The JUNO Opening Night Awards 2022 touched down at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in downtown Toronto. Here are all your winners.
Tonight, the Canadian music industry gathered in downtown Toronto at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the JUNO Opening Night Awards Presented by Ontario Creates.
Hosted by Ann Pornel and CBC Music’s Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe, this year’s festivities were once again an in-person celebration after two years of going virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The evening began with opening remarks from Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences president, Allan Reid, followed by a performance by Valley, fresh off their North American tour. Also performing throughout the night were Ruby Waters and Jesse Gold.
Similar to last year’s awards, this year saw brand new categories created as the CARAS keeps up with changes in the musical landscape. Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year has been split into two awards: Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year and Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year. Rap Recording of the Year has been broken into two categories: Rap Single of the Year and Rap Album/EP of the Year. Underground Dance Single of the Year has also been added as a new category.
Among the winners were The Weeknd for Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year for “Take My Breath”, War Club for Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year, WondaGurl (“Fair Trade”, Drake feat. Travis Scott) for Jack Richardson Producer of the Year, Kaytranada for Dance Recording of the Year for “Caution”, Savannah Ré for Traditional R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for 24hrs, Charmaine for Rap Single of the Year for “Bold”, The Weeknd for Songwriter of the Year, Mustafa for Alternative Album of the Year for When Smoke Rises, and Kairo McLean for Reggae Recording of the Year for “Easy Now”. The big winner for the night was Charlotte Cardin who received six nominations, walking away with Pop Album of the Year, Single of the Year, and Artist of the Year.
Event producer and staple in the Caribbean community, Denise Jones, was also posthumously awarded the 2022 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award for advocating for the inclusion of Reggae music at the Junos.
The Juno Awards resume Sunday at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on CBC and CBC Gem.
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