William Prince honoured with music impact award

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This article was published 20/11/2024 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

William Prince is the first Manitoban to receive the Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour, an annual award from Canada’s Walk of Fame recognizing artists making a positive impact through their career.

Past honorees include the likes of Drake, the Arkells, Carly Rae Jepsen and Serena Ryder.

“A lot of up-and-comers on that list of previous winners,” Prince joked during a recent phone call. (To be clear, the Juno-winning singer-songwriter from Peguis First Nation doesn’t consider himself a music newcomer. “I’m just a go-out-and-getter, I think, now.”)

For Prince — who has released four albums, opened for Neil Young and, last year, performed at the Grand Ole Opry — the award is acknowledgment of everything he’s achieved and overcome thus far.

“I always say, being an Indigenous person, you always have to work 50 to 70 per cent harder than the mean, and that means 100 per cent every day,” he said. “It’s pretty special to be included and it makes me feel like (I’m) on the right path and getting seen by the right people.

“I may not be a chart-topper just yet but, I guess I’m doing good work and it’s being felt.”

The award, named after Canadian media mogul Allan Slaight, will be presented at a reception in Toronto Wednesday night, during which former Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle is set to perform a cover of Prince’s song Lighthouse from his 2020 album Reliever.

“My wife is a huge Alan Doyle fan, so this is two of her worlds colliding in such a crazy way,” Prince said prior to the ceremony. “Oh my gosh, I can’t wait.”

The evening will also celebrate the induction of Special Olympics pioneer Dr. Frank J. Hayden to Canada’s Walk of Fame, as well as the achievements of disability-rights advocate and Paralympian Danielle Campo.

The Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour has been presented annually by the organization since 2010. Prince was selected as this year’s winner for the content of his catalogue, as well as his musical contributions to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and the Terry Fox Foundation.

“William Prince is a remarkable storyteller whose contributions to Canadian music, both as a celebrated artist and an advocate for meaningful causes, transcends boundaries and speaks to the heart of the human experience,” Canada’s Walk of Fame board member Randy Lennox said in a media release.

To be recognized for his impact is no small thing for the honoree.

“It’s huge,” Prince says. “Music was always a method for coping, for healing and that from great pain, great challenge and difficulty could come something as great as getting an award for positivity, that’s beautifully ironic, I think.”

Following the award ceremony, Prince is heading out on a two-week tour of the United States. He’s also recently released his first foray into holiday tunes with The Sound of Christmas, an EP featuring two original tracks and a silky smooth cover of Silver Bells.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com