Burton Cummings, who was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1987 as a member of The Guess Who, will be the first to be added to the Hall of Fame’s new home in Calgary April 1.

He will also be honoured with a tribute during the JUNO Awards two days later.

The performer, singer, songwriter has won a number of awards, including seven JUNOs in a career that spanned over five decades.

In a statement, Cummings says ”I wish my mother had lived long enough to see this.  She would have been over the moon about it.  I’ve received many acknowledgements through the decades, but truthfully, I cannot say that any of them outweighs this one.  I watch the Canadian industry evolve from its fledgling days into a global contender, and witnessed one brilliant artist after another leave a mark that was recognized all over Earth.  I’m extremely proud to have have been a part of those early days … extremely proud.  After considerable success in a band situation, I took that huge, frightening step into solo artist territory.  Initially, my single instinct was just to keep going … keep recording.

With a lot of help and belief from a lot of supportive industry people, I DID manage to keep going.  This honour tells me I made the right decision, that my instincts were correct.  I’m more proud than anyone could know and I feel as Canadian as I’ve ever felt in my 68 years of life.  I don’t take this lightly, and my sincere heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who had anything to do with making this happen for me.  This means more to me that anyone could ever really know.”