The Weeknd picks up 4 wins on Junos 2023 opening night
CBC
The 2023 Juno Awards kicked off Saturday in Edmonton, where 40 awards are being handed out to Canada's top musical artists.
The ceremony — which comes ahead of Monday night's main event, a live broadcast hosted by Marvel actor Simu Liu — was emceed by Run The Burbs star and co-creator Andrew Phung and CBC Music radio host Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe.
The Weeknd took home multiple awards. He won artist of the year; songwriter of the year and pop album of the year for Dawn FM; and single of the year for Sacrifice. The global superstar wasn't in the room to accept the awards, though he leads the 2023 Juno nominations with six nods. He previously won artist of the year in 2015, 2016 and 2021.
Tenille Townes, who won the evening's first award — country album of the year for Masquerades — spoke backstage, recalling the first time she attended the Juno Awards 19 years ago as an audience member. She said she dreamt of being onstage one day.
"[I] watched and just dreamed of how cool it could be to be a part of the show someday, so I'm feeling all the full-circle vibes," she told CBC News.
Other early winners included Montreal singer-songwriter Rêve, and producer duo Banx and Ranx.
Rêve was backstage after winning dance recording of the year when she found out that the latter duo — who she collaborated with last year — won the award for breakthrough group of the year. She let out an enthusiastic shriek.
The last time they won a Juno Award in 2010, Digging Roots consisted only of husband and wife duo Raven Kanatakta and ShoShona Kish. But their win on Saturday is "far sweeter, because we brought our son [Skye] on the journey," Kanatakta told CBC News. The trio won contemporary Indigenous artist or group of the year for their album Zhawenim.
"The way that we create music, the three of us ... we have the family vibe, but at the same time, Skye brings all of this rhythm, rhythm from the land, and just informs where the songs are gonna go," Kanatakta added.
Alexisonfire hadn't made an album since 2009 before 2022's Otherness, which won the band rock album of the year. While the rockers joked that they had indeed set out to make a Juno Award-winning album, the band's bassist Chris Steele said Saturday's win is their most meaningful. "We've been a band for almost 22 years and with the history and the depth and the emotional weight, I feel like we've always had each other to lean on," Steele said, noting that they produced the album in Hamilton during a winter storm. "Through thick and thin, we've been through a lot together. And I think this record, Otherness, is a reflection of that."
Fourteen-year-old musician Kairo McLean won the reggae recording of the year for the second year in a row, alongside Kirk Diamond and Finn for their track Reggae Party. During his acceptance speech, Diamond called McLean "the future of reggae in Canada."
"The knowledge that Kairo has at 14, a lot of people at 70 [don't] have," Diamond told CBC News backstage after the win. "To be able to do the calibre of reggae that he does at this age, he's only going to get better the older he gets."
Saturday's festivities include performances from artists Dylan Sinclair, Devon Cole, Jean-Michel Blais and the evening opened with a performance by The Bearhead Sisters. The in memoriam segment of the show will feature a joint performance from Corb Lund, The Sadies and Shannon Johnson.
CBC News will be updating this story with winners throughout the evening.Country album of the year:Tenille Townes, Masquerades High Valley, Way Back Jade Eagleson, Honkytonk Revival Orville Peck, Bronco The Reklaws, Good Ol' Days
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