are no different.
“We’ve always been a little more [on] the side of [still being] dumbfounded by things that happen to us,” he says. “But I think that because of what this is, it’s going to give us something to reflect on that’s really, really cool.
“We’ve got to come up with something good to say. You don’t just get inducted into The Canadian Music Hall of Fame and say, ‘Thank you, mom. Goodnight!’ It’s been a long and great career. I don’t have the words now, but I will once I’m on that stage. It’s a beautiful thing, and it was very unexpected.”
Formed in 1996, Sum 41’s wild ride began with their 2000 EP Half Hour of Power before catching fire in 2001 with the hit “Fat Lip” and debut album All Killer No Filler, vaulting Whibley, Baksh, bassist Jason “Cone” McCaslin and drummer Steve Jocz to fame.
If there’s any moment Baksh recalls that made him realize how big they were getting, it’s when they played the Vans Warped Tour in New York City and saw “Fat Lip’s impact first-hand.
“There was a circle pit going around from the front of the stage to the back of the soundboard. Merch tables were set up around the stage, and they were holding onto their tables because people were shaking the ground so much. I’ll always remember that moment as being the time when I realized, ‘Oh wow, we’ve actually done something really cool. All this hard work is moving us forward.’ “
Two more successful albums, Does This Look Infected? and Chuck, followed before Baksh’s departure in 2006 to focus on other projects. 2007’s Underclass Hero and 2011’s Screaming Bloody Murder would see the band operate as a trio before Jocz left in 2013, with Baksh rejoining two years later.
Since 2016’s 13 Voices, the band has consisted of Whibley, Baksh, McCaslin, guitarist Tom Thacker and drummer Frank Zummo. Following up 2019’s Order in Decline is the band’s eighth and final album, Heaven :x: Hell, released last March and receiving acclaim from fans and critics alike.
Don’t miss the band’s final performance at The 2025 JUNO Awards on March 30. Photo by 2024 TRAVIS SHINN
So why did now feel like the best time to call it a day? Quite simply, they didn’t want to start grating on each other and not enjoying one another’s company, something touring bands are always vulnerable to. “There’s such a closeness and tight quarters when you’re traveling as a band, and it can wear on people,” says Baksh.
“We’re all in a great head space. We all love each other beyond when we first all got together with this lineup. The record is doing so well. It just felt like it’s better for us to go out at what is another peak, as opposed to a valley, in our career.”
But the one thing Baksh most wants Sum 41 to be remembered for is how fans could come to their shows and leave their differences and polarizations at the door. “You could just come to a show and have fun with us,” he says.
“That’s exactly what we wanted to do at shows we were seeing, and that’s exactly how we were and how we live our lives.”
SUM 41 fans and all Canadian music lovers can visit the permanent home of The Canadian Music Hall of Fame at Studio Bell, Home of The National Music Centre in Calgary, where an entire floor is dedicated to all inductees since 1978 when the first inductee, legendary pianist Oscar Peterson, was honoured.
More inductees will be celebrated at a special ceremony at The National Music Centre in Calgary on May 15. More info at https://canadianmusichalloffame.ca/.
The 2025 JUNO Awards, hosted by Michael Bublé, will take place Sunday, March 30 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Tickets are on sale now at https://www.ticketmaster.ca/junos and viewers at home can watch the ceremony live on CBC or CBC Gem.
This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of The JUNO Awards.
Dave MacIntyre 