The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and CBC celebrated a golden anniversary this evening at the 50th Annual JUNO Awards Broadcast, Canada’s biggest night in music. The awards were broadcast nationwide on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen and globally on CBCMusic.ca/junos. The highly anticipated event featured show-stopping performances from some of the country’s brightest music stars and appearances from the nation’s most recognizable personalities.
WINNERS
TRADITIONAL R&B/SOUL RECORDING OF THE YEAR (PRESENTED BY ADVANCE, CANADA’S BLACK MUSIC BUSINESS COLLECTIVE)
Solid Savannah Ré 1Music/Universal
ARTIST OF THE YEAR (PRESENTED BY SIRIUSXM CANADA)
The Weeknd The Weeknd XO/Republic/Universal
MUSICOUNTS TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Mary Piercey-Lewis Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit, Nunavut
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR (PRESENTED BY FACTOR, THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND CANADA’S PRIVATE RADIO BROADCASTERS)
JP Saxe Arista*Sony
POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR (PRESENTED BY CBC MUSIC)
Changes Justin Bieber Def Jam*Universal
ALBUM OF THE YEAR (PRESENTED BY MUSIC CANADA)
After Hours The Weeknd The Weeknd XO/Republic/Universal
JUNO FAN CHOICE (PRESENTED BY FREEDOM MOBILE)
Shawn Mendes
KEY STATS
● 52 winners (48 Unique Winners)
● One multiple winner – The Weeknd
● First-time winners: 26 (50%)
● Total winners with female representation: 24 of 52 total winners (46%)
○ 21 of 43 categories (49%)
● Total winners with BIPOC representation: 21 of 52 Total Winners (40%)
○ 22 of 43 categories with BIPOC representation (51%)
WINNERS ON THE TOP 100 ALL TIME WINNERS’ LIST
● Orchestre symphonique de Montréal – 18 wins
● The Weeknd – 15 wins
● Alanis Morissette – 13 wins
● Justin Bieber – 8 wins
● Arkells – 7 wins
● Toronto Symphony Orchestra – 6 wins
● BAHAMAS – 5 wins
WINNERS STORIES
● WondaGurl is the first Black female to win Producer
○ Other BIPOC winners:
■ Gerald Eaton (Jarvis Church) in 2001
■ A Tribe Called Red in 2017
○ Also one of the 6 female Producer winners at the JUNO Awards. Of the 247 nominations and 46 winners from 1975 until 2021, there have only been 6 female winners.
■ Others are:
■ k.d. Lang in 1993
■ Nelly Furtado in 2001
■ Alanis Morissette in 2003
■ Joni Mitchell in 2008
■ Diana Krall in 2018
● The Weeknd also won five JUNOS in 2016 in the same categories as in 2021
○ Songwriter, R&B/Soul Recording (now split into Contemporary and Traditional), Single, Artist, Album
● Other Weeknd accomplishments this year:
○ The Weeknd dropped his Greatest Hits project on Feb 5, 2021 which debuted in the second position on the Billboard charts, the best performance for a greatest hits album since 2019
○ In March 2021, Blinding Lights became the first song to spend a full year on the Billboard Hot 100s’ Top 10, the longest top 5 squatter at 43 weeks
● JJ Wilde is the first female winner in Rock since 1996 when Alanis Morissette won Best Rock Album for Jagged Little Pill
● The Weeknd moved up to 6th place on the top 100 all time winners with 15 wins
● Tenille Townes is only the fifth female winner in Country Album of the Year/Country Recording of the Year since 2003
○ 2003 – Shania Twain
○ 2004 – Shania Twain
○ 2012 – Terri Clark
○ 2017 – Jess Moskaluke
○ 2020 – Meghan Patrick
● Sammy Jackson is the youngest Black winner in the history of our Vocal Jazz categories (from 2000 on) at 29
● KAYTRANADA is the only Black male solo winner in the Dance category since its inception as Best Dance Recording in 1992
● Crystal Shawanda is only the third solo female winner in Blues since 1994 when it began as Best Blues/Gospel Album.
○ 2001 – Sue Foley
○ 2020 – Dawn Tyler Watson
○ She is also the first Indigenous artist to win Blues
● Shawna Cain is the only Black solo female winner in the history of our Gospel/Contemporary Christian categories since inception in 1994 as Best Blues/Gospel Album
○ 1995 – The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir (group win with Black representation)
○ 1999 – Sharon Riley and Faith Chorale (group win)
○ 2003 – Toronto Mass Choir (group win with Black representation)
● Jessie Reyez is the first Latin Canadian artist to win in the Video category since its inception in 1984
● Unleash The Archers is the first Metal category winner to have a female member/female lead vocalist. The category existed in 1991 as Best Hard Rock/Metal Album and then came back in 2012.
● Alanis Morissette is only the second female winner in Adult Contemporary since the category came into existence in 2013
○ Sarah McLachlan is the only other female winner in both 2015 and 2017
● Other categories with Francophone/winners from Quebec:
○ Jason “DaHeala” Quenneville – Songwriter
○ Orchestre symphonique de Montréal – Classical Large
○ Samy Moussa – Classical Composition
○ KAYTRANADA – Dance
○ TÖME – Reggae
○ Serban Ghenea – Recording Engineer
○ Julien Hébert, David Beauchemin, Marc-Étienne Mongrain – Album Artwork
