Fact-checking is an Essential Part of Reporting

In my article, This Right Here is Buck 65, I misidentified his female vocalist. I got some bad information from a fan who said that the girl singing with Buck 65 in 'Devil's Eyes' and 'Drawing Curtains' is Feist, a fellow Canadian musician. In reality, the woman's name is Claire Berest.

Passing the Buck
I had researched the music, trying to figure out who the female vocalist was. I couldn't find the information I was looking for, so I asked a friend of mine who is a fan as well. He told me it was Feist and I went with it. I discovered my mistake when reading the youtube comments for the video 'Devil's Eyes'. A fan there attributed the female vocals to a Claire, and now, of course, I'm finding all sorts of information on Claire Berest. First though, a bit about Feist.

Feist
Hailing from Nova Scotia, Feist has been in the music business since 1991 at the age of 15 when she formed her first band. She is perhaps best known for her song '1234' which was featured in an Apple iPod Nano commercial. Time Magazine named '1234' by Feist in its 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #2.

Buck 65 does know and has worked with Feist in the past. In the video for Feist's 'One Evening', the duo are filmed doing a sexy, yet comedic, synchronized dance routine. Because of this video, it was once rumored that Buck 65 and Leslie Feist were engaged.

Claire Berest
Where Leslie Feist was rumored to be Buck 65's fiancee, Claire Berest actually is. In a 2005 article on the website www.canada.com, "Why Buck 65 is terrified", about Canadians living in Paris, Claire Berest is referred to as being his Parisian fiancee and music collaborator. It is also mentioned in the article that Berest provided vocals on the album Secret House Against the World.

According to Wikipedia, Claire Berest is also featured on Buck 65's self-released album, Strong Arm.

The Lesson
When I discovered I had made this error, I was horrified. Not that I don't regularly make mistakes, but as a reporter in my real life, I know the importance of getting the facts straight before going to print with an article. It's not like the spoken word, which can be corrected instantly and easily. Once something is in print, it is out there forever. The only upside to this error is that I caught it myself and was able to appropriately correct it.