Canadian rap artist Drake might not be on the program at History Ottawa, but local fans could get a glimpse of him at some point soon.
Drake took to social media Thursday to celebrate the opening of History Ottawa, the city’s newest live music venue.
“Today, we open the second History,” he said on Instagram Thursday. “A venue for outstanding artists and the incredible fan bases that seek that communal family experience. Thank you to Live Nation for giving me the continued trust on a journey that I hope is shared with every city and country worldwide.
“In creating this I think about every artist that had to play a venue and ask themselves, ‘Is this what making it feels like?’ because I know we respect all the heritage and all the years of inheritance but hope to create a better experience for our budding artists moving forward,” he said.
The Wallflowers kick off History Ottawa’s public concerts tonight. While Drake isn’t slated to perform at the Ottawa venue just yet, he said he’d be stopping in soon.
“These venues are where our stories are born, elevated, shared, and hopefully revisited. I will be there to drop off my personal touch to Ottawa soon,” he said on Instagram.
OBJ viewed the space Monday before it opened to the public. Bronwyn Campbell, general manager of History Ottawa, said Drake’s team wanted to emphasize the artist’s experience when putting together its Ottawa expansion venue.
“Drake had a lot of input on the Toronto venues and his idea was that he wanted to create an arena-style dressing room for artists that are about to hit the arenas,” Campbell said Monday. “It was to kind of give them a taste of what’s to come, because we’re going to be getting so many artists (that) are on the brink of playing arena. That was the concept behind History Toronto and that’s what we’ve pulled over here.”
There was a lot of attention to detail that went into building History Ottawa, Ali Shafaee, regional vice-president of Live Nation Canada, said during the tour on Monday.
“When you think of an artist that’s coming to play History (Ottawa), they’re typically on a tour. They’re living on a tour bus. So, when they come into this room, they’re looking for a certain comfort level. What we’ve done is really paid attention to detail in the dressing rooms to make sure the artists, when they get here, can have an experience as well. Every one of the dressing rooms has a shower, bathroom, lounge area, TV and its own fridge,” Shafaee said Monday.
The Ottawa venue is a continuation of Drake’s partnership with Live Nation. In 2021, Drake worked with the company to open History in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood, a 2,500-person venue.
The expansion to Ottawa was announced in early 2025. In 2023, the National Capital Commission purchased the space at 47-57 Rideau St., which was formerly occupied by a Chapters bookstore from 1996 to 2022.
