Her fight with cancer had taken its toll, weakening her physically to the point where she needed to hold on to the railing to navigate her way down the stairs. Yet only moments before she had been on stage singing her heart and soul out with Quartette, the award-winning Canadian country vocal group which included Peterson, Sylvia Tyson, Caitlin Hanford and Turner Valley's Cindy Church. And that is the lasting impression that Peterson, who died Wednesday of cancer at age 45, will leave among her peers, friends and fans. She was a talented singer-songwriter who loved nothing more than music. Whether it was on her own solo albums, which earned her a Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1976, or her critically-acclaimed recordings with Quartette, Peterson was renowned for her soulfulness as an artist and her dignity as a person.
Dignity is the word that comes to mind.
She just carried herself with such dignity in both her music and her life. To my estimation, she is the best female country singer, maybe one of the best singers period, that has ever come out of this country and she deserved more success than what she had. Just to see her a month ago singing here, obviously very ill, tragically ill, but still just knocking people's socks off . . . Born in 1950 in Peterborough, Ontario, Peterson bought her first guitar at the age of 13 and soon became involved in the Ontario coffeehouse circuit in the 1960s. She released her first album for Capitol Records in 1976.