BOBBY BRUCE
Bobby Bruce grew up on stage; appearing in film and television as a child, in musical theatre and rock revues in his youth, he has invested more than a quarter of a century honing his triple-threat set of entertainment skills. For over fifteen years Bobby has been astounding appreciative audiences around the globe with his dynamic and passionate musical tribute to Neil Diamond.
On his first national tour of Australia, the press dubbed him “Nearly Neil” and the name stuck. His travels stretch from Kota Kinabalu on the island of Borneo to the Cayman Islands; aboard luxury liners at sea, on national tours stretching tens of thousands of miles, to audiences as large as 30,000 – Bobby continues to impress.
In 2000, Bobby launched another project – the outrageous “Shagadelic Swingers” a musical spectacular celebrating the Austin Powers movies. Starring as Austin, the Shagadelic Swingers performed for New Line Cinema official movie events, the “Yeah Baby Awards” at the Toronto SkyDome – as the half time entertainment during a Toronto Argos game and a military tour of NATO, Canadian and International bases in Bosnia.
Featured in MOCKSTARS, a million dollar feature length documentary about Canadian tribute artists released on television in 2002, Bobby’s star continued to climb. The following year saw his first national tour of New Zealand with Nearly Neil and the Solitary Band.
Returning from New Zealand, capitalizing on the highly skilled new Solitary Band members; they formed Canadian-A, an All-Canadian content show as well as the Bobby Bruce Band focusing on dance hits all the while beginning a new residence at the River Rock Casino in Vancouver made for an exciting 2004.
Bobby made a triumphant return to musical theatre in 2005 as the Emcee in “Cabaret” to considerable critical acclaim. In 2006, Bobby was very pleased to receive the “Entertainer of the Year Award” from the Pacific National Exhibition.
Returning to Australia in 2008, Bobby’s Nearly Neil crusade in Australia continues today.
Bobby and the Solitary Band were busy in 2009 and 2010 with 50 shows throughout 22 states in America for Live On Stage.
Nearly Neil and the Solitary Band were thrilled to launch their first tour to Europe – touring Belgium and Holland in 2011.
Returning to tour Tasmania and New South Wales with the DownUnder Band in 2012 for their sixth national tour of Australia in 4 years.
2014 proved to be a big year “Down Under” for Bobby with 4 months of countrywide touring across Australia with his newly expanded Beautiful Noise Tour adding a string section to the full rock band. That tour was so successful that it returned to Australia in September 2015 for another two months.
After a brief respite at home on Gambier Island, BC, Bobby returned to the Southern Hemisphere to headline his own one-night concert backed by a 10-piece band at SKYCITY Auckland at the beginning of December. Nearly Neil and the Solitary Band rang in 2016 at Casino Regina to a sold out house.
Bobby Bruce enjoyed making his debut appearance at the 22nd Annual Reel Tribute Convention in Las Vegas in February 2016.
