John Fellner (courtesy of RBC Emerging Musician Program)
In its 13th year, the 2025 Canada’s Walk of Fame RBC Emerging Musician Program has announced the winners; among the five is London’s very own John Fellner winning third place.
The RBC Emerging Music Program (in partnership with Canada’s Walk of Fame and Stingray) aims to support upcoming artists throughout the nation by providing mentorship, development, and performance opportunities. With 20 judges, the winning artists are selected based on their creativity, talent, and originality.
John Fellner is best known for his signature blend of indie folk and R&B. He originally began his music journey as a producer and songwriter which had earned him a JUNO nomination before he himself stepped into the spotlight.
“I always been writing songs and I’d always kind of been a subtle, you know, maybe not an artist, but I was always singing songs,” said Fellner when asked about how he had transitioned into an artist.
“And but I never kind of thought I’d pursue it, really, because I didn’t think I was strong enough. But honestly, it was covid like it was during that time. I just finished my first project with an artist who was on Universal. And I kind of just had I had a studio in Toronto and I had no one coming to it. So it was like, all right, I’m just going to start working on some of my own music. And that’s really where it started.” he added.
His heartfelt lyricism paired with raw vocals and delicate instrumentals are present throughout his hits such as “Broke Skin”, “Brown Eyes”, and “Mercy Rule”.
His win has earned him a $5,000 cash prize, exposure on the Canada’s Walk of Fame music channel that will be launching in October on Stingray, performance slots at Festival du Voyageur 2026 in Montreal and Departure Fest in Toronto, and mentorship opportunities with industry leaders.
Fellner says that the opportunity affirms he is headed in the right direction.
“You know, so it’s, I mean, just another, you know, support system, like having this emerging artist program is amazing, because it just means that I’ll be able to do more things and grow in a faster and more kind of like directed way. So, yeah, it’s amazing,” he says.
“I mean, it’s such a cool opportunity. And, you know, obviously, there’s, you know, there’s resources, there’s funding, and there’s a lot of, you know, there’s a show opportunity festival in Winnipeg that we get to play next year. There’s like all good things that are kind of leading me in the direction that I really want to go in my career.” he added.
John Fellner will be performing at The Aeolian Hall on October 9.
Watch the full interview with John Fellner here:
