Tate McRae’s Exes was named single of the year at the Juno Awards industry ceremony on Saturday, although the global popstar was absent because she was booked to appear at a music festival in Brazil.
The Junos hardware was handed out during the gala in Vancouver where prizes in more than 40 categories will be awarded — including single and album of the year, as well as the new Juno recognizing South Asian music — ahead of Sunday’s televised ceremony.
Elizabeth Lowell Boland won the first songwriter of the year award created for non-performers. She picked up the prize for her work behind the scenes on Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album and the Beaches’ Takes One To Know One.
The Calgary-raised Boland pushed for splitting the songwriting Juno category into two awards — performer and non-performer — after seeing the only Juno songwriting trophy consistently won by well-known stage performers.
“I’ve been fighting for this award,” Boland said.
“I chased down people at parties. I was really annoying. I joked that people would run away from me when they saw me at parties, because I wasn’t really interested in mingling. I just wanted to change this one little thing.”
Inuk singer-songwriter Elisapie and Haisla hip-hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids were early winners at the Juno Awards industry ceremony.
The Saturday evening soirée saw Elisapie’s pop covers collection Inuktitut pick up adult alternative album, while Rez Kids’ Red Future landed rap album of the year.
“I had a good cry walking here,” said Darren Metz from Rez Kids in the press room.
“When you work so hard towards something for so long, and then finally get it, all the emotions that you endured throughout that journey just come out.”
Other early winners included No Time by Interplanetary Criminal and SadBoi, which earned dance recording of the year. This But More by Priori won electronic album.
Folk singer Sarah Harmer will receive this year’s humanitarian award for her advocacy of environmental and human rights issues.
The ceremony, which streams live on CBC Music’s YouTube page starting at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, is a precursor to Sunday’s televised CBC broadcast hosted by Michael Bublé.
WATCH | Find out who wins at Saturday’s gala:
Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences chief executive Allan Reid, whose organization presents the Junos, says Bublé jumped at the opportunity to host for a third time after taking the role in 2013 and 2018.
Reid says this year’s show takes on new importance in the context of the Canada-U.S. trade dispute, with Canadian artists “at the forefront of culture” and helping “define who we are as a nation.”
Vancouver is hosting the 2025 Junos on March 30, turning the Rogers Arena into a celebration of all musical genres — from country ballads to South Asian rap. Canadian crooner Michael Bublé will host, and that’s reason enough for senior entertainment reporter Eli Glasner to get excited.
Bublé said on Friday he’s letting his actions speak for his national pride by hosting the Juno Awards in Vancouver this weekend, as Canada-U.S. tensions surge in the background.
Bublé says he doesn’t want to “add to the energy of a troll” by being too vocal amid the dispute but is instead focusing his energy as a proud Canadian on “why we’re so special” and “unique.”
He says he doesn’t take the duty of celebrating the best of Canadian music lightly.
