[4] On the eighth anniversary of her death, April 16, 2021, it was announced that Rita MacNeil would be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame posthumously in May of that same year.

[12] She noted that the sexual abuse eventually ended, unsure whether it was because someone had found out about it or that her family moved away from Big Pond.

[15] Alcoholism, already a large part of her parents' life, became worse in Toronto, especially with her mother's desire to move back to Cape Breton.

After a terrible night of drinking and fighting,[16] MacNeil's older brother Malcolm ('Malkie') arrived in Toronto, and he and Mary convinced their parents that it was time to move back to Cape Breton, which they soon did.

[18][19] Upon returning to Sydney in the fall, MacNeil knew she wanted nothing more than to begin her singing career, and with her parents' support she moved right back to Toronto to get started.

[19] Like her mother, MacNeil worked for Eaton's, in the Customer Account Services Department[20] By 1964 she had begun taking voice lessons.

[21] She had also met a man she described as Sicilian, with jet black hair, brown eyes and very white teeth.

Growing restless in her marriage, MacNeil made one last attempt to save her relationship by moving back to Cape Breton with her family in 1975.

She returned to Cape Breton in spring 1976,[33] became severely depressed, and left again, this time taking her children on her move to Ottawa where, as a single mother, she took jobs cleaning houses and became a welfare recipient.

[37] Her mother Catherine died that year after being ill for some time, and at her funeral Rita sang a song she had written, "Who Will I Go to See," which she included on her first album.

[42] "Working Man" was sparked by a visit to the Princess Colliery in Sydney Mines, prompted by the stories of the miners' daily hardships.

[43] In her autobiography she notes that the tour guide was suffering from throat cancer, and she had remembered her mother's struggles with it, and as he talked the melody for the song began in her head, complete with lyrics.

"[45] The work leading up to the album's release was immense; to ensure that it would be picked up, MacNeil and friends formed Big Pond Publishing and Production Limited in 1980, which today is run by her son Wade.

After travelling to Nashville to record "Flying on Your Own" and "Fast Train to Tokyo," MacNeil learned the show would not go ahead.

The press suggested Macneil's appearance had adversely affected her chances; a newspaper headline of the time read 'Fat lady with cleft lip not marketable: So says CBC Toronto'.

At the same time she filmed a movie called Candy Mountain, in which she played the small role of a singer named Winnie.

[57] In 1988 MacNeil received an honorary doctorate from the University of New Brunswick, and released two more albums, Now the Bells Ring and Reason to Believe, which was written for her mother.

[63] She also filmed another television special, Flying on Your Own, for CTV,[64] and released another album, Rita, which she recorded in Vancouver.

[71] MacNeil also set out on a European tour, which included what she considered a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

In retaliation, a local Philadelphia newspaper took aim at MacNeil stating: "Towns that need forklifts to transport their O Canada singer to home plate, should think twice before describing Phillies as unfit."

When asked later if she would sing for another World Series game, she answered true to her humorous self: "Yes, I'd do it, but only if they drive me out onto the field on a forklift.

Originally a one-room schoolhouse where she lived, it was expanded in 1993 to include the foyer, gift shop, kitchen, and additional rooms.

[87] MacNeil wrote a memoir, On a Personal Note with Anne Simpson in 1998 and it was published by Key Porter Books.

[90] She produced a television special one year later in 2004 called Rita MacNeil's Cape Breton, featuring Jimmy Rankin, Ashley MacIsaac, and The Men of the Deeps.

[95] MacNeil's last known stage performance was just over a month before her death, on March 9, 2013 during East Coast Music Week.

It is a memorial album containing some of MacNeil's most cherished songs, hand-picked by her son Wade, her close family and friends, and thousands of fans who gave input via social media.

[98][99] A biography of MacNeil, I'm Not What I Seem, by Charlie Rhindress, was published by Formac in October 2016 and became a best seller in Nova Scotia and PEI.