John Fraser Mann (September 18, 1962 – November 20, 2019) was a Canadian rock musician, songwriter and actor. He was best known as the frontman of the folk rock band Spirit of the West. Early career Born in Calgary, Alberta, Mann relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, to study theatre at Studio 58. He left Studio 58 in 1983 and co-founded the band Spirit of the West. The band released its first independent album the following year. Music Mann was the lead vocalist of the folk rock band Spirit of the West and the band's co-founder and co-songwriter along with bandmate Geoffrey Kelly. Spirit of the West's music is a mixture of folk, Alternative rock and pop with a Celtic-influenced sound. The band gained wider popularity with their 1990 major label release Save This House. The album included "Home for a Rest" which became their most recognized song. Co-written by Mann, "Home for a Rest" is a popular drinking song in Canada; it has been called "legendary" and the "ultimate Canadian frosh-week/wedding-reception anthem" by Marsha Lederman of The Globe and Mail, an "iconic drinking song" by Alex Cooper of the Revelstoke Times Review, and "Canada’s unofficial national anthem" by Patricia D'Cunha of CityNews. In 2010 the song was also listed by Mike Devlin of the Canwest News Service as one of the "Ten best drinking songs of all time" and was ranked #89 on the National Post list of "The Top 100 Canadian Singles". Mann also played lead guitar for Spirit of the West until 2013, subsequent to his diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Musician Matthew Harder subsequently joined the band as a replacement guitarist. Spirit of the West planned a retrospective tour in the fall of 2015. Weeks after the announcement, Mann performed a concert featuring both his solo material and Spirit of the West, which was broadcast by CBC Television's Absolutely Canadian in July 2015 as "John Mann Here and Now". Mann also released three solo albums: Acoustic Kitty, December Looms and The Waiting Room. The Waiting Room deals with the topic of Mann's battle with colorectal cancer, and was adapted into a theatrical work by Morris Panych which was produced by Vancouver's Arts Club Theatre Company in 2015. Although Mann was initially slated to play the lead role, due to his health he did not do so, although he performed the songs from the album as part