Queen Elizabeth II inaugurated a life-size statue of the Canadian jazz legend Oscar Peterson sitting at his piano on Wednesday during the third day of his visit to Canada.
After appearing to stumble out of his limousine at the National Arts Centre where it will be the bronze statue displayed publicly, Canada’s titular head of state drew a yellow cord to unveil the monument.
She joined the Peterson family for the opening.
Dressed in a robin’s egg blue dress and matching hat, the British monarch also visited a Victorian museum, where a security guard were spilled, “She’s beautiful.” Elizabeth also planted a tree in the courtyard of the Governor General, and was to have a private talk with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the afternoon.
Earlier, several hundred people cheered his arrival in the Canadian capital.
Peterson released over 200 recordings and toured the world, acting in concert with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, among others.
Jazz virtuoso by the queen and her husband in Toronto in 2002.
The fourth of five children, Peterson grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood of Montreal, learning to play piano from his father and sister Daisy.
Later leave high school to become a professional pianist, earning a reputation as a technically brilliant jazz pianist and inventiveness. His most memorable compositions include Canadiana Suite and Hymn to Freedom, inspired by the civil rights movement in the U.S. the 1960s.
Peterson died of kidney failure in 2007.
The Queen is visiting Canada with her husband Prince Philip.
During his tour of the country’s official 22nd, the monarch of 84 years old, addressed the nation on Canada Day on Thursday.
She will also travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to attend a horse race, and then wrap their tour in Toronto, where he plans to visit Research In Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry device.