Triumph is a Canadian rock band formed in 1975 that was popular during the late 1970s and the 1980s, building on their reputation and success as a live band. Between its 16 albums and DVDs, the band has received 18 gold and nine platinum awards in Canada and the United States. They were nominated for multiple Juno Awards, including the "Group of the Year Award" in 1979, 1985, 1986 and 1987. They were inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2007, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and Canada's Walk of Fame in 2019.
Triumph is most known for its guitar-driven rock songs, such as "Lay It on the Line", "Magic Power", "Fight the Good Fight" and "World of Fantasy", although it originally earned notice for writing strong songs like "Rock & Roll Machine" and "24 Hours A Day". The band was formed in Mississauga, and for much of its existence featured Rik Emmett (guitar, lead/backing vocals), Mike Levine (bass, keyboards, backing vocals) and Gil Moore (drums, lead/backing vocals). This line-up, which recorded the band's first nine studio albums, lasted until 1988, when Emmett left Triumph to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by Phil "X" Xenedis, and Triumph recorded their last album to date, Edge of Excess, with him before going on indefinite hiatus in 1993.
The classic line-up of Moore, Levine and Emmett reunited for two live concerts in 2008, at Sweden Rock Festival and Rocklahoma, and again in 2019 for a three-song performance in Toronto. For the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, Triumph reunited for its first public performance in 17 years in Edmonton, and the band embarked on their first major tour in more than three decades starting in April 2026.
History Early days and first two albums (1975–1978) Before Triumph, there was a four-piece blues-based band consisting of Tom Lafferty (guitar), Peter Young (organ), Mike Levine (bass) and Gil Moore (drums, vocals). This group, called Abernathy Shagnaster (Abernathy Shagnaster's Wash and Wear Band), signed to Canada's Attic Records in 1975 and issued the non-charting single "Hobo" / "Got to Get You Back in My Life". Larry Leishman wrote "Hobo".
Keeler and Young left the group soon after the band's first single was released and in the summer of 1975 Moore and Levine met guitarist Rik Emmett, who was playing at Toronto's Hollywood Tavern in a band called ACT III. After jamming with the pair at Moore's house in Mississauga and reviewing the group's existing contracts, Emmett agreed to join the band, now called Triumph. Triumph's first paid concert with Emmett was at Simcoe High School in September 1975.
Guitarist Emmett's songwriting style brought both progressive rock and classical music influences; most Triumph albums included a classical guitar solo piece. Moore doubled as lead singer on many of the band's heavier songs and in their later years, some softer ballads; bassist and pianist Levine produced their early albums. As with many progressive rock and heavy metal bands, Triumph's style proved unpopular with rock critics; Rolling Stone reviewers labelled them a "faceless band".
Triumph's self-titled first album was originally released in Canada in October 1976. It was later retitled on re-issues as In the Beginning. The second album, Rock & Roll Machine, followed in September 1977 and contained a version of the Joe Walsh song "Rocky Mountain Way". Neither of these original albums were released in the United States, however, RCA Records subsequently released a debut US album in June 1978 also titled Rock & Roll Machine. This album, also released internationally, combines songs from both Canadian releases with new artwork. And "Rocky Mountain Way" received some scattered US airplay.
In February 1978 Triumph subbed in for Sammy Hagar on a radio-station promotion date for 99.5 KISS-FM in San Antonio, Texas, followed by a run of five shows in Texas for JAM Productions (a promoter named Joe A Miller), then toured across Canada with fellow Canadian rockers Moxy and Trooper.
On August 26, 1978 they were headliners at the Canada Jam Festival at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, playing before a crowd of about 110,000 people.
Mainstream popularity (1979–1985) Triumph's third album, Just a Game (March 1979), featured a moderate US radio hit, "Hold On", which reached No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Hold On" became a significant song in some select markets; for example, in St. Louis the song made it to No. 1 on KSHE and KWK, album-oriented/classic rock FM radio stations. "Hold On" also peaked at No. 33 on the RPM Singles chart in Canada.
The second single, "Lay It on the Line", received greater acceptance at album-oriented rock FM radio across the U.S. and Canada. It also received heavy FM radio airplay and reached No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1979. In "oldies" classic-rock format radio stations in the US, it remains the most widely played and recognized song from the Triumph catalogue. The album eventually went gold in the US.
In March 1980 the band's fourth album, Progressions of Power, was released and peaked at No. 32 in the US, reaching gold in overall sales. Its single "I Can Survive" peaked at No. 91 on the Hot 100. That year the band performed at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey on June 21, 1980; it was their first show in the New York area."Talent in Action". Billboard, July 12, 1980, page 31.
In 1981 their album Allied Forces sold over a million copies in the US,"TRIUMPH Bassist Mike Levine Looks Back At Allied Forces And 'Magic Power'". Bravewords, September 29, 2011, interview with Jeb Wright while attaining the highest chart positions any Triumph album would attain; No. 23 in the US and No. 13 in Canada. It included the songs "Fight the Good Fight" and "Magic Power", the latter of which reached no. 5 at Canada's largest Top 40 radio station, CHUM-AM in Toronto. "Magic Power" peaked at No. 14 on the national Canadian RPM Singles chart, their biggest hit in their native Canada. "Magic Power" reached No. 8 on the Billboard Mainstream Top Rock Tracks chart and No. 51 on the Hot 100, while "Fight the Good Fight" went to No. 18 on the Top Rock Tracks chart.
Never Surrender was initially released in December 1982 on Attic Records in Canada, but was not released in the United States until January 1983. The album attained gold status in the US, and peaked at No. 26 on the US album chart. It saw the band's compositions take on more political overtones. Previously, Emmett had included a single political theme on each Triumph album. ("Just a Game", "Hard Road", and "Ordinary Man" portray Rik Emmett's strong populist leanings.) However, Never Surrender featured five anthems. The Jimi Hendrix-inspired riff-rocker "Too Much Thinking" even samples Ronald Reagan from one of his presidential speeches. "All the Way" (No. 2) and "A World of Fantasy" (No. 3) became Triumph's highest ever charting songs on the Top Rock Tracks chart, while the title track peaked at No. 23. The album earned gold record status in the United States (sales of 500,000 units).
However, Triumph's relationship with RCA Records soured at this point; MCA Records executive Irving Azoff co-opted their debts and signed them for five albums. Following their 1984 label change, MCA took over distribution of their old catalogue for ten years. After the shift to MCA, the band began to work with outside producers, and their studio albums became increasingly difficult to replicate onstage. Triumph eventually added Rick Santers, a Toronto guitar and keyboard player, in 1986, to support their last three tours.
Thunder Seven was released in late 1984, initially as a compact disc. But despite two hit singles and videos, "Spellbound" (No. 10 on the Top Rock Tracks chart) and "Follow Your Heart" (No. 13), the album failed to achieve expected levels of sales; cassette and vinyl formats were soon released. On Thunder Seven Emmett's lyrics addressed social concerns in an adult context and Rik Emmett and Gil Moore sang alternating vocal parts in "Follow Your Heart" and "Killing Time". Continuing in the direction of "Never Surrender", the entire second side formed a loose concept focusing on different perspectives of time with "Time Canon" mostly featuring multiple part voice harmonies. Thunder Seven became an RIAA certified gold album in 2003.
In 1985 the band released Stages, a double live set culled from the previous three tours. It also featured two new songs, including "Mind Games", for which a video was filmed but the song failed to chart in either Canada or the U.S.
On June 7, 1985 Triumph was ranked No. 2 in Performance Magazine's 6-week period ending "Tops in Performance" list. That same year the band performed with Mountain as their opening act.
The Sport of Kings, Surveillance and split with Rik Emmett (1986–1991) Triumph took a more commercial turn with their 1986 studio album, The Sport of Kings."30 Years Ago: Triumph Take One for the Team on 'The Sport of Kings'". Ultimate Rock Guitar, Eduardo Rivadavia, September 12, 2016 Rik Emmett's "Somebody's Out There" reached the American Top 40 in late 1986, a significant amount of radio and video exposure. Written and recorded in the eleventh hour of The Sport of Kings sessions, in an attempt to deliver a hit single to satisfy the demands of the record company, "Somebody's Out There" made it to No. 27 on Billboard Hot 100 during October and November 1986. "Somebody's Out There" still stands as the highest-charting song from the Triumph catalogue on the Hot 100. It also reached No. 9 on the Top Rock Tracks chart, although it did less well in Canada, only reaching No. 84 on the singles chart there. Gil Moore's "Tears in the Rain", cut from the same cloth as "Mind Games", did not fare as well in the charts in the US, as it peaked at No. 23 on the Top Rock Tracks charts. The third single, the slow-tempo "Just One Night", which also had a video, did fairly well in Canada, hitting No. 33 on the singles chart in April 1987, but did not chart in the US. Adding the aforementioned Rick Santers to their line-up, Triumph toured with Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen across the United States in the fall of 1986.
In 1987 the band attempted a return to their usual style with Surveillance. While Gil Moore and Mike Levine remained firmly planted in blues-rock, Rik Emmett took a more modern progressive turn, even involving Dixie Dregs and Kansas guitarist Steve Morse. They collaborated on a dual-guitar solo for Gil Moore's angst-ridden vocal on the Emmett/Santers-penned "Headed for Nowhere". The first single released to radio stations in Canada was "Let the Light Shine on Me", which did well on certain Canadian rock stations, such as reaching number 1 at Q107 in Toronto (as the lead one or two singles on most Triumph albums since 1979 had) while reaching No. 61 on the Canadian singles chart. It did not chart in the US. The first single released to radio stations in the US, "Long Time Gone", reached number 23 on the Top Rock Tracks chart but the song did not chart in Canada. A video was released for the single "Never Say Never", but the song did not chart on the Top Rock Tracks chart or on the Canadian Singles chart.
The 1988 tour, during which the band members experienced growing disharmony over business decisions and artistic direction, ended with a September 3 show on the Kingswood stage at Canada's Wonderland. Later that year Emmett left Triumph and began a solo career; the three did not perform together again for many years."In the end, Emmett, Levine and Moore Triumph". Niagara Frontier Publications, April 29, 2016, Thom Jennings Emmett's first album, Absolutely, yielded four hits in Canada. Meanwhile, Triumph released 1989's Classics as their obligatory fifth album owed to MCA Records.
Phil X-era, Edge of Excess and hiatus (1992–2006)