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| Kellylee Evans receives Doctor of Music Degree from Carleton University  Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter Kellylee Evans has received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Carleton University, awarded at the convocation ceremony, where she delivered the address to this year's graduating class. The university recognized Evans for her distinguished career as a Canadian singer-songwriter and for the resilience she has shown in overcoming great personal adversity along the way.A distinguished Carleton alum, Evans is a high-octane, chameleon-like performer whose improvisational vocal style move fluidly through jazz, soul, pop, and hip-hop. She has released nine albums, toured extensively around the world, and opened for artists as varied as John Legend, Tony Bennett, Willie Nelson, and Erykah Badu. A four-time Juno nominee, she won the award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year for 'Nina, ' her tribute to the life and music of Nina Simone. Once signed to Universal Music, she now releases her work on her own label, Enliven Media. Evans built her international reputation after turning heads at the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition, going on to earn acclaim for a smooth, genre-crossing blend of jazz, soul, and hip-hop. In 2013, a lightning strike at her Ashton, Ontario home sent a surge of electricity through her body and altered her health profoundly, and a concussion in the years that followed compounded the challenge, forcing the mother of three to step back from a demanding touring schedule. She has since devoted her energy to recovery and to making music again, work that speaks to the same determination Carleton celebrated on its stage. Today, alongside her music, Evans travels as a speaker, sharing her recovery journey and a message of self-care and resilience that has connected with audiences across the country. Her honorary degree recognizes a career that has spanned continents and genres, and a life that has turned hard-won experience into something generous and forward-looking. Her new EP 'Show Love' is out now, a fitting marker of an artist who continues to create on her own terms. write your comments about the article :: © 2026 Jazz News :: home page |