JUNO Awards Recap
The JUNOS Awards is Canada’s music awards. It exclusively celebrates Canadian artists. Initially called The Gold Leaf Awards, the ceremony was renamed in 1971 “in honour of Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) chairman Pierre Juneau [whose work helped] put Canadian artists at the forefront of the industry” (JUNOS, 2026).
On March 29, 2026, the JUNOS hosted their 55th award ceremony in Hamilton, Ontario at the TD Coliseum. The celebration was hosted by Canadian comedian, actor, and screenwriter, Mae Martin who jokingly declared Prime Minister Mark Carney and Joni Mitchell as their parents!
Speaking of Joni Mitchell, the singer-songwriter was awarded “The Lifetime Achievement Award” for being one of the most influential singer-songwriters of her time. The award was presented to her by Prime Minister Mark Carney. If you did not know, Mitchell has eleven Grammy Awards to her name and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Some of her songs include “Woodstock” (1970), “Free Man in Paris” (1974), and “Coyote” (1996).
Known for her timeless tunes that marked an entire generation, Nelly Furtado was also an honoree at this year’s JUNOS. The “10-time JUNOS Award winner [was] … inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame” (JUNOS, 2025). The award was presented to her by Drake, who made a surprise virtual appearance. Nelly Furtado is best known for her songs “I’m Like a Bird” (2000), “Maneater” (2006), “Say it Right” (2006), and “Corazon” (2024).
Now, let’s talk about the 2026 nominees and the winners.
Nominees for “TD JUNOS Fan Choice” were Cameron Whitcomb, James Barker Band, Josh Ross, Justin Bieber, Karan Aujla, Shawn Mendes, Shubh, Tate McRae, The Weeknd, and bbno$. bbno$ took the cake!
“Album of the Year” was awarded to Tate McRae’s “So Close To What” who competed against Justin Bieber’s “Swag II”, Josh Ross’s “Later Tonight”, Cameron Whitcomb’s “The Hard Way” and The Weeknd’s “Hurry Up Tomorrow”.
Cameron Whitcomb won “Breakthrough Artist of the Year”, Tate McRae won “Artist of the Year”, Maestro Fresh Wes’s album “Young Maestro ‘Rhyme Travellers- Back to the Time Machine” won “Children’s Album of the Year”, and Daniel Ceasar walked away with three awards: “Songwriter of the Year”, “Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year”, and “International Achievement Award”. There were many other nominations and award recipients. You can read about them on the official JUNOS Awards website (junosawards.ca).
Moving on to the performances, a tribute medley was performed by Canadian artists Alessia Cara, Jully Black, Shawn Desman, and Tanya Tagaq in honour of Nelly Furtado’s Canadian Hall of Fame induction.
Canadian Rock band, Rush, performed for the first time on the JUNOS stage and also debuted their new drummer Anika Nilles. The band will also be kicking off their Fifty Something tour in June and will be performing in Montreal September 2, 2026.
Daniel Ceasar did a solo performance of his song “Who Knows” on the guitar whilst sitting amongst the crowd. “Group of the Year” winners, The Beaches, performed “Lesbian of the Year”. Finally, the evening concluded with a group performance of Joni Mitchell’s hit songs. Among other artists, Mitchell was joined on stage by Sarah McLachlan and Allison Russell.
Sources
- “The JUNOS celebrate 50 years of Canada’s biggest night in music” (2021), JUNOS
- “2026 Winners + Nominees” (2026), JUNOS
- “2026 JUNO awards reveals the first round of appearances – Joni Mitchel and Nelly Furtado announced as Special Award Recipients, Arkells & The Beaches to performance live on CBC” (2025), JUNOS
- “Music” (2026), Joni Mitchell
- Warner, A., Lau, M., Harmsen, N., Gordon, H., Adams, K., Kinos-Goodin, J., “Joni Mitchell’s 25 greatest songs, rance” (2024), CBC
- CBC Music, “Alessia Cara, Jully Black, Shawn Desman and more to performance tribute to Nelly Furtado at Juno Awards” (2026), CBC
- “Fifty Something Tour” (2026), Rush
