Jade Hilton’s career has been shaped by motion – across genres, borders, and long stretches of highway. A former Division one tennis athlete, Hilton, brings that same discipline and drive to her music. Her breakout single Dive Bar became a major stepping stone, launching her onto festival stages like Cavendish Beach and Boots and Hearts. Raised in the GTA and immersed in Toronto’s hip-hop and R&B scene, she didn’t grow up on country music, but was drawn to its honesty and storytelling.
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Bridging cultures and sound, Hilton has emerged within the canto-country space and recently opened for Hong Kong artist Yatfung, blending her cultural roots with the genre she loves. Her next single, Carolina Blue (2026), is inspired by a love story from her college days at the University of Illinois – a marker in a journey defined by movement, independence, and lived experience.
We had the opportunity to sit down with this rising star in Country Music and talk about how she is serving up country hits, her elite tennis roots, her country heart, and her journey as a singer-songwriter in the music business.
Spotlight on Business: Tell us a little about yourself offstage. What do you like to do in your spare time when you are not writing music or on stage?
Jade Hilton: Spare time – there really isn’t that much. When you’re an artist, especially starting out, you usually have another job. I coach tennis at Hotel X in Toronto, which has been amazing. I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of great clients who stay at the hotel, but it doesn’t leave me much time. It’s often coaching all day and then music all night. But playing shows feels like my vacation because I love it so much.
Spotlight on Business: You attended the University of Illinois as a D1 Tennis Athlete, so one would assume you would have gone on to the professional tennis circuit. So, when did your passion for music begin?
Jade Hilton: I always loved to sing. When I wrote my first song, that’s when I realized, oh, I think music is what I really want to do. I was around 14. Before that, I used to wonder, how do people write songs? And then I did it, and I was like, wait, I can do it!
Tennis was my dream before that. As a little girl, I was convinced I was going to be a tennis pro. I looked up to Roger Federer, and I actually sent him a fan letter saying I was going to go pro one day – and he wrote me back.
By high school, I was still playing high-level tennis while discovering music, and I started to see how difficult it is to go pro in either. You really have to love it. My coaches wanted me to go pro, but by the end of high school, I saw myself going into music.
I was offered a full scholarship to the University of Illinois. You can only really be an athlete when you’re young, so I didn’t want to walk away from that opportunity. Tennis was my main focus in college, but I never stopped doing music – I was actually minoring in music.
Spotlight on Business: Early, you leaned towards hip-hop and R&B, so who were your musical influences, idols, and what inspired you to move towards the country music genre?
Jade Hilton: Most of my early collaborators were in hip-hop and R&B. Being in Toronto, that was the sound – Drake was huge, and every producer I knew had worked with him or Jay-Z. I didn’t really grow up on country music – I wish I had.
Image 5 (In Studio 4 – Nashville 2024 – Kacey Musgraves – Gold Record)
My first producer, Tone Mason, had worked on Jay-Z and Drake albums, so all I knew was writing to beats. When I went to Nashville and explored different collaborators, I fell in love with country music because of the storytelling.
But it was also the audience. Playing for country fans was the first time I felt like people really wanted to listen to the words and the story. The Cavendish Beach Music Festival was a great example – everyone was so nice.
Spotlight on Business: Tell us about the first song you wrote, the first gig you played, and when you discovered that you might want to make a career out of music and not tennis. Do you prefer performing live or recording? Why?
Jade Hilton: My first gig was at the Bradley Museum, during a summer barbecue. I offered to sing, and all my high school friends came – it was really fun, and I just kept digging into performing. One of my most notable early gigs was at the Mod Club in Toronto during a battle of the bands. You could only play if you sold 20 tickets, and of course, I sold them all—high school friends will always show up! I go on stage, acoustic guitar in hand, and it’s all these screamo metal heads in the audience, and I’m like, okay, I love Taylor Swift. Looking back, it was hilarious, but I knew right then I loved being on stage. It was magical.
The end goal is always performing in front of fans. As an artist, my favourite part is performing live – the work I do, all the writing and recording, it’s all to get to that moment on stage at a big festival. I need all of it to chase that dream, but playing live is what I love most.
Spotlight on Business: You’re very busy touring and performing at festivals and events like Boots and Hearts and the Cavendish Beach Music Festival. How has this helped you as an artist?
Jade Hilton: Playing festivals has been incredible for learning what it takes to perform at that level. At Boots and Hearts, I played on an emerging stage for the first time and got a taste of how the pros work – the way they treat you, having multiple people on your sound, interacting with press – it really gave me a ballpark of where I need to be.
Cavendish Beach is kind of my bucket-list festival and a place I love. I went a couple of days early to explore PEI, and performing there was amazing. I even filmed a video of myself singing ‘Dive Bar’ while enjoying a lobster roll, and it went viral! I made friends, connected with fans, and felt like, this doesn’t happen anywhere else. That weekend really felt like a sign that I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
Spotlight on Business: Speaking of festivals and events. What is one festival, event, or venue that is on your career bucket list to play? Why?
Jade Hilton: There are a few I haven’t played in Canada yet, like Boxcar Country Festival and Misty City Music Festival. I spent a lot of time in Illinois, so I’d love to play somewhere that connects with American fans. Sunfest in B.C. is also on my list – I love the West Coast. And in the U.S., I’ve always dreamed of playing Bonnaroo. Honestly, any other festivals that come my way, I’d play them all!
Spotlight on Business: What’s your ultimate goal in your career as a musician? What do you want your music to achieve?
Jade Hilton: I’ve always wanted to make an impact on young listeners. Growing up, I was inspired by Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne. Not just as musicians, but as leaders with such positive energy – it inspired me to have a career in music. I always credit Taylor Swift for inspiring young girls to play guitar and write songs. Before her, there weren’t as many women wearing all the hats, and now you see the industry shifting.
For a long time, women felt like they didn’t have the power and needed someone else – a man, a producer, a manager – to open doors. Now, so many female artists are taking control. I want to do the same for younger girls. I was that young girl, so I can relate, and I want to inspire them the way I was inspired.
Spotlight on Business: What is the biggest lesson you have learned along the way in your artistic journey? What’s the best advice and/or worst advice you have been given?
Jade Hilton: The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that you have control over your career. Once you own that, your team grows around you. For a long time, I didn’t have confidence in myself or my music – I thought I wasn’t good enough. Shifting that mindset has been huge. If you believe in your music, fans will too.
The best advice I’ve ever been given is to just make this your life. When I started out, I tried to stage things – even content for social media – rather than being authentic. I booked my first tour at the end of 2024, teaming up with two other artists (School House and Clay Hazey). We played Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, sold out every date, and it showed festivals that I’m a touring artist. That experience taught me to stop waiting for things to happen and go make it my life.
Spotlight on Business: If you had the opportunity to do a duet with another artist, who would it be and why?
Jade Hilton: I would say Kacey Musgraves. She inspired my song Dive Bar and really brought me into country music. She blends genres so well, and as a fusion artist myself, that’s something I really admire.
Fun fact—I actually tracked a lot of my next songs with her recording engineer, Craig Alvin, down in Alabama. I’m such a big Kacey fan, and working with her team on my upcoming music was an amazing experience!
Spotlight on Business: It has been a minute since you released your first album, Unrequited, in 2022. When is the next album coming, and what can fans expect?
Jade Hilton: The album will be out closer to the end of 2026 but I’ll be dropping a bunch of singles before then. This will be my second album, but my first officially under the country umbrella. It’s really a summary of everything that happened in my 20s – a lot of travel, a lot of change. A lot of it happened along I-96, the highway that runs from Detroit through Illinois and toward Nashville.
A lot of the songs are inspired by places—Illinois, Nashville, Northern Ontario—and I recorded everything in Nashville and Muscle Shoals, Alabama, with incredible country musicians. But it still has my Toronto twist. It’s definitely a fusion
I recently had the opportunity to do some promo shooting on a ranch in Northern Ontario – a really cold ranch. I wanted to show what the landscape looks like up here, too.
With new singles arriving ahead of her first full-length country album, coming in 2026, Jade Hilton is settling into a stride that feels both earned and intentional. Recorded between Nashville and Muscle Shoals and shaped by years of travel, the music reflects where she’s been and the heart she brings forward. Hilton isn’t chasing permission – she’s following the road she knows. Keep an ear out for what comes next!
To find out more about Jade Hilton, her music, and upcoming show dates, check out her website at https://www.jadehilton.com/
5 RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS
Your favourite tennis player? | Roger Federer
Your Guilty Pleasure? | Food
Favourite Food? | Korean barbecue… or Matcha… both of them together!
|Early Riser or Night Owl? | Night owl
What is that one tune that is stuck in your head right now? | Choosin’ Texas by Ella Langley.
by Mary Austin