Anne Murray receives Lifetime Achievement Award | 2025 Juno Awards

tonight I have the distinct honor of

presenting the Lifetime Achievement

Award to a true icon a woman who is

inspired so many of us with her Artistry

her unique voice and her confidence to

do it her own way there is no one like

her everyone knows Anne

Murray and everyone loves

her even Stewie from Family Guy couldn't

resist her and her wicked sense of

humor an and I are both from the East

Coast and I've always felt a kindered

spirit in her a shared desire to pursue

our dreams but on our own terms her

songs were the soundtrack of my

childhood and I still know the words to

everyone the beautiful simple beauty of

snowbird the innocence of Danny's Song

and the unconditional love of you needed

me Ann's a Pioneer a Trailblazer and her

calm canadiana presence belide a grit

and confidence that helped her lead the

way she was the very first Vegas

headliner to refuse to work two shows a

night agreeing to only one so that she

could focus on her

family her bold stance led the way for

other artists like Dolly Parton and

Elvis Presley to follow

suit an still holds the honor for having

won the most Juno Awards ever

she is a living legend a true Maverick

our North Star and tonight we celebrate

her with the Lifetime Achievement Award

we thank Anne for everything she did to

build Canada's star system and for

opening doors for so many young women

who followed let's look at her

story ladies and gentlemen the recipient

of more junos than any other Canadian

please welcome that wacky Snowbird

herself miss Ann Murray the Juno goes to

an Murray an Murray an Murray an Murray

new kind of feeling an Murray an Murray

since she began her career in 1968 Anne

has won a record setting 25 Juno Awards

the newest member of the Juno Hall of

Fame an Murray her contributions to

Canadian music and culture have been

endless earning her the prestigious

Order of Canada with 32 Studio albums

and over 55 million records sold

worldwide she conquered the charts and

put Canadian music on the map I'm happy

to say that it all started here in

Canada an's career began with an

audition for singalong Jubilee I was in

second year college and I thought well

that'd be great for a summer job you

know can't beat that singing for a

living oh what alert she made the show

in a 1970 burst onto the charts in both

Canada and the USA with

[Music]

Snowbird I was the first Canadian female

single artist to sell a million copies

of a record in the US Noir changed my

[Applause]

life an achieved a string of number one

hits on the country charts but she never

thought of herself as just a country

singer in Canada I think that I've been

accepted since the very beginning as a

singer in the US they're bound and

determined they're going to categorize

me and I will not let

[Music]

them you needed me one song of the year

at the Academy of Country Music Awards

it got the Grammy in the pop category

and was number one on Billboard you

needed me catapulted my career to a

whole new level Anne's success on both

country and pop charts was unparalleled

her star power continued to grow and

left a lasting Legacy for Canadian

artists who followed

I want to sing you love

song I want to rock you in my

heart an Murray what a legend everybody

please I would like to say thank you to

an Marie who started everything yes

thank you he opened so many doors for us

and thank you

[Music]

please welcome the 2025 Juno Awards

Lifetime Achievement Honore an

Murray Canada's national art center has

supported countless Canadian performing

artists from the beginning of their

careers to the international stage

including tonight's honory who's

receiving her 26th Juno award

[Music]

thank you so much and thank you to Caris

for this I'm deeply honored the junos

have not only been instrumental in

launcing the careers of many Great

Canadian artists but also creating a

Bonafide Canadian music industry so

thank

you when I look back it seems clear that

singing never felt like a choice for me

I had to do it it was as natural is

breathing as a 15-year-old every

Saturday morning for two years I got on

a bus for an hour and a half to go from

Spring Hill Nova Scotia to

Tush to take singing lessons from Karen

Mills I was being trained classically

and I sang Italian areas and French and

German art songs it was not exactly my

cup of tea like most teenagers at that

time I was more interested in rock and

roll

but it seems that I was willing to do

anything to get better and to learn I

sang with groups of girls and got to

sing harmonies which I loved and I

learned so much about enunciation and

how and wear to breathe in a song and

I'm not sure anybody cares that much

about that

anymore I was always finding ways to

sing but never ever thought of doing it

for a living but then things just

started to happen and I felt this push

behind me so I let it

happen I became a regular on CBC Network

television show called Sing Long Jubilee

that

[Applause]

was that was seen across the country it

just seemed that the stars were aligned

in Halifax Nova Scotia

on that show I met my future husband

Bill langstroth Brian aarn who produced

my first 10 albums and a wonderful

songwriter by the name of Jean mclen who

handed me a song called

Snowbird I was I was on my way somehow I

was also blessed with a a unique

sounding voice that was very

recognizable on radio and I always sang

in

tune even without

autotune before I knew it I was singing

with the likes of Glenn Campbell Perry

KO Johnny Cash Kenny Rogers Dolly Parton

and many more

that part was fun but I soon found out

just how demanding the life was going to

be and how many things I had to do that

I didn't want to do like the talk shows

the publicity shots the constant

traveling those first few years in Las

Vegas doing two shows a night that was

tough goinging but the worst part was

leaving my family behind and I have so

many people to thank so many without

whom I I couldn't possibly have done it

some of them unfortunately are no longer

with us but specifically I want to thank

my parents my family Bill

langstroth and Leonard Rambo who had

such faith in

[Music]

me Bruce Allen who virtually revitalized

my career

and some wonderful producers most

notably Brian aarn Jim Ed Norman and

Tommy West and my loyal fans but most of

all my kids who thankfully miraculously

are still talking to me

after all of my absences from their

lives so and if you'll permit me just

one more thing because the majority of

my work was in the us I was pressured

very early in my career to move to New

York or Los Angeles and I just couldn't

do it

I I I just I knew instinctively that I

needed a place to go to escape when my

work was done Canada was my safe

haven my my safety

blanket my light at the end of the

tunnel and it still is thank you very

much