Tributes

CANADIAN singer Sass Jordan has died aged 63, her family have announced.

Heartbreaking tributes have poured in for the Montreal rocker who passed away “peacefully” on Friday evening.

Sharing the news of her death on social media, her family wrote: “On Oct. 2 2026, surrounded by her loving family, Sass Jordan peacefully crossed over to the other side.”

Her family remembered her as “an inimitable force of nature” and “an irreplaceable being of light and joy”.

Sass, behind iconic tracks Racine and Make You a Believer, was born in Birmingham, England.

She moved to Montreal aged three with her French literature professor father and former British Ballerina mother.

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Aged 16 she was fronting bands in downtown Montreal clubs, later becoming singer and bassist for local favourites The Pinups.

Her debut album, Tell Somebody, won Sass the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year in 1989.

Three years later, after moving to Los Angeles, Billboard magazine named her Female Rock Artist of the Year after her album Racine.

It became the defining album of her career, selling an estimated 450,000 copies worldwide and 100,000 in Canada.

That same year she recorded the duet Trust in Me with Joe Cocker for ‘The Bodyguard’, a soundtrack that sold more than 45million copies.

Throughout her career Sass toured alongside Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC and Van Halen.

Later in 2003 she would join Canadian Idol as the only female judge on the panel.

She remained on the show for all six seasons.

Sass is survived by her husband, Derek Sharp, daughter Stella Jordan-Sharp, stepdaughter Brianne Sharp and brother Daniel Jordan.

Her family has asked for privacy to grieve and has thanked fans for their tributes to her remarkable life.

Tributes have flooded in for the late singer, with fans and fellow musicians paying tribute.

Deep Purple singer and bassist Glenn Hughes posted on Instagram: “So suddenly, I’m heartbroken.

“A true friend, we had so much love, joy and laughter and music together.

“RIP my Sasseroonie Girl.”

American rock and blues singer Ian Moore posted: “Love you Sass. Soul mama supreme.”

Others said her voice and art had “defined a generation”.

One user posted: “Thank you for everything and may your presence continue to be such a joy and comfort to us all.”

The In Memoriam segment at the 78th Emmy Awards opened with a tribute to Catherine O’Hara from her movie and TV kids — Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy.

“There are all kinds of words I could use to describe Catherine,” Culkin said as he took the stage with the “Schitt’s Creek” stars. “She was encouraging, she was warm, she was funny, but the word that I think of is ‘mama.’”

O’Hara, of course, played Culkin’s mother in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2.”

“She wasn’t just a wife and mother to [husband] Bo and [sons] Matthew and Luke. She was my mom. She was our mama,” Culkin said, looking toward Murphy and Levy. “And by extension, she’s all of our mama…. She may have forgotten me twice, but we will always remember her.”

Murphy and Levy also shared personal anecdotes about their TV mom. Murphy spoke about O’Hara’s laugh, and the many interactions she’s had with fans “that remind [her] how profoundly Catherine has impacted the world … because she brought us joy.” Levy shared what it was like to work with O’Hara and how she taught him to “always say yes.”

Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan performed a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as images of actors, writers, directors and other industry figures who died this year were projected onto the stage.

Among those honored in the segment were James Van Der Beek, Hayden Panettiere, Eric Dane, Vincent Pastore, Hal Williams, Tim Curry, Shelley Fabares, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Anthony Head, Diane Ladd, Sid Krofft, Ted Turner and Bob Mackie.

The segment closed with tributes to James Burrows and Rob Reiner from Jamie Lee Curtis.

“For over 1,000 episodes of television, the great James Burrows set a standard of comedy directing that will be cherished and studied for generations to come,” Curtis said. “And sadly, last year, we lost another cherished legend. Our beloved Meathead, Rob Reiner.”

Reiner won a posthumous Emmy for guest actor in a comedy series for his work on “The Bear” earlier this month. Curtis said Reiner broke the record set by his father, Carl Reiner, for the longest gap between acting Emmys.

“He was generous and kind and funny as hell and a friend to all,” Curtis said. “We all miss Rob and Michele [Singer] and all those we lost this year.”

The ceremony also featured a tribute to Dolly Parton earlier in the evening with Sally Field and Reba McEntire.