Inuk singer Kelly Fraser, whose popular YouTube cover of Rihanna helped inspire a Juno-nominated career of songwriting and activism, has died at 26. Fraser, who was raised in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, picked up a guitar at 11 and formed her first band four years later. Her viral cover of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” exposed her to many new listeners, leading to her debut album in 2014. But it was her sophomore release “Sedna” that garnered Fraser wider acclaim, earning her an Indigenous album of the year nomination at the 2018 Juno Awards and a pop album of the year nomination at the Indigenous Music Awards. Fraser was also an advocate for music education in Indigenous communities, as the co-founder of Nunavut Hitmakerz, which provides workshops in Inuktitut to underfunded communities.

Source: thestar December 27, 2019 19:30 UTC