2020 JUNO Award Nominees Announcement

On Tuesday morning, the nominees for the 2020 JUNO Awards were announced, bringing with them a lot of excitement for artists and fans alike.

Alessia Cara (who will host the show) leads all artists with six award nominations. Next, close behind her, is Tory Lanez who picked up five nominations, with seven artists racking up three nominations each in 2020. It’s a wide open field overall with the a lot of awards up for grabs on Sunday, March 15, at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

Congratulations to all of the nominees. Scroll down to see them all, category-by-category and click the links to read posts we’ve written about some of these Canadian musicians!

2020 Juno Award Nominees

JUNO Fan Choice

☆ Alessia Cara
☆ Ali Gatie
☆ Avril Lavigne
☆ bbno$
☆ Justin Bieber
☆ Loud Luxury
☆ Nav
☆ Shawn Mendes
☆ The Weeknd
☆ Tory Lanez

Artist of the Year

☆ Alessia Cara
☆ Bryan Adams
☆ Jessie Reyez
☆ Shawn Mendes
☆ Tory Lanez

Group of the Year

☆ 88Glam
☆ Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine
☆ Loud Luxury
☆ The Reklaws
☆ Walk Off The Earth

Breakthrough Artist of the Year

☆ Alexandra Stréliski
☆ Ali Gatie
☆ bbno$
☆ Lennon Stella
☆ Tenille Townes

Breakthrough Group of the Year

☆ Hunter Brothers
☆ Neon Dreams
☆ Palaye Royale
☆ The Blue Stones
☆ Valley

Single of the Year

☆ Alessia Cara – Out of Love
☆ Bülow – Sweet Little Lies
☆ Lennon Stella – La Di Da
☆ Scott Helman – Hang Ups
☆ Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello – Señorita

Album of the year

☆ Alessia Cara – The Pains of Growing
☆ Alexandra Stréliski – Inscape
☆ Bryan Adams – Shine a Light
☆ Michael Bublé – Love
☆ Nav – Bad Habits

Rock Album of the Year

☆ Big Wreck – …but for the sun
☆ Headstones – Peopleskills
☆ Sum 41 – Order in Decline
☆ The Dirty Nil – Master Volume
☆ The Glorious Sons – A War on Everything

Pop Album of the Year

☆ Alessia Cara – The Pains Of Growing
☆ Avril Lavigne – Head Above Water
☆ bülow – Crystalline
☆ Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine – 8:47
☆ Walk Off The Earth – Here We Go!

Country Album of the Year

☆ Aaron Goodvin – V
☆ Dallas Smith – The Fall
☆ Dean Brody – Black Sheep
☆ Hunter Brothers – State Of Mind
☆ Meghan Patrick – Wild As Me

Alternative Album of the Year

☆ Black Mountain – Destroyer
☆ Foxwarren – Foxwarren
☆ Mac DeMarco – Here Comes the Cowboy
☆ Orville Peck – Pony
☆ Pup – Morbid Stuff

Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year

☆ Kobra And The Lotus – Evolution
☆ Lindsay Schoolcraft – Martyr
☆ Single Mothers – Through A Wall
☆ Striker – Play To Win
☆ The Agonists – Orphans

Adult Alternative Album of the Year

☆ City And Colour – A Pill For Loneliness
☆ Half Moon Run – A Blemish In The Great Light
☆ iskwē – acākosīk
☆ Leonard Cohen – Thanks For The Dance
☆ Patrick Watson – Wave

Rap Recording of the Year

☆ 88Glam – 88Glam2
☆ Classified – Tomorrow Could be the Day Things Change
☆ Killy – Light Path 8
☆ Nav – Bad Habits
☆ Tory Lanez – Freaky

R&B/Soul Recording of the Year

☆ Amaal – Black Dove
☆ Daniel Caesar – Case Study 01
☆ Jessie Reyez, Tory Lanez, & Tainy – “Feel it Too”
☆ Tanika Charles – The Gumption
☆ Tory Lanez – Chixtape 5

Reggae Recording of the Year

☆ Exco Levi – Wah Gwaan
☆ Jay Douglas – Jah Children
☆ Lyndon John X – The Warning Track
☆ Petraa – Never Broken
☆ Storry – Another Man

Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year

☆ Celeigh Cardinal – Stories From A Downtown Apartment
☆ Digawolf – Yellowstone
☆ nêhiyawak – nipiy
☆ Northern Haze – Siqinnaarut
☆ RIIT – attataga

Electronic Album of the Year

☆ Bob Moses – Battle Lines
☆ Electric Youth – Memory Emotion
☆ Jacques Greene – Dawn Chorus
☆ Keys N Krates – A Beat Tape For Your Friends
☆ Rezz – Beyond the Senses

Vocal Jazz Album of the Year

☆ Bria Skonberg – Nothing Never Happens
☆ Dominique Fils-Aimé – Stay Tuned!
☆ Elizabeth Shepherd – Montréal
☆ Jazz Affair – Wishes
☆ Monkey House – Friday

Contemporary Roots Album of the Year

☆ Catherine MacLellan – Coyote
☆ Del Barber – Easy Keeper
☆ Irish Mythen – Little Bones
☆ Justin Rutledge – Passages
☆ Lee Harvey Osmond – Mohawk

Traditional Roots Album of the Year

☆ April Verch – Once A Day
☆ Miranda Mulholland – By Appointment Or Chance
☆ Natalie MacMaster – Sketches
☆ The Dead South – Sugar & Joy
☆ The Small Glories – Assiniboine & The Red

Album Francophone de l’Année

☆ Fred Pellerin – Après
☆ Jean Leloup – L’étrange pays
☆ Koriass – La Nuit des Longs Couteaux
☆ Les Louanges – La nuit est une panthère
☆ Loud – Tout ça pour ça

Classical Album of the Year : Solo or Chamber

☆ Angela Schwarzkopf – detach
☆ Ensemble Paramirabo – Alone & Unalone
☆ James Ehnes – Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Op. 12
☆ Marina Thibeault and Marie-Ève Scarfone – Elles
☆ Quatoour Molinari – John Zorn: Cat O’Nine Tails, The Dead Man, Memento Mori & Kol Nidre

Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble

☆ Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra/Orchestre du Centre National Des Arts du Canada, conducted by Alexander Shelley – The Bound of our Dreams
☆ Jan Lisiecki with Academy of St. Martin in the Fields – Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos
☆ Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Sibelius 1
☆ Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conducted by Kent Nagano – The John Adams Album
☆ Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conducted by Kent Nagano feat. Charles Richard-Hamelin – Chopin: Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral

☆ Chor Leoni Men’s Choir – When There is Peace: An Armistice Oratorio
☆ Gerald Finley – Schubert: Schwanengesang; Brahms: Vier ernste Gesänge
☆ Ottawa Bach Choir, conducted by Lisette Canton – Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schutz: Motets
☆ Peter Barrett, Martha Guth, Allyson McHardy, Helen Becqué – Summer Night
☆ Philippe Sly with Le Chimera Project – Schubert: Winterreise

Jazz Album of the Year: Solo

☆ Jacques Kuba Seguin – Migrations
☆ Joel Miller – Unstoppable
☆ John Stetch – Black Sea Suite
☆ Ted Quinlan – Absolutely Dreaming
☆ The Mark Kelso Jazz Project – The Chronicles of Fezziwig

Jazz Album of the Year: Group

☆ Al Muirhead’s Canadian Quintet – Undertones
☆ Brad Turner Quartet with guest Seamus Blake – Jump Up
☆ Dave Young Trio – Trouble In Mind
☆ Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop – Abundance
☆ Jane Bunnett & Maqueque – On Firm Ground / Tierra Firme

Contemporary Christian Gospel Album of the Year

☆ Brian Doerksen – The Heart Of Christmas
☆ Brooke Nicholls – Pursue
☆ Dan Bremnes – Wherever I Go
☆ Fresh IE – Ill Street Blues
☆ Matt Maher – The Advent Of Christmas

Adult Contemporary Album of the Year

☆ Bryan Adams – Shine A Light
☆ Lauren Spencer-Smith – Unplugged Vol. 1
☆ Marc Jordan – Both Sides
☆ Nuela Charles – Melt
☆ Renée Lamoureux – Empower 

Instrumental Album of the Year

☆ Alexandra Stréliski – Inscape
☆ Bill McBirnie with Bernie Senensky – The Silent Wish
☆ Kevin Hearn – Calm and Cents
☆ Ron Davis’ SymphRONica – SymphRONica UpfRONt
☆ Tanya Tagaq – Toothsayer

Blues Album of the Year

☆ Big Dave McLean – Pocket Full Of Nothin’
☆ Dawn Tyler Watson – Mad Love
☆ Durham County Poets – Hand Me Down Blues
☆ Michael Jerome Browne – That’s Where It’s At
☆ Whitehorse – The Northern South Vol. 2

World Music Album of the Year

☆ Djely Tapa – Barokan
☆ Okan – Sombras
☆ Okavango African Orchestra – Africa Without Borders
☆ Romina Di Gasbarro – Risorgimento
☆ Silla and Rise – Galactic Gala

Children’s Album of the Year

☆ Big Block Singsong – Greatest Hits, Vol. 4
☆ Diana Panton – A Cheerful Little Earful
☆ Gforce Fan – It’s GForce
☆ Girl Pow-R – This is Us
☆ Sharon & Bram – Sharon, Bram & Friends

Comedy Album of the Year

☆ Adam Christie – General Anxiety Disorder
☆ Jarrett Campbell – Straight White Fail
☆ Monty Scott – The Abyss Stares Back
☆ Sophie Buddle – Lil Bit of Buddle
☆ Steph Tolev – I’m Not Well

International Album of the Year

☆ Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next
☆ Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Alseep, Where Do We Go?
☆ Ed Sheeran – No.6 Collaborations Project
☆ Khalid – Free Spirit
☆ Post Malone – Hollywood’s Bleeding

Dance Recording of the Year

☆ Felix Cartel & Lights – Love Me
☆ Frank Walker x Astrid S – Only When It Rains
☆ Loud Luxury and Bryce Vine – I’m Not Alright
☆ RALPH – Gravity
☆ Sultan + Sheppard x Showtek – We Found Love

Classical Composition of the Year

☆ Ana Sokolovic – Evta
☆ Bekah Simms – “Everything Is… Distorted”
☆ Jared Miller – Under Sea, Above Sky
☆ Rose Bolton – The Coming Of Sobs
☆ Vincent Ho – Kickin’ It 2.0

Music Video of the Year

☆ Saramée – Bun Dem (Director: Caraz)
☆ Said The Whale – Record Shop (Director: Johnny Jansen)
☆ Corridor – Topographe (JDirector: onathan Robert)
☆ Laurence Nerbonne – Back Off (Director: Le GED)
☆ iskwē – Little Star (Director: Sarah Legault)

Songwriter of the Year

☆ Alessia Cara: Growing Pains (co-songwriters Andrew Wansel, Warren Fielder); Out of Love (co-songwriter Rick Nowels) (Alessia Cara, The Pains of Growing); Rooting For You (co-songwriter Jon Levine) (Alessia Cara, This Summer)
☆ Bülow, Two Punks in Love: Boys Will Be Boys (co-songwriters David Charles Fischer, Mike Wise, Nathan Ferraro for Bülow – The Contender); Sweet Little Lies (co-songwriters David Charles Fischer, Mike Wise, Nathan Ferraro for Bülow – Crystalline); Two Punks in Love (co-songwriters David Charles Fischer, Mike Wise, Nathan Ferraro)
☆ Patrick Watson, Wave: Broken, Dream for Dreaming (co-songwriters Joseph Baron Grass, Mikhail Stein, Robbie Kuster); Here Comes the River (co-songwriters Joseph Baron Grass, Jules Buckley, Mikhail Stein)
☆ Tenille Townes, White Horse: I Kept the Roses (co-songwriters Chris Gelbuda, Dustin Christensen for Tenille Townes – I Kept the Roses); Jersey On The Wall (I’m Just Asking) (co-songwriters Gordie Sampson, Tina Parol for Tenille Townes – Jersey on the Wall (I’m Just Asking)); White Horse (co-songwriters Daniel Tashian, Jeremy Spillman)
☆ Tim Baker, Forever Overhead: All Hands, Dance, The Eighteenth Hole

Producer of the Year

☆ Ben Kaplan
☆ Derek Hoffman
☆ Jon Levine
☆ Michael Wise
☆ Steve Bays

Recording Engineer of the Year

☆ George Seara: If I Can’t Have You (Shawn Mendes, If I Can’t Have You); Incredible (James TW, Incredible)
☆ Jason Dufour: Push For Yellow, There’s Still a Light in the House (Valley, Maybe)
☆ John “Beetle” Bailey: Dividido (feat. Silvana Estrada) (Alex Cuba, Sublime); Shotgun (Monkey House, Friday)
☆ Ryan Worsley: 2 Myself (Ludic, Ludic); Known Better (Nuela Charles, Melt)
☆ Vic Florencia: Midnight, Over Me (Brooke Palsson, Midnight)

Album Artwork of the Year

☆ Chad Moldenhauer (art director), Ian Clarke (designer), Warren Clark and Lance Inkwell (illustrators) for Kristofer Maddigan – Selections From Cuphead
☆ Kevin Hearn (art director), Antoine Moonen (designer), Lauchie Reed and Harland Williams (illustrators) for Kevin Hearn and Friends – The Superhero Suite
☆ Kris Knight (art director and designer), Chris Peters (illustrator) and Stefanie Schneider (photographer) for Ensign Broderick – Bloodcrush/Bloodmyth
☆ Sean Brown and Keavan Yazdani (art directors) for Daniel Caesar – Case Study 01
☆ Terri Fidelak (art director, designer and illustrator) and Carey Shaw (photographer) for ☆ Belle Plaine, Malice, Mercy – Grief and Wrath

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