Whatever happened to Remy Shand?

This week Canadians learned of the unfortunate passing of Neil Hope, the actor who played the character "Wheels" on the CBC hit series "Degrassi Junior High."  Hope was found dead in a Hamilton rooming house on November 25, 2007, although his death was not reported until this past week.  Hope was 35.

The tragic ending to Hope's life is disturbing, to say the least.  One wonders how a star of a television series that was arguably one of the most popular teen sitcoms in Canada for most of the 80's and early 90's could have ended up so desolate and reclusive.  It personally reminds me of a once young promising local star, who seemingly vanished off the face of the earth less than a decade ago.  Remy Shand.

Remy Shand, a native Winnipegger from Garden City, sent in a demo tape to a record producer Steve Warden at the age of 19.  Warden was so impressed by Shand's work, which he managed to convince Motown Records to sign him.  Soon he released his debut album "The Way I Feel," which went on to win a 2003 Juno award for Best R&B/Soul recording.  The album was a massive hit in Canada, sold 500,000 copies in the U.S., and was even nominated for Grammy Awards. 

Shand was scheduled to release his much anticipated follow-up album "Day in the Shade." in 2003.  However, for unknown reasons, the album was never released.   Since that time, the whereabouts of Shand have been a mystery.  There has been much speculation as to where the artist disappeared to, but there has been no public confirmation as to where he resides, or if he is involved in the music industry at all.

A commentator by the name of "Jarvis"(and a supposed insider I assume), recently posted on a 2006 blog article about the whereabouts of Remy Shand.  He had this to say:

"He went through a messy divorce a few years back, and was said to be suffering from depression. He was finally getting back to making music last year, but then his mother died. According to family it hurt him so much that he didn’t even attend the funeral. Let’s just hope this man can catch a break and get back to making amazing music in the near future."

Wherever Remy may be, I hope he is enjoying life.  Perhaps the media spotlight was just not for him.  Regardless, I would not ever wish for Shand to suffer a fate similar to that of the late actor Neil Hope.