A member of both the Blackfoot and Jamaican communities, Justine Tyrell is an R&B artist born and raised in Calgary. She wrote her first song when she was 7 years old; her parents placed her in music lessons in order to build on her talent. She notes in an interview “[…]I’ve always felt that this was something I wanted to do, and that’s what I felt called to.”

Tyrell’s early musical education had her classically trained by an opera singer. Her musical style, self-described as ‘prairie R&B’ is said to have influences from different artists, such as Peggy Lee. As well, other genres used in her style are; 90s and early 2000s R&B, jazz-soul, pop, and contemporary. Her debut EP, While You Were Sleeping, was released in 2021. It was created during the pandemic with assistance from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Its overarching themes of defiance, self-reliance, and confidence, combined with her ‘soulful vocals’, resulted in it receiving a lot of attention from music outlets such as radio stations like Virgin Radio, CBC Music, Sirius XM and even Amazon Music. This resulted in having half a million streams across all platforms as of 2025.

Tyrell describes her feelings, related to music, as making her feel that she “always had a place to belong – and had something to capture her mood, or make a moment that much better.” Her hope is to give the same feeling to those who listen to her music.

She has obtained many awards throughout her career; selected Canadian artist for both the SOCAN Equity X Program and the RBC X Launchpad Music Entrepreneurship Program, obtaining nominations for three Obsidian Awards (Solo Artist of the Year, Media Personality of the Year and Singer of the Year), and the official anthem singer for the Calgary Stampeders. Alongside these achievements, Tyrell has also given back to her community. She has received a Newcomer Award for assisting in the launch of music programs in southern Alberta’s Ronald McDonald House, as well as participating in both the SOCAN Foundation and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Indigenous Music Camp. She was branded as a “Game Changer” in Calgary’s Branded Magazine.