Bachman-Turner Overdrive gets honourary street name in downtown Winnipeg

A special ceremony was held in downtown Winnipeg as the city officially renamed a portion of the Disraeli Bridge Roadway to the Bachman-Turner Overdrive, in honour of the legendary Winnipeg rock band.

It was a frigid April day, but that didn’t stop dozens of adoring fans from showing up for the ceremony to watch the band known as BTO get immortalized on the streets they’ve always called home.

“Thank you all for coming, thank you for the very appropriate weather, that’s the reason I left Winnipeg, but I love coming back,” said Randy Bachman, member of Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

“It was great growing up here, rock and roll was great, CKY, CKRC, CJOB, AND CBC, they played all the music that made us create our own.”

Fred Turner, member of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, adding, “It’s not just a reflection of our journey, but it’s also a tribute to our families, our friends, and the fans that have been with us for so many years.”

When asked what it meant to have people see Bachman-Turner Overdrive every time they take the Disraeli Freeway, Fred Turner said it isn’t just the fans who will enjoy it.

“I’m going to see the band’s name and that’s going to be great for me, and I’ll be going by quite often, to get a hot dog in Lockport,” said Turner.

The legendary band was supposed to be playing a show on Saturday at Canada Life Centre, that show has been bumped to Sunday due to game one of the Jets’ first-round playoff series, but for BTO, there are no hard feelings.”

“Go Jets go!” Backman cheered. “We’ll be at the game tomorrow, come and see us Sunday, our concert’s bumped to Sunday, but thanks to the Jets, they’ll be playing TCB (taking care of business) on the ice, and they’re going to win, okay? They promised they’re going to win! Thank you all!”