TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) – The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and CBC announced today that award-winning recording artist, Broadway, television, film, and fashion icon, Deborah Cox, will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 2022 JUNO Awards.
Cox will be the first Black woman to receive the national honor. With a career spanning almost three decades, Cox has released six albums and has scaled the R&B and pop charts with six Top 20 Billboard R&B singles and thirteen No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play Chart. To celebrate her induction, Cox will perform live from Toronto’s Budweiser Stage during the JUNO Awards. The JUNO Awards will be broadcast and streamed live across Canada on Sunday, May 15th.
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established by CARAS in 1978 to acknowledge artists that have made an outstanding contribution to the international recognition of Canadian music. Cox will join the ranks of Canadian music icons including Alanis Morisette, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Barenaked Ladies, Jann Arden, Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Oscar Peterson, RUSH, The Guess Who, The Tragically Hip, Sarah McLachlan and Shania Twain.
“I feel incredibly grateful to experience this true milestone moment,” said Deborah Cox. “Music has always been about community for me, and I am so thankful to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and CARAS for not only recognizing myself, but my family, friends and loving fans who have supported me and helped make my dream possible for the past 25+ years. As the first Black woman to become an inductee, I am honored to have the chance to show our younger generations that they can achieve whatever they set their minds to with hard work, dedication and passion. I hope that my music can continue to bring peace, happiness and comfort to anyone who might need it, and empower people of all ages to follow their dreams and believe in themselves.”
“Deborah is a multi-dimensional artist who has been entertaining and captivating audiences around the world for over 25 years,” said Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards. ”Her resounding voice and powerful performances have made her an international icon. We are so privileged to celebrate her talent and can’t wait to see her inspire audiences this spring in her hometown of Toronto.”
Born in Toronto, Cox grew up in a musical household and showed an early interest in music with influences including Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and Whitney Houston, whom she calls her truest inspiration. She began performing at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before becoming a professional backup vocalist for Céline Dion. In 1994, Cox was signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis, releasing her self-titled debut album the following year. Her second studio album, One Wish, was certified platinum and produced two No. 1 singles, “We Can’t Be Friends” and “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” which became an instant hit and held the record for the longest running No. 1 R&B single of all time. Cox earned a Billboard Music Award nomination for R&B Single of the Year, a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award nomination, a Soul Train Award, a Lady of Soul Award and three JUNO Awards.
Cox was recognized alongside Martin Luther King’s daughter, Dr. Bernice King and other change-making women at the 2021 Black Women in Media Awards for her impact on the entertainment industry. Following the success of her hit 2019 single “Easy Way,” Cox has new music on the way and is working toward the release of her seventh career studio album due out in 2022.
