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Deborah Cox, Kardinal Offishall and Jully Black are among the group of musicians set to appear at the inaugural Legacy Awards.
Founders of The Black Academy — the Canadian initiative to celebrate Black talent behind the awards, launched in 2020 by brothers Shamier Anderson and Stephan James — announced the lineup Thursday, as well as the night’s presenters.
They will include King Bach, former governor general Michaëlle Jean, Amanda Parris, Odario Williams, Arisa Cox, Brandon Gonez and Kathleen Newman-Bremang.
Also performing will be Keysha Freshh, Izzy-S, Sate and DJ 4Korner, while Anderson and James are set to host.
The Legacy Awards will be a 90-minute live show including musical performances, tributes to established and emerging Black talent in the country and a series of award presentations in categories including film, television, music and sports. A voting jury composed of The Black Academy itself along with industry members in music, film, TV and pop culture will determine winners.
In addition to the main category, there will also be a “fan choice” award for Black-identifying Canadian digital content creators. Voting will open on Sept. 6 at www.vote.blackacademy.ca.
The event, airing on CBC and CBC Gem on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, at 8 p.m. ET, will be the first-ever Canadian awards show dedicated to Black talent. It will broadcast from Toronto’s History entertainment venue, which was created through a partnership between Drake and artist management company Live Nation last year.
WATCH | First-ever Canadian awards show for Black talent to air in September:
The first-ever Canadian awards show dedicated to Black talent will air on CBC in 2022. The production by the Black Academy will honour Black achievement in film, television, music, sports and culture next fall.
“Putting together this celebration of Black Canadian talent is a labour of love and I’m honoured to have been invited to helm this epic undertaking,” awards showrunner David F. Mewa was quoted as saying in a media release.
“A ton of care and thought has gone into creating the inaugural edition of The Legacy Awards and I think Canadians will be very inspired by what they see.”
The Black Academy is expected to release subsequent announcements on additional performers, a full list of award recipients and tickets in the coming weeks.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
