2016 JUNO Award nominees announced

JUNO nominee Scott Helman performing his Gold-certified song “Bungalow”

The nominees for the 2016 JUNO Awards were announced today by The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) at a press conference at The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto.

Celebrating its 45th year, the JUNO Awards broadcast will take place in Calgary, AB, on Sunday, April 3, 2016, with scheduled performances from 2016 JUNO nominees The Weeknd, Alessia Cara, Shawn Mendes, Dean Brody, and Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Bryan Adams. Singer/songwriter and 2016 JUNO nominee Scott Helman closed out the event, which also included a performance by Calgary hip hop artist Transit.

Music Canada is proud to return as sponsor of the Album of the Year award, which includes nominees:

• The Weeknd – Beauty Behind The Madness
• Shawn Mendes – Handwritten
• Justin Bieber – Purpose
• Jean Leloup – À Paradis City
• Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late

“Music Canada is proud to work alongside record labels who invest in great Canadian talent by helping them create an album, develop as artists, and build a passionate fan base,” says Graham Henderson, President of Music Canada. “This kind of support gives Canadian artists what it takes to not only break into the international market – but as we saw in 2015 – rule it.”

JUNOs/CARAS President Alan Reid provided opening remarks and thanked Calgary for allowing the 45th JUNOs to be apart of the city’s Year Of Music festivities, which celebrates the opening of the National Music Centre, the anniversaries of Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Sled Island and much more. “Things out west haven’t exactly been easy in Alberta and I just want to thank Mayor Nenshi as well as the people of Calgary for recognizing how important music can be to a city and for making 2016 the Year Of Music.”

Leading up to the broadcast, Calgary will host JUNO Week March 28 – April 3, 2016, featuring events like the JUNO Cup, JUNO Fan Fare presented by HMV, JUNO Songwriters’ Circle co-presented by SOCAN & Yamaha Canada Music and the two-day music celebration JUNOFest.

Fans will be able to vote for their favourite artist in the JUNO Fan Choice Awards presented by TD. Voting is open now through April 3 at junofanchoice.ca and through Twitter using their favourite artists JUNO hashtag.

The full list of nominees for the 2016 JUNO Awards can be viewed here.