Arts community gathers to celebrate life of late musician Peter Brennan

Dozens of family and friends packed the upper level of the Grand Theatre Monday to pay their respects and honour musician Peter Brennan.

The London, Ont. musician who founded the group Jeans n’ Classics, passed away recently from cancer at the age of 73.

“This is very special because we can have it here at the Grand Theatre which is currently is our home for Jeans n’ Classics,” said band mate and friend Jeff Christmas.

“We’re in the lounge where he would often go when we’d rush to get off stage to get up here and meet the audience.”

Born in England but became a longtime Londoner, Brennan drew inspiration from iconic bands and envisioned a blend of rock music and orchestral arrangements. It led to founding his band Jeans ’n Classics.

“When were around at the beginning stages to see this, we were young kids who didn’t really see the vision,” said Christmas.

“We used to joke and think, how are we going to do this when we’re in our 50s and when we’re on our 60s and our 70s, and this legacy is going to live on? He really understood the music part of it and how he could blend the two worlds together. That was his specialty. To quote him, he hit it out of the park for sure.”

Brennan had an accomplished time in London with numerous accolades. He was honoured with the Mayor’s Award for the Arts in London, is listed on Western’s Don Wright Faculty of Music Wall of Fame and earned the Forest City London Music Awards’ 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award.

“He’s trusted a lot of us over 30 years to keep things rolling for that whole tenure,” said Christmas, who was excited to see people from Brennan’s early days in the city as well as current friends and colleagues.

“He’s got a good handful of his veterans from the early days and a lot of new singers and new players that have come in in the last decade,” Christmas added. “I think it’s going to keep going and keep going strong”.