Singles He was also in the 1982 Trees music video "Shock of the New", appearing as a guy with an oxygen mask and a shirt promoting clean air in offices. In 1987, he played a dead man in the basement of Casa Loma in B.D. Benedikt's Beyond the 7th Door. Post-retirement Kerr supported himself as a busker for the remainder of his life, singing with a karaoke machine in front of the Hudson's Bay department store at the corner of Yonge and Bloor streets. He was often voted "favourite street performer" in Now Magazine'''s annual Toronto survey, and it is rumoured that Kerr was once offered a recording contract with Sub Pop Records. He continued to appear frequently on radio and television as an advocate for the health benefits of cayenne pepper, and was the author of The Cayenne Pepper Cocktail Does it All''. As well, he was a perennial fringe candidate who ran in every Toronto mayoral election from 1985 until 2003, the last municipal election held before his death. In 1997, he placed fourth behind Mel Lastman, Barbara Hall and Don Andrews. In the 2000 election, he ran on a platform of waterfront renewal, backed by the self-penned campaign song "Fringe Candidate". Ben Kerr died on June 17, 2005 at his home on Jones Avenue in Toronto, at the age of 75. In 2007, Toronto City Council approved a motion to name a laneway near the corner of Danforth and Jones in Kerr's honour. Ben Kerr Lane was officially named on May 25, 2008. Discography Singles References External Links Ben Kerr Discography at Discogs Ontario municipal politicians 20th-century Canadian male singers Canadian country singers Canadian buskers Canadian people of Scottish descent People from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Musicians from Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Air Force personnel 1930 births 2005 deaths Musicians from Toronto Canadian health and wellness writers