Alberta pop sensation Tate McRae and Nashville up-and-comer Josh Ross lead the record of nominees with 5 apiece for the 2025 Junos, which had been launched on Tuesday and spotlight the rise of each nation and Punjabi music within the Canadian mainstream.
McRae is not precisely a newcomer to the Junos discipline, although she has seen stratospheric success in a comparatively brief span of time. Since her first nomination in 2021, she’s by no means been left off the board — although she solely managed to take residence her first statues in 2024.
This 12 months, she’s vying in lots of the high awards to be given out in Vancouver on March 30. Her 2023 album Suppose Later and its single Exes put her within the operating for fan alternative, single, artist, album and pop album of the 12 months.
She is competing within the album class in opposition to a linguistically numerous group of candidates. Roxane Bruneau’s Submergé is a French-language launch and Sukha’s Undisputed is Punjabi, whereas Elisapie, who received 2024’s trophy for up to date Indigenous artist or group of the 12 months, is nominated for Inuktitut, her album in that very same language.
McRae’s explosive rise is probably barely eclipsed by fellow album of the 12 months nominee Josh Ross. After his first nomination final 12 months — for fan alternative — the nation star’s single (Single Once more) and album (Difficult) have him up for all the identical classes as McRae, solely swapping the “pop” album class for nation.
It comes after his shock win on the Nation Music Affiliation awards within the U.S., and large wins on the Canadian Nation Music Awards in late 2024. It additionally presages a seeming invasion of nation music all through the Junos’ setlist: 4 out of the ten fan alternative nominees are nation or country-adjacent, whereas a fifth (Shawn Mendes) was honoured this 12 months largely on the power of his country-influenced single Why Why Why.
Mendes is up for three further awards: single, artist and pop album of the 12 months (Shawn). That ties him for the second-most nominations with The Weeknd (actual title Abel Tesfaye), who’s up for fan alternative, artist, songwriter and single of the 12 months (Timeless feat. Playboi Carti).
Tesfaye beforehand introduced that his most up-to-date album (Hurry Up Tomorrow, which was launched in January) can be his final below the Weeknd moniker. He will likely be eligible for extra nominations for Hurry Up Tomorrow subsequent 12 months. If he had been to win all 4 of the classes he’s nominated in this 12 months, he would turn into the Junos’ most awarded artist of all time. He at present boasts 22 wins, simply behind Anne Murray’s 25.
Nominees in key classes:
Tiktok Juno fan alternative: Bbno$, Dean Brody, Jade Eagleson, Josh Ross, Karan Aujla, Les Cowboys Fringants, Preston Pablo, Shawn Mendes, Tate McRae, The Weeknd.
Artist of the 12 months: Josh Ross, Kaytranada, Shawn Mendes, Tate McRae, The Weeknd.
Album: Inuktitut, Elisapie; Difficult, Josh Ross; Submergé, Roxane Bruneau; Undisputed, Sukha; Suppose Later; Tate McRae.
Single: Single Once more, Josh Ross; Successful Speech, Karan Aujla; Why Why Why, Shawn Mendes; Exes, Tate McRae; Timeless, The Weeknd (feat. Playboi Carti).
Group: Crash Adams, Mom Mom, Spiritbox, Sum 41, the Seashores.
His nomination depend matches one other large artist making a displaying at this 12 months’s Junos. Beyoncé’s album Cowboy Carter exhibits up 4 occasions within the Junos shortlist — although with not one of the nominations geared towards the singer herself.
As an alternative, 4 Canadians are up for the work they contributed to Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning nation album. Calgary-born Lowell and Ontario’s Nathan Ferraro are within the operating for songwriter of the 12 months (non-performer) for among the album’s largest tracks.
In the meantime, Jack Rochon and Shawn Everett are within the operating for Jack Richardson producer of the 12 months for the Cowboy Carter songs II Palms II Heaven, Protector and Jolene; and II Most Wished, respectively.
The discharge of Beyoncé’s extremely anticipated nation album, Cowboy Carter, has many Black nation artists already seeing a bump in followers, and lots of are hoping for a renaissance in Black nation music, together with right here in Canada.
Lowell and Ferraro’s “non-performing” songwriter class is a brand new one, and amongst a raft of shifted classes for 2025’s present. Additionally new this 12 months is “South Asian music recording of the 12 months,” which is supposed to spotlight homegrown expertise impressed by that area’s genres, together with Punjabi and Bollywood music.
Amongst its nominees are AP Dhillon (The Brownprint), Jonita Gandhi (Love Like That) and Karan Aujla, who final 12 months turned the primary Punjabi artist to win fan alternative. Aujla is nominated within the South Asian music class for Tauba Tauba, and can be nominated for fan alternative and single of the 12 months (Successful Speech). Dhillon can be up for songwriter and breakthrough artist or group of the 12 months — a class that was merged for this 12 months.
Artists Sukha and AR Paisley assist spherical out the Punjabi artists nominated in that class. Additionally nominated for breakthrough is Palestinian Canadian artist Nemahsis, who informed CBC’s Q that she was dropped by her label in 2023 for posting pro-Palestinian content material on her social media accounts. She is nominated as an impartial artist.
Breakthrough artist or group of the 12 months: Alexander Stewart, AP Dhillon, AR Paisley, Chris Gray, Ekkstacy, Nemahsis, Owen Riegling, Sukha, Tony Ann, Zeina.
Songwriter: Abel Tesfaye, AP Dhillon, Jessie Reyez, Mustafa, Nemah Hasan.
Songwriter (non-performer): Evan Blair, Lowell, Nathan Ferraro, Shaun Frank, Tobias Jesso Jr.
Rap album: 96 Miles from Bethlehem, Stomach; Luke’s View, Labeled; The Flower That Knew, DijahSB; See You Once I See You, Dom Vallie; Pink Future, Snotty Nostril Rez Youngsters.
Pop album: Bleeding Coronary heart, Alexander Stewart; If This Is It…, Jamie Tremendous; Wherever However Right here, Preston Pablo; Shawn, Shawn Mendes; Suppose Later, Tate McRae
Nation album: The Compass Undertaking — West Album, Brett Kissel; Dallas Smith, Dallas Smith; Difficult, Josh Ross; No one’s Born With a Damaged Coronary heart, MacKenzie Porter; Going House, Tyler Joe Miller.
Unchanged this 12 months are the reggae recording, and kids’s and Christian/gospel album classes. Whereas Junos organizers initially introduced these classes can be placed on “hiatus,” a backlash prompted them to reinstate all three — whereas sustaining their choice to exclude the worldwide album class.
The kids’s album nominees additionally function what’s rapidly turning into the Juno’s most youthful mainstay. Romeo Eats (actual title Romeo Aniello) now boasts his third Juno nomination, since turning into the youngest-ever nominee at 4 years outdated in 2022 and the youngest-ever winner the next 12 months.
In terms of exclusions, eagle-eyed followers might discover the absence of licensed lover boy and Tremendous Bowl speaking level Drake. Regardless of releasing a number of tracks in his notorious feud with rapper Kendrick Lamar, Drake is as soon as once more absent from Junos lists — an unsurprising omission, for the reason that God’s Plan artist stopped submitting his music for consideration in 2018.
Additionally absent from this 12 months’s lists are Arkells for group of the 12 months. As essentially the most awarded group ever in that class, with six wins, it is a notable exclusion. Since 2010, they’ve solely been left off the brief record 4 occasions.
Rockers Sum 41 are up for the award, nevertheless, and are additionally scheduled to offer their closing efficiency as a band on the Vancouver present. B.C.’s Michael Bublé is internet hosting the ceremonies for the third time, and can share the stage with fellow hometown nominees Peach Pit, Ekkstacy, Tobias Jesso Jr., Mom Mom, Snotty Nostril Rez Youngsters and extra.
Boi-1da is ready to obtain the Worldwide Achievement Award and Sarah Harmer the 2025 Humanitarian Award.
The present will broadcast March 30 at 8 pm ET/5pm PT on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Hear and globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos and CBC Music’s YouTube web page.
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