The Weeknd, Avril Lavigne, Tate McRae Lead 2023 JUNO Awards Nominations

Alexisonfire, Aysanabee and Jessie Reyez have also been added to the performance lineup

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Jan 31, 2023

It's that time again! The nominees for this year's JUNO Awards have been announced ahead of the 2023 awards show, which is set to take place in Edmonton, AB, on March 13.

Leading the pack with six nominations to his name is the Weeknd, followed closely by Avril Lavigne and Tate McRae, who both have five, respectively. All three are among the nominees for this year's TikTok JUNO Fan Choice Award, which gives you the power to choose. Voting is now open here.

In addition to previously announced performances from Nickelback and McRae, the biggest night in Canadian music will also see Alexisonfire, Aysanabee and Jessie Reyez take the stage during the broadcast hosted by Simu Liu.

See the full list of 2023 JUNO nominations — which include offerings from several 2022 Exclaim! cover stars, as well as several of the best albums of the year — and watch the nominee announcement video below.


TikTok JUNO Fan Choice

Avril Lavigne
Lauren Spencer-Smith
MacKenzie Porter
Preston Pablo
Rêve
Shawn Mendes
Tate McRae
The Reklaws
The Weeknd
Tyler Shaw

Single of the Year

"Bite Me," Avril Lavigne
"Flowers Need Rain," Preston Pablo and Banx & Ranx
"When You're Gone," Shawn Mendes
"she's all i wanna be," Tate McRae
"Sacrifice," the Weeknd

International Album of the Year

=, Ed Sheeran
Harry's House, Harry Styles
MONTERO, Lil Nas X
Midnights, Taylor Swift
Red (Taylor's Version), Taylor Swift

Album of the Year
Presented by Music Canada


WHO HURT YOU?, Ali Gatie
Love Sux, Avril Lavigne
Demons Protected by Angels, NAV
i used to think i could fly, Tate McRae
Dawn FM, The Weeknd

Artist of the Year
Presented by SiriusXM Canada


Avril Lavigne
Lauren Spencer-Smith
Michael Bublé
Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd

Group of the Year

Arcade Fire
Arkells
Billy Talent
Metric
The Reklaws

Breakthrough Artist of the Year
Presented by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters


Dax
Devon Cole
Preston Pablo
RealestK
Rêve

Breakthrough Group of the Year
Presented by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters


Banx & Ranx
Harm & Ease
Rare Americans
Tommy Lefroy
Wild Rivers

Songwriter of the Year
Presented by SOCAN


Abel Tesfaye
Faouzia
Tate McRae
TOBi

Country Album of the Year
Presented by Edmonton's Best Hotels


Way Back, High Valley
Honkytonk Revival, Jade Eagleson
Bronco, Orville Peck
Masquerades, Tenille Townes
Good Ol' Days, The Reklaws

Adult Alternative Album of the Year
Presented by Long & McQuade Musical 
Instruments

Born Losers, Altameda
The Garden, Basia Bulat
Being Somewhere, Dan Mangan
Colder Streams, The Sadies
How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars, The Weather Station

Alternative Album of the Year

Blue Rev, Alvvays
Duality, Luna Li
Sewn Back Together, OMBIIGIZI
THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND, PUP
Tongues, Tanya Tagaq

Pop Album of the Year

In the Meantime, Alessia Cara
Love Sux, Avril Lavigne
The Loneliest Time, Carly Rae Jepsen
i used to think i could fly, Tate McRae
Dawn FM, The Weeknd

Rock Album of the Year
Presented by AMII — Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute


Otherness, Alexisonfire
Crisis of Faith, Billy Talent
Get Rollin', Nickelback
Outta Sight, The Sheepdogs
Explosions, Three Days Grace

Vocal Jazz Album of the Year

Featuring, Caity Gyorgy
blue, Diana Panton
Venez donc chez moi, Laura Anglade and Sam Kirmayer
Nikki by Starlight, Nikki Yanofsky
The Ostara Project, The Ostara Project

Jazz Album of the Year (Solo)

Joy, Ernesto Cervini
A Little Louder Now, Lauren Falls
El Tinajon, Luis Deniz
Rumba, Rafael Zaldiva
Kinds of Love, Renee Rosnes

Jazz Album of the Year (Group)

Semantics, Andrew Rathbun Quintet
Talk Memory, BADBADNOTGOOD
The History of Us, Carn Davidson
Desert Bloom, Florian Hoefner Trio
The Dragon's Tail, Mark Kelso & the Jazz Exiles

Instrumental Album of the Year 

Canadiana, Canadian Brass
Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More, Esmerine
Iguana, Hard Rubber Orchestra
aubades, Jean-Michel Blais
Lionheart, Stephan Moccio

Francophone Album of the Year

medium plaisir, Ariane Roy
Mercure en mai, Daniel Bélanger
PICTURA DE IPSE : Musique directe, Hubert Lenoir
Crash, Les Louanges
Chiac Disco, Lisa LeBlanc

Children's Album of the Year

Nice to Meet You, Beppie Platoon
Say Hello, Jeremy and Jazzy
I Am Love, Splash'N Boots
Walk off the Earth & Romeo Eats, Vol. 2, Walk off the Earth and Romeo Eats
Maestro Fresh Wes Presents: Julia the Great, Young Maestro and Keysha Freshh

Classical Album of the Year (Solo Artist)

Winner of the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition Warsaw 2021, Bruce Liu Deutsche
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1, David Jalbert
La Zingarella: Through Romany Songland, Isabel Bayrakdarian
Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, James Ehnes
Fables, Philip Chiu

Classical Album of the Year (Large Ensemble)

Clara – Robert – Johannes: Lyrical Echoes, Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Shelley
Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 Ensemble Caprice, Ensemble Vocal Arts-Quebec, conducted by Matthias Maute, featuring Karina Gauvin
Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen – Arvo Pärt: Symphonie No. 4, "Los Angeles," Musici de Montréal, conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni
Viola Borealis, Orchestre de l'Agora, conducted by Nicolas Ellis, featuring Marina Thibeault
Radiant Dawn: Music for Advent and Christmas, the Elora Singers, conducted by Mark Vuorinen

Classical Album of the Year (Small Ensemble)

Nagamo, Andrew Balfour and musica intima
Hemsi: Chamber Works, ARC Ensemble
Vagues et ombres, collectif9
Early Italian Cello Concertos, Elinor Frey and Rosa Barocca, conducted by Claude Lapalme
De la cour de Louis XIV à Shippagan! Chants traditionnels acadiens et airs de cour du XVIIe siècle, Suzie LeBlanc, Marie Nadeau-Tremblay, Vincent Lauzer, and Sylvain Bergeron

Classical Composition of the Year

An Overall Augmented Sense of Well-being, Anthony Tan
Bestiary I & II, Bekah Simms
The Black Fish, Keyan Emami
Prayers for Ruins, Nicole Lizée
Supervillain Études, Vincent Ho

Rap Album/EP of the Year

GONZO, Boslen
Retrospected (Acoustic), Classified
The Fleur Print Vol. 2, Jazz Cartier
Demons Protected by Angels, NAV
Shall I Continue?, TOBi

Dance Recording of the Year

"Afterglow," Bob Moses and Kasablanca
"Shinigami Eyes," Grimes
"These Nights (feat. KIDDO)," Loud Luxury
"CTRL + ALT + DEL," Rêve
"Spiral," Rezz

Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year

When Flowers Bloom, Adria Kain
"If I Get Caught," dvsn
No Longer in the Suburbs, Dylan Sinclair
YESSIE, Jessie Reyez
"WTF," Savannah Ré

Reggae Recording of the Year

"Water," Ammoye
"Like a Star," Celena
"Jah Love," Exco Levi
"In the Streets," Kairo McLean
"Reggae Party (feat. Kairo McLean & Finn)," Kirk Diamond

Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year
Presented by Destination Indigenous


Watin, Aysanabee
Zhawenim, Digging Roots
Code Red, Indian City
Beyond the Reservoir, Julian Taylor
The Crossing, Susan Aglukark

Contemporary Roots Album of the Year

O Glory, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
That Was You and Me, Fortunate Ones
Hold on to Love, Shakura S'Aida
Come Morning, The Bros. Landreth
House of Dreams, The East Pointers

Traditional Roots Album of the Year

Hurricane, Clarice Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves
20 printemps, Le Vent du Nord
Narrow Line, Mama's Broke
Tell 'Em You Were Gold, Pharis & Jason Romero
The Empress, The McDades

Blues Album of the Year

Long River, Angelique Francis
Midnight Blues, Crystal Shawanda
Thanks for Tomorrow, Harrison Kennedy
Preach to My Soul, Spencer Mackenzie
Live at the King Eddy, The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer

Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year

Into the Wild, Dan Bremnes
TRUST, Daniel Ojo
Jordan St. Cyr, Jordan St. Cyr
Only Ever Always, Love & the Outcome
The Church Will Rise, Tehillah Worship

Global Music Album of the Year

In the Footsteps of Rumi, Ghalia Benali, Constantinople, Kiya Tabassian
Thieves of Dreams, Lenka Lichtenberg
José Louis and the Paradox of Love, Pierre Kwenders
Vox.Infold, Ruby Singh
Tradisyon, Wesli

Jack Richardson Producer of the Year
Presented by Audio-Technica


Akeel Henry
Banx & Ranx
KAYTRANADA
Mike Wise
Murda Beatz

Recording Engineer of the Year

Derek Hoffman
George Seara
Gus van Go
Jason Dufour
Serban Ghenea

Album Artwork of the Year

CRYBABY, Tegan and Sara
Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More, Esmerine
KUBASONGS, Kubasonics
CREASE, Kee Avil
PEP, Lights

Music Video of the Year
Presented by YouTube


"Fraud," Jessie Reyez
"Unholy (feat. Kim Petras)," Sam Smith
"Have Mercy," Chlöe
"Different Than Before," Amanda Sum
"Remember Me For Me (feat. Lily Moore)," SonReal

Electronic Album of the Year

NOT OK, Mecha Maiko
Spectrums, Odonis Odonis
Nightmare on Rezz Street 2 Mix, Rezz
Synthetic Season One, Rich Aucoin
Interior, Teen Daze

Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year

Psychic Jailbreak, Cancer Bats
Merciless Destruction, Get the Shot
Paid in Full, Skull Fist
Synchro Anarchy, VOIVOD
Thought Form Descent, WAKE

Adult Contemporary Album of the Year

Adventure Book, Francois Klark
Descendant, Jann Arden
He Sang She Sang, Marc Jordan & Amy Sky
Higher, Michael Bublé
A Tyler Shaw Christmas, Tyler Shaw

Comedy Album of the Year
Presented by SiriusXM Canada


Let Me Hold Your Baby, Courtney Gilmour
Splash Pad, Jackie Pirico
A Person Who is Gingerbread, Jon Dore
Here Live, Not a Cat, Matt Wright
Things Black Girls Say – The Album, Zabrina Douglas

Traditional R&B/Soul Recording of the Year

"Please Do Not Lean (feat. BADBADNOTGOOD)," Daniel Caesar
PALISADE, Jon Vinyl
"All I Need," SAFE
"Last One (feat. Dylan Sinclair)," Savannah Ré
HOW TO MAKE LOVE, THEHONESTGUY

Rap Single of the Year

"Alejandro Sosa," 6ixbuzz and Pengz
"Been Himma," Dom Vallie
"Wrath," Freddie Dredd
"Twin Flame," KAYTRANADA and Anderson .Paak
"Wrong Decisions," NAV

Underground Dance Single of the Year

"Debonair," Bensley
"Aye Aye," BLOND:ISH and Cameron Jack
"The Time is (Now)," Fred Everything
"I Knew Techno," Greg Gow
"Easy," Tiga

Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year

kâkîsimo ᑳᑮᓯᒧᐤ, Cikwes
Katajjausiit, Iva & Angu
Mikwanak Kamôsakinat, Joel Wood
Ôskimacîtahowin: A New Beginning, Northern Cree
Unbreakable, the Bearhead Sisters

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