A female Canadian recording artist from Montreal leads the 2022 JUNO nominations, and her name is Charlotte Cardin. The dear one has attracted six nods, beating out both the Biebs and the blinding lights man who each garnered five. Charlotte sees her name in the categories of Single of the Year (“Meaningless”), Music Video of the Year (for the same), Album of the Year (Phoenix), Pop Album of the Year (for the same), Artist of the Year, and JUNO Fan Choice.

Shawn Mendes, Jessia, and Pressa received four nominations apiece. Vancouver-based pop star Jessia scored a big hit last year called “I’m Not Pretty”. It’s up for single of the year. She is nominated for JUNO Fan Choice and Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and her EP How Are You is in the running for Pop Album of the Year.

The JUNO awards will take place in Toronto this year on May 15. The gala will be hosted by Hollywood actor Simu Liu.

Performances thus far announced are Avril Lavigne, Charlotte Cardin, Arkells, and Mustafa. This will be a triumphant return of the so-called pop-punk princess who has not performed at the JUNOs since 2008!

As usual, most of the 46 awards will be given out at the dinner party the evening before the main televised show. Five new categories debut this year which include the exciting Underground Dance Single.

Find all nominations at the JUNO website here.

William Prince and Serena Ryder perform together

The JUNO Awards main gala – a virtual affair – took place tonight with all the previously announced performances and presentations. Find below the winners from tonight’s broadcast. The Weeknd was the big winner this year accepting five awards of his six nominations. He lost the Fan Choice award to Shawn Mendes.

JUNO FAN CHOICE
Justin Bieber
Les Cowboys Fringants
Ali Gatie
Tate McRae
Shawn Mendes – WINNER!
NAV
JP Saxe
Lennon Stella
Curtis Waters
The Weeknd

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Justin Bieber, Changes
Leonard Cohen, Thanks for the Dance
Céline Dion, Courage
Ali Gatie, You
The Weeknd, After Hours – WINNER!

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ali Gatie
Céline Dion
Jessie Reyez
Justin Bieber
The Weeknd – WINNER!

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ryland James
Tate McRae
Powfu
JP Saxe – WINNER!
Curtis Waters

POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Justin Bieber, Changes – WINNER!
Ryland James, Ryland James
Johnny Orlando, It’s Never Really Over
JP Saxe, Hold It Together
Lennon Stella, Three. Two. One.

TRADITIONAL R&B/SOUL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Emanuel, Alt Therapy Session 1: Disillusion
Iamtheliving, “In This Thing Called Life”
Savannah Ré, “Solid” – WINNER!
Dylan Sinclair, Proverb
Charlotte Day Wilson, “Take Care of You”

– SPECIAL AWARDS –

MUSIC HALL OF FAME
Jann Arden

HUMANITARIAN AWARD
The Tragically Hip

The 2021 Juno Awards kicked off the annual festivities on Friday night in a virtual ceremony in Toronto with the CN Tower all lit up in gold. Awards in most categories were handed out. The main gala takes place Sunday when the remaining six will be announced. The Friday broadcast included a number of announcements as well. The JUNOs will be returning to Toronto in 2022 for, fingers crossed, non-Covid restricted events after two years of less thrilling virtual displays. 2022 will also see new categories. Rap Recording will be split into two: Rap Album/EP and Rap Single. To augment progressive music in Canada of which the country has a rich history, Underground Dance Recording of the Year will be added. As real Canadians are making both progressive and traditional music, which can be radically different, Indigenous Artist will be divided into Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year and Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year.

Ensuring some Friday night fever, performers through the evening included Lindsay Ell and MacKenzie Porter; Klô Pelgag; TÖME, Ammoye, and Kirk Diamond; Crown Lands; and Monowhales.

There was an in-memoriam session to review those we lost in the past year.

Tonight’s party was hosted mainly by Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe from Toronto’s Globe & Mail Centre.

The evening began with a moment of silence to acknowledge the discovery of the remains of 215 children beneath the grounds of the Kamloops Residential School.

The big winner was The Weeknd. He entered the JUNOs with six nominations and won three tonight: Single of the Year (“Blinding Lights”), Contemporary R&B/Soul Recording of The Year (After Hours), and Songwriter of the Year. His works also gave a trophy to recording engineer Serban Ghenea.

Find below a list of categories and their nominees with tonight’s winners indicated. The categories reserved for Sunday’s nights flagship party are JUNO Fan Choice, Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, and new category Traditional R&B/Soul Recording of the Year. Also, awards will be given to Hall of Fame inductee Jann Arden and the Humanitarian Award to The Tragically Hip.

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Brett Kissel, “Drink About Me”
JP Saxe feat. Julia Michaels, “If the World Was Ending”
Justin Bieber feat. Quavo, “Intentions”
Lennon Stella, “Kissing Other People”
The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” – WINNER!

INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs, What You See Is What You Get
Eminem, Music to Be Murdered By
Pop Smoke, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
Harry Styles, Fine Line – WINNER!
Taylor Swift, Folklore

GROUP OF THE YEAR
Arkells – WINNER!
Half Moon Run
Loud Luxury
The Glorious Sons
The Reklaws

BREAKTHROUGH GROUP OF THE YEAR
2Frères
Crown Lands – WINNER!
Manila Grey
Peach Pit
Young Bombs

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Alanis Morissette: “Ablaze”, “Reasons I Drink”, “Smiling”

Alessia Cara: “Hell and High Water”, “I Choose”, “Welcome Back”

Jessie Reyez: “Coffin”, “Far Away”, “No One’s in the Room”

JP Saxe: “A Little Bit Yours”, “Golf on TV”, “If the World was Ending”

Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd), Ahmad Balshe, Jason “DaHeala” Quenneville: “After Hours”, “Blinding Lights”, “Save Your Tears” – WINNER!

COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Jade Eagleson, Jade Eagleson
Lindsay Ell, Heart Theory
Mackenzie Porter, Drinkin’ Songs: The Collection
Dallas Smith, Timeless
Tenille Townes, The Lemonade Stand – WINNER!

ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Bahamas, Sad Hunk – WINNER
Begonia, Fear
Basia Bulat, Are You in Love?
Sarah Harmer, Are You Gone
Rufus Wainwright, Unfollow the Rules

ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Dizzy, The Sun and Her Scorch
July Talk, Pray for It – WINNER!
PUP, This Place Sucks Ass
U.S. Girls, Heavy Light
Curtis Waters, Pity Party

ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Crown Lands, Crown Lands
Sam Roberts Band, All of Us
Silverstein, A Beautiful Place to Drown
JJ Wilde, Ruthless – WINNER!
Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Colorado

VOCAL JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Laila Biali, Out of Dust
Sophie Day, Clémence
Matt Dusk, Sinatra
Sammy Jackson, With You – WINNER!
Diana Krall, This Dream of You

JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO
Elmer Ferrer, Básico, No Básico y Dirigido
Jocelyn Gould, Elegant Traveler – WINNER!
Junior Santos, Conpambiche
Rachel Therrien, Vena
Andrés Vial, Gang of Three

JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: GROUP
Andy Milne and Unison, The reMission – WINNER!
Brandi Disterheft Trio with George Coleman, Surfboard
Emie R Roussel Trio, Rythme de passage
Florian Hoefner Trio, First Spring
Pat LaBarbera and Kirk MacDonald, Trane of Thought, Live at the Rex

INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Blitz//Berlin, Movements III – WINNER!
Bruce Cockburn, Crowing Ignites
David Foster, Eleven Words
Flore Laurentienne, Volume 1
Gordon Grdina, Prior Street

FRANCOPHONE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
2Frères, À tous les vents
Louis-Jean Cormier, Quand la nuit tombe – WINNER!
Les Cowboys Fringants, Les antipodes
Pierre Lapointe, Pour déjouer l’ennui
Klô Pelgag, Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs

CHILDREN’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR
ABC Singsong, Letters and Numbers
Njacko Backo and Kalimbas at Work, J’aime mon école
Ginalina, Small But Mighty
Charlie Hope, Goodnight to you All: Traditional Lullabies from Ireland & the UK
Splash’N Boots, Heart Parade – WINNER!

CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO OR CHAMBER
Ensemble Made in Canada, Mosaïque – WINNER!
James Ehnes, Jon Kimura Parker and Jens Lindemann, Bach & Brahms Reimagined
James Ehnes with Andrew Armstrong, Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 4, 5 & 8
Les Barocudas, La Peste
Quatuor Bozzini, Ana Sokolović: Short Stories

CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: LARGE ENSEMBLE
Les Violons du Roy conducted by Jonathan Cohen feat. Charles Richard-Hamelin, Mozart: Concertos pour piano/Piano Concertos Nos. 22 & 24

Louis Lortie with BBC Philharmonic conducted by Edward Gardner, Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 5, & Other Works

Laval Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alain Trudel feat. Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, Jacques Hétu: Concertos

Montreal Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano feat. Andrew Wan, Ginastera – Bernstein – Moussa: Œuvres pour violon et orchestre/Works for Violin and Orchestra – WINNER!

Montreal Symphony Orchestra with Kraków Philharmonic Choir and Warsaw Boys’ Choir conducted by Kent Nagano, Penderecki: St. Luke Passion

CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: VOCAL OR CHORAL
Barbara Hannigan with Ludwig Orchestra, La passione

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir with Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, Massenet: Thaïs, Erin Wall, Joshua Hopkins, Andrew Staples – WINNER!

Karina Gauvin with Pacific Baroque Orchestra conducted by Alexander Weimann, Nuits blanches: Airs d’opéra à la cour de Russie au XVIIe siècle/Opera Arias at the Russian Court of the 18th Century

Luminous Voices conducted by Timothy Shantz, Sea Dreams

Sarah Slean with Symphony Nova Scotia conducted by Bernhard Gueller, Sarah Slean and Symphony Nova Scotia

CLASSICAL COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
Alexina Louie, “Take the Dog Sled”
Ana Sokolovic, “Commedia dell’arte”
Anna Höstman, “Harbour”
Samy Moussa, “Violin Concerto ‘Adrano'” – WINNER!
Zosha DiCarti, “Tachitipo”

RAP RECORDING OF THE YEAR
88Glam, New Mania
bbno$ and Yung Gravy, Baby Gravy 2
Eric Reprid, Cold World
NAV, Good Intentions (Brown Boy 2 Deluxe Version)
Tobi, ELEMENTS Vol. 1 – WINNER!

DANCE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Felix Cartal and Sophie Simmons, MINE
Kaytranada, Bubba – WINNER!
Rezz X Grabbitz, Someone Else
So Sus, Voices
Frank Walker, Dancing in the Dark

CONTEMPORARY R&B/SOUL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Jessie Reyez, Before Love Came to Kill Us
Savannah Ré, “Where You Are”
Shay Lia, Solaris
The Weeknd, After Hours – WINNER!
Tobi, Holiday

REGGAE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Ammoye, Give It All
Blessed, Black Man
Dubmatix, Roots Rock
Kirk Diamond, Let It Be Done
Tome X Sean Kingston, I Pray – WINNER!

INDIGENOUS ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
Burnstick, Kîyânaw
Leela Gilday, North Star Calling – WINNER!
Crystal Shawanda, Church House Blues
Julian Taylor, The Ridge
Terry Uyarak, Nunarjua Isulinginniani

CONTEMPORARY ROOTS ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Rose Cousins, Bravado – WINNER!
Leela Gilday, North Star Calling
Tami Neilson, Chickaboom!
William Prince, Reliever
Julian Taylor, The Ridge

TRADITIONAL ROOTS ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Beòlach, All Hands
Le Diable à Cinq, Debout!
Nick Hornbuckle, 13 or So
Pharis and Jason Romero, Bet on Love – WINNER!
Rum Ragged, The Thing About Fish

BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Rick Fines, Solar Powered Too
Angel Forrest, Hell Bent With Grace
Crystal Shawanda, Church House Blues – WINNER!
Dione Taylor, Spirits in the Water
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar, The Reckless One

CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Steve Bell, Wouldn’t You Love to Know?
Shawna Cain, The Way – WINNER!
Allen Froese, All Things New
K-Anthony, The Cure
Matt Maher, Alive & Breathing

WORLD MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra, VelkomBak
Lengaïa Salsa Brava, The Gold Diggers
Mazacote, Patria
Okan, Espiral – WINNER!
Zal Sissokho, Kora Flamenca

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Akeel Henry: “Rain” (Trey Songz feat. Swae Lee); “Spell My Name” (Toni Braxton)

Jordon Manswell: “Fallin'” (Toni Braxton); “Home” (Dylan Sinclair)

Kaytranada: “10%” (Kaytranada feat. Kali Uchis); “Frontstreet (Freestyle)” (Mick Jenkins)

Murda Beatz: “Motive” (Ariana Grande with Doja Cat); “Say You Love Me” (Chris Brown & Young Thug)

WondaGurl: “Aim for the Moon” (Pop Smoke feat. Quavo); “Gang Gang” (JackBoys and Sheck Wes) – WINNER!

RECORDING ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
George Seara: “Good Love” and “Take Me Home” (Shawn Hook)

Jason Dufour: “All of the Feelings” (Kiesza) and “Whiskey Tonight” (Jade Eagleson)

Johann Deterville: “Home” (Dylan Sinclair) and “La Memoria” (Jessie Reyez)

John “Beetle” Bailey: “The End of a Love Affair” (Micah Barnes) and “The Grand Bazaar” (Sultans of String feat. Béla Fleck and Robi Botos)

Serban Ghenea: “Blinding Lights” (The Weeknd); “Positions” (Ariana Grande) – WINNER!

ALBUM ARTWORK OF THE YEAR
Julien Hébert (art director), David Beauchemin (designer), Florence Obrecht (illustrator) and Marc-Étienne Mongrain (photographer) — Klô Pelgag, Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs – WINNER!

Lido Pimienta and Orly Anan (art directors), Mat Dunlap (designer), Daniela Murillo (photographer) — Lido Pimienta, Miss Colombia

Jared Barter (art director and designer), Michael Zavacky (art director and Illustrator), Maryn Devine and Rémi Thériault (photographers) — Lynne Hanson, Just Words

Luke Hoskin (art director), John Meloche (designer), Martin Wittfooth (illustrator) — Protest the Hero, Palimpsest

Peter Dreimanis (art director, designer and photographer), Scott Waring (art director and designer), Leah Fay (designer), Lyle Bell and Ty Snaden (photographers) — July Talk, Pray for It

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Ben Knechtel — Scott Helman, “Wait No More”
Brittney Canda and Vincent René-Lortie — Sheenah Ko, “Wrap Me Up”
Emma Higgins — Jessie Reyez, “No One’s in the Room” – WINNER!
Les Solis and Peter Huang — Jessie Reyez, “Intruders”
Nick DenBoer — deadmau5 and the Neptunes, “Pomegranate”

ELECTRONIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Attlas, Lavender God
Bob Moses, Desire
Caribou, Suddenly – WINNER!
CRi, Juvenile
Jessy Lanza, All the Time

METAL/HARD MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Annihilator, Ballistic, Sadistic
Kataklysm, Unconquered
Protest the Hero, Palimpsest
Unleash the Archers, Abyss – WINNER!
Vile Creature, Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!

ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Céline Dion, Courage
Pierre Lapointe, Pour déjouer l’ennui
Alanis Morissette, Such Pretty Forks in the Road – WINNER!
Craig Stickland, Starlit Afternoon
Storry, CH III: The Come Up

COMEDY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Shirley Gnome, Decoxification
Nick Nemeroff, The Pursuit of Comedy Has Ruined My Life
Jacob Samuel, Horse Power – WINNER!
Derek Seguin, PanDerek (1st Wave!)
Matt Wright, Existing Is Exhausting

WALT GREALIS SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Pegi Cecconi

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) has unveiled the complete list of performers and presenters for the 50th, i.e. golden anniversary of The JUNO Awards which will be broadcast on Sunday, June 6 at 5 p.m. PT. The performance lineup will include: Mississauga’s Ali Gatie who will sing with Calgary’s Tate McRae; three-time JUNO Award winner Jessie Reyez of Toronto; seven-time JUNO Award winner and global superstar Justin Bieber of Stratford; international breakthrough artist JP Saxe of Toronto with Julia Michaels of California, USA; and JUNO Award winner William Prince of Winnipeg featuring six-time JUNO Award winner Serena Ryder of Peterborough.

Perhaps owing to the success of Canadian rap music abroad, this year’s show will pay tribute to the 30th anniversary of the category. Artists appearing during this presentation will be Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black, Maestro Fresh Wes, NAV, Haviah Mighty, and Michie Mee.

Presenters at the broadcast include five-time JUNO Award winner Alessia Cara; actor and comedian Andrew Phung (Kim’s Convenience, Run the Burbs); TikTok sensations The Basement Gang; Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Buffy Sainte-Marie; Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson; Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Gordon Lightfoot; Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy; record producer and DJ Kaytranada; legendary R&B and soul singer Liberty Silver; Arkells’ lead singer Max Kerman; 14-time JUNO Award winner Michael Bublé; country music star Paul Brandt; diamond singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan; Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee and country music icon, Shania Twain, Minister of Canadian Heritage The Honourable Steven Guilbeault; Nunavut’s first JUNO Award winning Inuk artist Susan Aglukark and Canadian actor and producer Will Arnett.

Earlier this month, it was announced that Anne Murray would return to the JUNOs for the first time since 2013 to induct Jann Arden into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (she previously did the honours for k.d. lang). Arden will also perform during her inductee Award Presentation. Additionally, The Tragically Hip will perform, with Feist handling vocal duties. The band will be receiving the 2021 Humanitarian Award. This will be presented to them by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush.

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) has announced that global R&B/pop superstar Justin Bieber will be performing at the 2021 JUNO Awards’ main gala which begins Sunday, June 6 at 5 p.m. PT. It may be hard to believe, but this will be his first performance on the show since 2010! Over the course of his decade-plus career, Bieber has been nominated for 27 JUNO Awards, winning seven. Internationally, he has won a number of awards including multiple Brit (UK) and Grammy (USA) trophies.

The little lad from Stratford enjoyed a meteoric rise to superstardom on the eve of the terrific 10s. His debut EP in 2009, followed by all six of his full-length studio albums, hit number one, with Purpose attaining quadruple platinum status.

The teen prodigy’s first Top 10 hit was “One Less Lonely Girl” and his first chart-topper was “Boyfriend”. The number of songs Bieber has placed on the charts is uncountable. Nine of them have reached the summit with an additional four as a featured artist. His song “Sorry” was number one on the year-end chart of 2016.

Justin Bieber has sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide.

The Weeknd leads the 2021 JUNO Award nominations with half a dozen, one-upping a trio of Js – Jessie Reyez, JP Saxe, and Justin Bieber – who each have five. “Blinding Lights” is the number one smash hit that has perpetuated The Weeknd’s superstar status, a curious marriage of synthwave and R&B, that has remained on the charts since December 10, 2019 and been awarded diamond certification by Music Canada. Despite its success and the album that houses it (After Hours), the Toronto native was not nominated for single Grammy award in the United States.

In some ways it was Italian American singer Ariana Grande who helped establish The Weeknd’s success. His first major hit was “Love Me Harder” in 2014, a duet with her. He followed up with “Earned It” which appeared in the soundtrack of film Fifty Shades of Grey. “Blinding Lights” is his fifth number one hit. His six 2021 JUNO nominations are Juno Fan Choice, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year.

The JUNO nominations were announced this morning by The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) tallying 225 across 44 categories.

Find a complete list of nominations here.

The JUNOs celebrate 50 years and will take place in Toronto. The main gala will be broadcast May 16 at 5 PM PT.

Voting is now open for the Juno Fan Choice award. You can vote here.

It should be noted that works not nominated were not necessarily passed on by the judges. In order to be considered, the artist or label has to submit the work, and some choose not to.

Toronto will be playing host to the 50th anniversary of the JUNO Awards in 2021. The festivities have been pushed to May from an originally planned March celebration, with the main televised gala taking place on Sunday May 16. Whether the current pandemic will force an online presentation like this year or a sparsely seated audience is unknown at this point.

The origins of the JUNO Awards date back to 1970 with the Gold Leaf Awards, organized by Walt Grealis and Stan Klees of RPM magazine. The ceremony took place in Toronto at St. Lawrence Hall (King Street East and Jarvis Street). The gala was renamed the following year in honour of Pierre Juneau, the first CRTC head and responsible for launching Canadian Content Regulations. The reason for the 50th taking place in 2021 and not 2020 is because no JUNO Awards were held in the year 1988.

St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto

To mark the occasion, the trophy has been redesigned, and there are three versions. Regular JUNO award winners will receive gold statuettes, Music Hall of Fame inductee(s) gold and silver, and special award recipients silver.

The 2020 JUNO awards were to take place March 15 in Saskatoon and be hosted by R&B star Alessia Cara. The gala was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 29, an online presentation took place to announce the winners. Find all 42 recipients below. The platform included performances by winners Alessia Cara, iskwē, Neon Dreams, and The Dead South. Cara won three awards: Songwriter of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, and the biggest award of the night – Album of the Year. Shawn Mendes with a little help from Cuban singer Camila Cabello walked away with Single of the Year for “Señorita”. Another pairing – Lights and Felix Cartal won Dance Recording of the Year for “Love Me”. The highly praised La nuit est une panthère by Les Louanges won Francophone Album of the Year. Avril Lavigne took the coveted JUNO Fan Choice award for the second year in a row (she has won it three times overall).

A number of famous faces presented the trophies. Among them were Toronto Raptor Chris Boucher, Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard, Juno award-winning soprano Measha Brueggergosman, and Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault.

JUNO FAN CHOICE
Avril Lavigne

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Señorita by Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello

INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Pains of Growing by Alessia Cara

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Shawn Mendes

GROUP OF THE YEAR
Loud Luxury

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Lennon Stella

BREAKTHROUGH GROUP OF THE YEAR
Neon Dreams

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Alessia Cara

COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Wild as Me by Meghan Patrick

ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
A Blemish in the Great Light by Half Moon Run

ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Morbid Stuff by PUP

POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Pains of Growing by Alessia Cara

ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR
A War on Everything by The Glorious Sons

VOCAL JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Stay Tuned! by Dominique Fils-Aimé

JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO
Migrations by Jacques Kuba Séguin

JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: GROUP
Abundance by Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop

INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Inscape by Alexandra Stréliski

FRANCOPHONE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
La nuit est une panthère by Les Louanges

CHILDREN’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Greatest Hits, Vol. 4 by Big Block Singsong

CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLO OR CHAMBER
Detach by Angela Schwarzkopf

CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: LARGE ENSEMBLE
The John Adams Album by
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal,
conducted by Kent Nagano

CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: VOCAL OR CHORAL
Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schutz: Motets by
Ottawa Bach Choir,
conducted by Lisette Canton

CLASSICAL COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
Evta by Ana Sokolović

RAP RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Freaky by Tory Lanez

DANCE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Love Me by Felix Cartal & Lights

R&B/SOUL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Feel It Too by Jessie Reyez, Tory Lanez, & Tainy

REGGAE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
The Warning Track by Lyndon John X

INDIGENOUS ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
Stories from a Downtown Apartment by
Celeigh Cardinal

CONTEMPORARY ROOTS ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Mohawk by Lee Harvey Osmond

TRADITIONAL ROOTS ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Sugar & Joy by The Dead South

BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Mad Love by Dawn Tyler Watson

CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Advent Of Christmas by Matt Maher

WORLD MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Barokan by Djely Tapa

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Ben Kaplan

RECORDING ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
John ‘Beetle’ Bailey

ALBUM ARTWORK OF THE YEAR
Selections from Cuphead by Kristofer Maddigan
Chad Moldenhauer (Art Director),
Ian Clarke (Designer),
Warren Clark and Lance Inkwell (Illustrators)

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Little Star by Sarah Legault iskwē

ELECTRONIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Beyond the Senses by Rezz

METAL/HARD MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Play to Win by Striker

ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Shine A Light by Bryan Adams

COMEDY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Lil Bit of Buddle by Sophie Buddle

After cancelling the 2020 JUNO awards galas due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers have decided to announce the winners on Monday June 29 (at 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET) via online CBC platforms. All 42 winners from both the previously planned dinner gala and awards and the main televised awards will be declared during this virtual ceremony. The online display will not be as spectacular as the originally planned arena-size shindig in Saskatoon that was to be hosted by Alessia Cara and will feature at least three performances – The Dead South, Iskwe, and Neon Dreams. Presenters will include Vancouver actor Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things; Toronto Raptors’ Chris Boucher, soprano Measha Brueggergosman, Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault, singer Jessie Reyez, and pianist Alexandra Streliski. The roughly 90-minute broadcast will include an in-memoriam segment and MusiCounts Teacher of the Year award. The Music Hall of Fame and Walt Grealis Special Achievement awards will not be presented but at separate ceremonies in the future. (Jann Arden and Pegi Cecconi are the respective recipients of those).

CARAS (The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) has announced details, including performers, concerning the two upcoming JUNO galas. Find these below.

JUNO Gala Dinner and Awards Details

The JUNO awards recently announced the lineup of performers girded up to wobble the stage in Saskatoon in mid March. Prior to the main televised gala will be the JUNO Gala Dinner and Awards night where most (36) of the statuettes will be dispensed. That evening will be hosted by country slayer Brett Kissel and broadcast personality Amanda Parris. Performers scheduled include Half Moon Run, Hunter Brothers, Riit, Irish Mythen with Catherine MacLellan and Miranda Mulholland, and JUNO Master Class selected artist Aiza. Besides the latter newcomer, tidbits about these established artists are as follows:

HALF MOON RUN
– Four-member alternative music group
– From Montreal
– A gold single, gold album, and platinum album
– Received airplay at BBC Radio One
– This year nominated for Adult Alternative Album of the Year

HUNTER BROTHERS
– Five-member country group
– From Shaunavon, SK
– In 2019, song “Lost” was #1 at country radio, #100 on Hot 100, and went gold.
– This year nominated for Breakthrough Group and Country Album of the Year

RIIT
– Inuk musician and TV personality
– Host of children’s series Anaana’s Tent
– From Pangnirtung, NU
– This year nominated for Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year

IRISH MYTHEN
– Born in Ireland, moved to PEI in 2007
– Has performed with Rod Stewart, Gordon Lightfoot, and Lucinda Williams
– This year nominated for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year

CATHERINE MACLELLAN
– From Summerside, PE
– Won a JUNO award in 2015
– This year nominated for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year

MIRANDA MULHOLLAND
– From Guelph, ON
– In addition to solo work is a member of Great Lake Swimmers
– This year nominated for Traditional Roots Album of the Year

How to watch: The JUNO Gala Dinner and Awards will be live-streamed on March 14 starting at 6 p.m. CT on cbcmusic.ca/junos, the free CBC Gem streaming service and CBC Music’s Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages.

JUNO Main Gala Details

The main televised JUNO gala is geared up to shake the city of Saskatoon to its foundations on March 15. As previously announced, Alessia Cara will handle emcee duties and Jann Arden will be inducted into the Music Hall of Fame. Alessia will no doubt offer a sensitive performance, while Jann’s will be … “insensitive” perhaps?

Additional performers are neoclassical pianist Alexandra Stréliski, urban legend Ali Gatie, acclaimed singer-songwriter City and Colour, R&B specialist Daniel Caesar, bluegrass ensemble The Dead South, rock splitter The Glorious Sons, Indigenous artist Iskwē, airwaves rider Lennon Stella, wagonwheeler Meghan Patrick, and rap ’til he naps Tory Lanez.

ALESSIA CARA
– From Brampton, ON
– Historically nominated for 19 JUNOs including 6 this year, has won two
– Has four Top 40 hits as the lone main artist
– Has two triple platinum singles as the lone main artist
– Has a platinum album

JANN ARDEN
– From Calgary
– Historically nominated for 27 JUNOs winning nine
– Has a quintuple platinum album
– Has released 12 albums
– Has 16 Top 40 hits

ALEXANDRA STRÉLISKI
– From Montreal
– Album Inscape has gone gold
– This year nominated for three JUNOs

ALI GATIE
– Born in Yemen, based in Mississauga, ON
– Song “It’s You” (double platinum) was Top 40 in many countries including Canada
– This year nominated for JUNO Fan Choice and Breakthrough Artist of the Year

CITY AND COLOUR
– From St. Catharines, ON
– Placed nine songs on the Hot 100
– Scored two double platinum albums
– Historically nominated for seven JUNOs winning one.
– This year nominated for Adult Alternative Album of the Year

DANIEL CAESAR
– From Oshawa, ON
– Has two double platinum singles
– Has a gold album
– Historically nominated for four JUNOs winning one
– This year nominated for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year

THE DEAD SOUTH
– Four-member bluegrass band
– From Regina
– Landed a gold single
– Historically nominated for three JUNOs winning one
– This year nominated for Traditional Roots Album of the Year

THE GLORIOUS SONS
– Five-member rock band
– From Kingston, ON
– Certified four gold singles and a gold album
– Historically nominated for three JUNOs winning one
– This year nominated for Rock Album of the Year

ISKWĒ
– From Winnipeg
– Historically nominated for a pair of JUNOs
– This year nominated for Adult Alternative Album of the Year

LENNON STELLA
– From Oshawa, ON
– Has placed three songs on the Hot 100 as the main or featured artist
– Two of these singles have gone platinum
– This year nominated for Breakthrough Artist and Single of the Year

MEGHAN PATRICK
– From Bowmanville, ON
– Historically nominated for three JUNOs
– This year nominated for Country Album of the Year

TORY LANEZ
– From Toronto
– Has a Top 40 hit as the lone main artist (“Luv”) which went platinum
– Has placed 16 tracks on the Hot 100 as the lone main artist
– Historically nominated for 12 JUNOs winning two
– This year nominated for five

Canadian icon Anne Murray will return to induct Jann Arden into the Hall of Fame (she did the honours for kd lang in 2013).

How to watch: The 2020 JUNO Awards will be broadcast live from the SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, SK on Sunday, March 15 at 6 p.m. CT across the country on CBC, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, and the CBC Listen app.

Fans of Canadian music outside of Canada can enjoy watching the show via streaming at cbcmusic.ca/junos.