Bryan Adams lands Juno Awards humanitarian honour
Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, who already has a few Juno Awards under his belt, is set to add another this spring when organizers of the Canadian musical honours will present him with the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced Adams as the latest recipient of the award in St. John’s, N.L., on Wednesday.
The award pays tribute to fundraising and charitable efforts.
“I’m accepting this award in the hope that it will inspire and encourage others to contribute and/or also give back,” Adams said in a statement.
The academy hailed the singer for being socially aware and taking part in charitable endeavours from early on in his career, including participating in Amnesty International concerts, Live Aid and Live 8, the annual Prince’s Trust Rock Gala in the U.K. and similar events.
In 1985, Adams co-wrote and was among the host of singers who recorded Tears Are Not Enough, the Canadian charity single in support of Ethiopian famine relief. A past campaigner for Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Adams was also the first major Western artist to perform in Pakistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Adams’s 2006 Karachi concert was held to raise money for victims of the massive October 2005 earthquake that roared through South Asia and devastated the Kashmir region.
Aside from his music, Adams has also established a namesake foundation that supports children’s education and has sold his photography to raise money for cancer research.
“Without any fanfare, Bryan’s foundation has quietly worked to enrich the lives of children and young people here at home and in the far-flung corners of the globe,” said academy president and CEO Melanie Berry.
Academy honours one of its own
Officials also announced on Wednesday the 2010 winner of the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award: Ross Reynolds, longtime Universal Music Canada president as well as a founding board member and former chair of the academy.
In addition to being a music mogul who helped develop the careers of artists from Dan Hill to Lighthouse to The Tragically Hip, he has also served as an adviser, board member or executive at a host of organizations, including the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Canadian Recording Industry Association, the Audio Visual Preservation Trust Fund and Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Elected chair of the academy in 2001, Reynolds was part of the group behind the popular idea to move the Juno Awards celebrations to a different Canadian city every year, with St. John’s tapped as the inaugural host in 2002.
Adams and Reynolds will be feted during the Juno Awards festivities in St. John’s this spring, beginning April 12 and ending with the live broadcast of the 39th annual Juno Awards gala from the Mile One Centre on April 18.
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