Lloyd Edward Elwyn "Ed" Robertson (born October 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Barenaked Ladies. He, along with former member Steven Page, founded the group in 1988. As of Page's departure in 2009, Robertson and bassist Jim Creeggan are the only remaining original members of the band.

Biography

Early and personal life
Robertson was born in Scarborough, Ontario. He is the youngest of five children, with two sisters, Lynn and Bonnie, and two brothers, Bill and Doug; He claims to have been named on a bet. His mother, Wilma, was a secretary for Imperial Oil, and his father, Earl, worked both as a shipping foreman for Honeywell, and as an egg grader. He believes that his conception was an "accident" due to the fact that he is several years younger than his siblings, who were all born about one year apart. He credits this situation with allowing him to have the experience of being both in a big family, and an only child—once his siblings moved out of their home.

Robertson began working part-time when he was 13 years old. He has bragged about being named employee of the month at his local Wendy's in July 1985. He also answered phones at a CAA office. Robertson appeared in the music video for "All We Are" by Kim Mitchell from Mitchell's 1985 album Akimbo Alogo.

Robertson was brought up in a home where country music was played almost exclusively; he is still fond of it today. He sang harmonies with his family and learned how to play guitar, which his father also played. Once he began playing guitar for other people, around grade five, he knew he wanted to be a performer. He was in several bands during his school days including a band that covered a collection of rock artists, such as Rush and Kim Mitchell.

In grade four, Robertson entered the gifted program at Churchill Heights Public School. Robertson's first run-in with Steven Page, who was a year ahead in the same gifted program, was when he unknowingly "stole" Page's best friend. It would be several years before the two would really speak to each other. Page saw Robertson at a Harvey's restaurant after a Peter Gabriel concert and was surprised to find that Robertson was also a fan. This ultimately led to them talking and becoming friends.

Robertson attended Woburn Collegiate Institute with Page and, around grade twelve, realized he needed to focus on passing his courses to get into university, believing his goal of being musician was somewhat of a "pipe dream". It was around this point when he began playing with Page. The two became counsellors at Scarborough Schools Music Camp in the summer of 1988, and spent a lot of time together singing songs and playing guitar. Page was flattered that Robertson knew some of the songs he had written, which Robertson had learned after acquiring a copy of a cassette tape Page had recorded. Page was also impressed by Robertson's ear for singing harmony. Upon receiving a telephone call from an organizer of a benefit concert which Robertson had committed his recently broken-up band to play, Robertson quickly advised that he would still be performing but the name of the band had changed to Barenaked Ladies, a name he had previously joked with Page about. Robertson then phoned Page and invited Page to be his bandmate in Barenaked Ladies. The benefit concert marked the first performance of the duo as Barenaked Ladies.

Robertson was accepted to York University, but dropped out after only half a year, choosing to devote his time completely to the band. He and Page spent the next two years building the reputation and following for Barenaked Ladies, joined along the way by Andy and Jim Creeggan, and Tyler Stewart.

Robertson was the second member of Barenaked Ladies to get married, and the first to have children. He married his longtime girlfriend, Natalie Herbert, in June 1994. They had their first child, Hannah on November 17, 1995; their second child, Lyle was born September 29, 1999; and their third child, Arden was born August 7, 2002. As the first in the band to have children, he was also one of the first to advocate for spending less time touring and more time at home with family. When he is not working with Barenaked Ladies, Robertson prefers to spend as much time as he can with his family in Toronto, or at their Bancroft-area cottage.

Robertson's brother Doug died after crashing his motorcycle in June 1993. The experience had an impact on Ed, which came through in his songwriting. The song "Am I The Only One?" from the 1994 Barenaked Ladies album Maybe You Should Drive, which he had been writing about his then-future wife, ended up being about the loss of his brother; the song "Leave" from 1998's Stunt is about the image of his brother haunting him in hotel rooms while on tour; and the song "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" from 2000's Maroon was based on Robertson's curiosity about what his brother was thinking about in his last moments. His mother died on December 13, 2008 at age 72, and his father died on June 10, 2011 at the age of 76. Robertson wrote the song "Moonstone" about his mother passing away. It was recorded during the All in Good Time sessions, and although it was not included in the basic album, it was released as a bonus track.