Singer k.d. lang to join Canadian Music Hall of Fame

Singer k.d. lang will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at this spring's Juno Awards gala.

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences will recognize the Edmonton-born performer's 25-year career in Canadian music with a tribute at the April 21 awards gala in Regina, the group announced on Tuesday.

Named most promising female vocalist at the 1985 Junos following the release of her first album, A Truly Western Experience, lang went on to define the alt-country genre with a career that took her to Nashville as well as the Grammy Awards.

A musical innovator with a powerful voice, she switched musical hats with her 1992 albumIngénue, which features hits such as Constant Craving and Miss Chatelaine.

In the years since, lang has experimented with adult contemporary, bossa nova and electronic sounds. She returned to her country roots with 2011’s Sing It Loud.

She's also a Canadian music darling for her moving cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah!, which she sang at both the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the 2005 Juno Awards.

Over her career, she has won eight Junos and four Grammys, including one in 1988 for her duet of Crying with Roy Orbison. Lang was invested into the Order of Canada in 1997 and inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2008.

The Canadian Music Hall of Fame, established in 1978, recognizes commercially successful artists who have been influential on the Canadian music scene. Past inductees include Anne Murray, Bruce Cockburn, Daniel Lanois, Hank Snow, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Oscar Peterson, Shania Twain and Blue Rodeo.

"To be included in the lineage of Canadian artists who have formed my musical DNA and who remain my mentors is beyond humbling," lang said in a press statement.

"I am deeply honoured to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame."