The band is back together, as the remaining siblings of Cape Breton’s famous Rankin Family, Jimmy, Cookie and Heather, recently announced plans to reunite for their first set of live performances as a group in nearly 15 years. “Well, it’s been how many years since we’ve toured together Heather?” asked Cookie Rankin during a recent interview with CTV Atlantic. “I think it was 2012.” The idea for a Rankin Family Reunion tour came when Jimmy and Heather Rankin recently collaborated during their solo careers. “It was like, ‘We need to get Cookie back because it’s an amazing feeling and I know you’re going to just freak out when you experience it again, Cookie,’” Heather Rankin said to her sister during the interview. The tour will also be the group’s first since Raylene Rankin passed away from cancer in September 2012. Another sibling and founding member, John Morris Rankin, died in a motor vehicle crash in January 2000. “It’s bittersweet to go out and sing those songs and then especially to touch on some of the tunes that they were instrumental in singing or performing or arranging or writing,” said Heather Rankin. “So, they are always there with us.” Perhaps fittingly, the final show on the tour is at home in Cape Breton at Sydney’s Centre 200 where tickets have been going fast. “Well, I don’t know if anybody expected them to get back together again,” said Centre 200 general manager, Paul MacDonald. “We had a great sale today. We’re pretty much sold out so that tells you a story right there.” While a lot of time has passed since the band’s heyday and the siblings acknowledge things will be different with just three members, they know there is still nostalgia for the big hits. “They want to hear Orangedale Whistle and Moving On and Fare Thee Well Love,” Cookie Rankin said. “The audience could probably sing it themselves,” Heather Rankin added before joking, “We’ll just go up there and dance, how about that?” The Rankin Family’s 2027 tour begins March 6 in Vancouver and wraps up April 3 in Sydney. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
