The 2019 Juno Awards are over and done, with new winners, returning favourites, and great moments on stage in London, ON.
Between the Saturday night gala and the Sunday night awards show broadcast on the CBC, a ton of awards were handed out to the cream of the Canadian music crop this year. And while everyone has their own favourites and opinions on the awards, there is no doubt that the Junos have once again shone a bright light on the talent, excellence, and entertainment that this country has to offer to the music world.
Shawn Mendes won big, taking home trophies for Single, Songwriter, Pop Album, Album, and Artist of the Year. Arkells also added to their awards collection with wins for Rock Album and Groupof the Year, plus Eric Ratz's Producer of the Year for Rally Cry . And Avril Lavigne made a big splash in her mainstream comeback by taking home the Juno Fan Choice Award!
Note: Congratulations goes out to the newest member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Corey Hart! If you missed his performance of Sunglasses At Night, hit play now!
Throughout the show, deftly hosted by Sarah McLachlan, the Junos showcased performances, speeches, and memorable moments. The Reklaws, Arkells, Bülow, Jeremy Dutcher, Bahamas, Nav, Coeur De Pirate, McLachlan herself and more poured their hearts into their performances and showed Canada what they can do. Artists, maybe none more than Jessie Reyez, showed how much these awards and this recognition means to the Canadian music community. And the fans in the London arena did a fantastic job of showing love and being part of the show themselves.
It was a big night for music north of the border. A night of highlights and high fives and the hall of fame.
The highlight of the weekend though may have come on Saturday night when Arkells ceded their time to Jeremy Dutcher after winning Rock Album of the Year. Dutcher, the winner of Indigenous Album of the Year for Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa was played off before he had finished his message about reconciliation in his speech, and the Hamilton rockers gave him their time to finish his thoughts. As Dutcher said, "this is what holding space looks like", and we all need to be doing more of it.
Congratulations to all of the winners, the nominees, their teams, loved ones, fans and supporters. This really is something that should be celebrated.
Check out the full list of 2019 Juno winners, some videos from the show and photos that we've snapped over the years, and leave a comment telling us who you think was the biggest winner of this year's awards.
2019 Juno Award Winner!
Juno Fan Choice Award
Winner: Avril Lavigne
Single of the Year
Winner: Shawn Mendes, In My Blood
Artist of the Year
Winner: Shawn Mendes
Breakthrough Artist of the Year
Winner: Bülow
Breakthrough Group of the Year
Winner: The Washboard Union
Songwriter of the Year
Winner: Shawn Mendes: Lost in Japan - co-songwriters Nate Mercereau, Scott Harris, Teddy Geiger, Youth - co-songwriters Geoff Warburton, Khalid Robinson, Scott Harris, Teddy Geiger, In My Blood - co-songwriters Geoff Warburton, Scott Harris, Teddy Geiger (Shawn Mendes, Shawn Mendes)
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Dance Recording of the Year
Winner: Loud Luxury, Body
Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award
Winner: Eric Ratz: People's Champ, Relentless (Arkells, Rally Cry)
Recording Engineer of the Year
Winner: Shawn Everett: Slow Burn, Space Cowboy (Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour)
Video of the Year
Winner: Ali Eisner, No Depression (Bahamas)
