Keyboardist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Kevin Hearn stepped in for keyboardist Andy Creeggan in Barenaked Ladies just as the Canadian band was exploding into the U.S. market. What was considered a temporary gig turned into a permanent one. Hearn started a sideline solo career, releasing Mothball Mint in 1997. In 1998, Hearn was diagnosed with leukemia, but the cancer went into remission, allowing Hearn to rejoin Barenaked Ladies in 1999. He released a second solo album, H-Wing, in 2001 that creatively addressed his illness and treatment -- and was even named after the hospital wing he was in while he wrote most of the songs. He went on to release Night Light (2003), The Miracle Mile (2006), and Havana Winter (2009). ~ Steve Leggett