Award-winning R&B singer Jully Black promises breathtaking performances during upcoming tour
February 3, 2025
Singing the Canadian anthem at the 2023 National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star game in Utah was an ‘aha’ moment for Jully Black.
The Juno and Gemini-Award winner changed the second line from ‘Our home and native land’ to ‘Our home on native land’ to honour this country’s Indigenous people.
The modification was well received throughout Canada and she was reinvigorated.
“The music business, which can be an uphill battle, broke my heart,” said Black. “I wanted to get in front of audiences again.”
On February 7, she embarks on her first tour in 17 years.
“This tour is timely because I am in a place of radical peace and gratitude in my life,” Black pointed out. “It is not just about the music. It is about celebrating the light and love around me. I am sharing my most vulnerable self, showing courage comes from embracing our truths and honouring those who have paved the way, even if they are no longer with us.”
Starting at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, she will perform 14 shows in five provinces — Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.
The tour ends on March 11 at the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre in Camrose in central Alberta.
Edmonton’s six-piece Afro-fusion group, Melafrique, will support the dates with two-time Juno nominee, oH! The Artist, joining the bill in Oakville, Tome in Montreal, Domanique Grant in Brampton and pop artist Zochi in Regina and Saskatchewan.
What was Black’s thinking behind selecting the artists to support her on the tour?
“In the case of Melafrique, it was important to have people who play instruments and sing,” she said. “I also wanted artists from each region I am going to perform. It was about giving emerging artists a platform to showcase their talent.”
This is the first time Black will be collaborating with the artists.
“This was intentional,” she noted. “Sometimes people tend to fish in the same pond. When I was starting in the business, some people said, ‘This girl is emerging out of Toronto, let’s put her on’. For me, it is each one reach one. There is a mission behind this. It is not just about making money. We must invest to ensure the future of Black music in Canada has a place.”
Black, whose outfits for the tour are custom-made, promises her performances will be breathtaking.
“Fans can expect energy, laughter and great music,” she said. “I will show that Black Canadian R&B singers are a force to be reckoned with. I want everyone to celebrate us the same way we celebrate people like Beyonce, Rihanna and Alicia Keys who I love. But we have Jully Black, Divine Brown, Deborah Cox, Melanie Fiona and Tamia. We have Black singers from Canada who are phenomenal. This is for us by us.”
Preparing for a tour requires a committed and disciplined approach.
“I have always treated myself as a high-performance athlete would,” Black said. “In fact, I consider myself a vocal athlete. I go to the gym, try to get the sleep needed to produce at a high level, stick to a balanced diet, take care of my voice and meditate. The biggest part of the training though is shutting out negative energy.”
‘Songs and Stories’ is the title of the five-week tour.
The 2022 Amazing Race Canada contestant will captivate audiences with her classic repertoire of songs, aided by her poignant storytelling prowess.
“Every song started with a story,” said Black who has performed with Elton John, Celine Dion, Alicia Keys, Kanye West and Jesse Reyez. “Before the birth of a song, something happened and there is a reason why those lyrics are manifested. Not only am I telling my story, but my mother’s story. She will be heard in every theatre in some way. Her legacy lives on and that is the most special part for me. It is about turning grief into greatness.”
The tour is dedicated to Agatha Gordon who passed away in November 2017 at age 81.
Migrating from Jamaica in 1968, the family matriarch dropped out of George Brown College Nursing program after divorcing and worked at General Motors to support her nine children.
“Mom was my rock,” said Black who is the youngest. “She toiled to bring her seven children from Jamaica, one by one. She often said, ‘I brought you to this point and it is up to you now’. On occasions, I would call and ask her to pray for me and she would inquire what was wrong with my prayers. She said, ‘You think God doesn’t hear you too’. She was a Christian woman and someone who put the cool in Christ.”
To mark the first anniversary of her mother’s death, Black delivered a TED Talk, ‘How to Rewrite Your Life’, in 2019.
Mom was instrumental in her accepting the offer to sing the anthem at the NBA All-Star Game two years ago.
“I have a lot of Indigenous friends, and I stopped singing the Canadian anthem after the recovery of Indigenous children’s bodies in mass graves on residential sites,” Black said. “When I was offered the opportunity to perform at the All-Star Game, I went to my mother for advice and she suggested I exercise wisdom and use the moment to be on the right side of history. That was it. I told a few of my close Indigenous friends what I was going to do because I wanted to make sure it was appropriate. Once I got their approval, I kept that secret from December 21 until February 19, 2023 when I stepped onto the court in Utah.”
Changing the lyrics of a national anthem is not recommended as it can be seen as undermining a significant cultural symbol.
Black was prepared to take the risk.
“For me, nothing is scarier than losing your mother and burying her,” the 2018 Harry Jerome Award recipient said. “I was not afraid.”
On April 3, 2023, she was invited to perform her version of the anthem at the Special Chief’s Assembly which honoured her with a Blanketing Ceremony and Eagle Feather.
Six weeks later, Black sang her version at Toronto Metropolitan University Lincoln Alexander School of Law's inaugural graduation.
Though chosen by CBC Music as one of ‘The 25 Greatest Canadian Singers Ever’ and inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame, she considers her rendition of the national anthem as the highlight of her career.
“It was seen around the world,” said Black who toured with Black Eyed Peas in 2005. “I often say a career is what you are paid for and a calling is what you are made for. That was a combination of my career and calling intersecting.”
Life has not been easy for the platinum-selling recording artist who, three years ago, released three new singles from her long-awaited and critically acclaimed autobiographical album, ‘Three Rocks and a Slingshot’.
At age 13, Black was stabbed while trying to defend a friend at Centre Island’s Caribbean Carnival celebrations.
“Up until then, I had turned a deaf ear to my mother’s pleas to choose my company wisely,” she recalled. “The choice was between finding a purpose in my life or staying with the same friends.”
Discovered by Warner/Chappell Music Canada in her late teens, Black met Pat Campbell who was the publishing firm’s General Manager.
“Jully came to my office when she was about 16, wanting to know about the music business and trying to understand how to navigate it and further her fledgling career,” the former BMG Music Canada Copyright/Royalty Clerk said. “At the time, I sensed an ‘old head’ in a young lady as she was quoting and using cliches not akin to her age. I later discovered how tuned in she was to her mother. She was never shy as to how integral her mom was to her career.
“What you see is what you get with her. She is real and genuine with a profound and deep spirituality. She has worked hard on promoting herself as she recognized that the main lead had to be her. She never gave up, knowing that she had a lot to offer and has never been afraid to take chances. As she continues her journey, I anticipate much success for her as she remains in full control of her career.”
In addition to Campbell who was a Director in Warner’s Los Angeles office before retiring in 2005, Black counts music publishing executive Vivian Barclay, Alan Jones and the late Denise Jones and record label executive Randy Lennox, who signed her at age 17 and was her Canada Walk of Fame nominee, as some of the people on whose shoulders she stands.
The church is the starting point for most singers who have had exceptional careers.
That was where Black started singing at age six.
“I knew I could sing well because when I opened my mouth, it impacted people,” she said. “To be in the teen choir at such a young age also suggested I must be special.”
In 2007, Black released her second album, ‘Revival’, that the Canadian Recording Industry Association certified gold with sales of over 50,000 copies.
Jully Black on the red carpet at the Black Academy inaugural Legacy Awards in 2022 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Though there is no single age that defines a singer’s peak, she felt she was at the height of her career just turning 30.
However, things did not work out as expected.
“I felt as if I was aged out,” Black, who has written songs for and collaborated with several music heavyweights, including Sean Paul, Nas and Destiny’s Child, said. “It was all about the teenagers and people who were younger than me and a different shade of skin than me. There were some people who broke my heart and let me down. In hindsight, I realize it was fear and not personal. They were trying to protect their livelihood. They made decisions that severely impacted me. Some of them have since apologized because they saw that I did not give up. I forgive them, but that does not mean I gave them access to my future. At this point, it is beautiful being this age. I am 47 and proud of it.”
What is her advice for young artists trying to break into the entertainment industry?
“I often remind them it is the entertainment business and they should learn the business,” said Black who launched an online step aerobics program, ‘The Power of Step’, in 2020. “The reason I am still here is because I ask a whole bunch of questions. For those seeking record deals, it starts with the song. Who are you writing your songs with? Are you writing your songs? Do you have someone to collaborate with? That is what changed everything for me when I had the opportunity to take my songwriting, my little poetry and put them to music which is the vehicle to get you to the masses.”
Black successfully made the transition from music to acting.
She appeared in ‘Da King in My Hair’ that won four National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) Theatre awards and was nominated for four Toronto Dora awards in an episode of the CBC TV series ‘Diggstown’, playing a healthcare worker accused of infecting residents of a long-term care home with COVID-19.
Three years ago, Black teamed up with Jennifer Seif to launch the Jully Black Foundation that supports and advances the education of Black women between ages 17 and 35.
“We are raising money to give scholarships and bursaries to single moms and families seeking post-secondary education,” she said. “We have also collaborated with the Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons Foundation to assist with mentorship. Oftentimes, people get a grant or scholarship that ends up being like a lottery win because they don’t know what to do with it. They have to do mentorship monthly.”
Black has a lot on her plate this year.
Besides the tour, she is working on her memoir and preparing to tie the nuptial knot in Jamaica this summer.
