Drake, Shawn Mendes and the Weekend each have five @
JUNOAwards nominations for this year's 46th annual award ceremony which will be held in Ottawa March 27 till April 2. The live broadcast of the ceremony at Ottawa's Canadian Tire Centre will be on CTV and CTV GO on Sunday, April 2. You can
vote for the JUNO Fan Choice presented by TD at their website. Performers for the CTV Broadcast will be singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes, the electronic group A Tribe Called Red, singer-songwriter Alessia Cara, contemporary storyteller Ruth B and the alt-folk indie group The Strumbellas.
Other top nominees included Alessia Cara, the late Leonard Cohen, A Tribe Called Red and Belly. Nominations were also made for Hedley and Justin Bieber. The JUNOs are part of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) development and promotion of Canadian artists. The major awards are for JUNO Fan Choice, Album of the Year (sponsered by Music Canada), Pop Album of the Year (sponsored by TD), Songwriter of the Year (Presented by SOCAN), Video of the Year (sponsored by MuchFACT) and Breakthrough Artist of the Year (sponsored by FACTOR, the Government of Canada, Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters, and Radio Starmaker Fund).
During the 2017 JUNO Awards singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan from Halifax, Nova Scotia, pictured at top by Kharen Hill, will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The multi-platinum, JUNO, Grammy and the Billboard Music award winning artist joins other Music Hall of Fame stars like Burton Cummings, Alanis Morissette and Ann Murray. The Canadian Music Hall of Fame is located in Studio Bell at the National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta and was created to honour artists that make an outstanding contribution to Canadian music.
"I’m so honoured to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. This comes as a complete sweet surprise as I still feel like I’m just getting started," said McLachlan. "I’m truly blessed to be in such incredible company with all of the amazing past honourees."
Sarah created Lilith Fair in 1997 which raised over $7 million for women's charities during the three year North American Tour and she also helps with animal welfare, disaster relief, cancer and HIV/AIDS research as well as offering free music education to at-risk children and youth. In 2015 the singer received the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Achievement which joins a long list of honours and awards she has accepted.
"Sarah McLachlan is one of this country’s most beloved artists. From the moment we first heard her sing, nearly 30 years ago, we were captivated by the beauty of her voice and words." said Allan Reid, President & CEO CARAS/The JUNO Awards and MusiCounts. "She is a unique artist who is respected the world over, and she continues to inspire a new generation of artists. Sarah is a trailblazer for women in this industry, not only because of her music, but also because of her philanthropic endeavours and her belief in music education. We are honoured to welcome her into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame."
Buffy Sainte-Marie. Photo by Matt Barnes
Also being honoured during the 2017 JUNOs is Canadian artist and social activist Buffy Sainte-Marie, born on the Piapot Plains Cree First Nation Reserve in Saskatchewan, with an Outstanding Humanitarian Award. The Allan Waters Humanitarian Award presentation will be on Saturday, April 1 at the JUNO Gala Dinner and Awards presented by SOCAN at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa. Buffy has won an Academy Award, JUNO Awards, a Golden Globe and many other prestigious awards as well as being in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and Canada's Walk of Fame.
“I've had some great partners in mobilizing my ideas in art, education and technology, especially the W.K. Kellogg Foundation who taught me that there's a difference between an administrator and a visionary. Both are important but visionaries are seldom pushy in that business way that administrators learn; and visionaries don't think in corporate pecking order terms so often get squashed out in normal business systems,” said Sainte-Marie. “I've been lucky enough to work in both worlds, and although my timing has sometimes been off and gotten my big mouth into trouble, other times, with the help of other people, I've been effective beyond my expectations. So I thank all my colleagues in and out of the music business for helping put my songs to work.”
“It’s our privilege to present the legendary Buffy Sainte-Marie with the 2017 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award,” said Randy Lennox, President, Broadcasting and Content, Bell Media. “Her dedication to improving the lives of Indigenous people is truly humbling. We look forward to celebrating this iconic artist and her inspiring philanthropic work at this year’s JUNO Awards.”
And the top 10 finalists for the annual Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class were announced earlier in 2016. The Class is a development program for emerging Canadian artist and the finalists advanced to the 2017 Super Jury of JUNO alumni (Lights, Kardinal Offishall, Max Kerman, Gavin Brown, Ali Slaight and Allan Reid) which picked three winners: Neon Dreams, The Lytics, and Youngblood. The original field of ten finalists were as follows.
1. AHI: Brampton, ON (
@AHImusic)
2. Craig Stickland: Toronto, ON (
@craigstickland)
3. Hillsburn: Halifax, NS (
@hillsburnband)
4. Jordan Hart: Edmonton, AB (
@jordanhartsound)
5. Neon Dreams: Halifax, NS (
@OurNeonDreams)
6. Port Cities: Sydney/Cape Breton, NS (
@port_cities)
7. REPARTEE: St. John’s, NL (
@reparteemusic)
8. The Lytics: Winnipeg, MB (
@thelytics)
9. Wild Rivers: Toronto, ON (
@wildriversmusic)
10. Youngblood: Vancouver, BC (
@youryoungblood)
Tickets start at $59 at the Canadian Tire Centre Box Office or through ticketmaster.ca and money from each ticket is donated to the non-profit MusiCounts which provides youth access to musical instruments. "THE 2017 JUNO AWARDS is produced b Sciences (CARAS). Executive Producers are John Brunton and Barbara Bowlby for Insight Productions, Allan Reid and Mark Cohon for CARAS, and Randy Lennox for Bell Media. Lindsay Cox is Executive Producer and Supervising Producer, Insight Productions. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, CTV and Specialty, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Broadcasting and Content, Bell Media."