During the JUNO Awards Broadcast that aired live nationwide on CBC and CBC Gem and was viewed globally on CBC Music’s YouTube channel,  Joni Mitchell received thunderous applause as she took to the stage at the TD Coliseum to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award. In introducing her, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said: “Joni’s music didn’t just provide the soundtrack to our lives he shifted culture, inspired generations and redefined what songwriting could be.”

Gracing the stage, Mitchell, 82, said that she was “so happy to be in Canada [with] our wonderful prime minister.” Noting that she now lives in the United States, she continued “and you know what’s happening there. This man is a blessing. You guys are so fortunate.”

Following her brief remarks, the widely acclaimed Canadian-American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist joined Sarah McLachlan, Allison Russell and other artists in a musical tribute to her body of work, which includes such notable songs as “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Both Sides, Now,” “Chelsea Morning,” “Help Me,” and “River.”

Mariel Buckley, whose October 2025 release Strange Trip Ahead (Birthday Cake Records) was named Contemporary Folk Album of the Year, is a Calgary, Alberta-based singer-songwriter. She is the younger sister of singer T. Buckley, with whom she has also recorded and performed together as a duo. Strange Trip Ahead was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with her Edmonton-based band and produced by Jarrad K at Chateau Noir Studios. Her third full-length album, it was preceded by the critically acclaimed Everywhere I Used To Be (2022) and Driving In The Dark (2018). Although Buckley’s music may be genre defying, her songwriting reflects an intimate folk style. She tours Europe for several weeks this spring.

Morgan Toney, 27, whose Heal The Divide, was named Traditional Folk Album of the Year, is a Mi’kmaq folk singer-songwriter and fiddler from Nova Scotia. A member of he Wagmatcook First Nation, Toney performs and records music blends Celtic folk (reflective of Cape Breton) and the traditional, old songs of his people – a fusion that he calls Mikmatic) and describes as his way of celebrating his language and heritage. Heal The Divide is Toney’s third album. Preceding it were 2023’s Resilience, which was nominated for a Juno Award for Traditional Roots Album of the Year in 2024, and 2021’s First Flight, which was reissued in 2022 on Ishkode Records.

Also nominated for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year were The Hammer & The Rose (Matt Andersen), Purple Gas (Noeline Hofmann), These Dark Canyons (The Young Novelists), and Further From The Country (William Prince). The other Traditional Roots Music Album of the Year nominees included I Lost My Heart on Friday (Aerialists), Gold And Coal (Cassie and Maggie), The Moon’s Daughter (Heather MacIsaac), and Folk Signals (The Southern Residents).

Also of potential interest to AcousticMusicScene.com readers, Steven Marriner’s Hear My Heart was named Blues Album of the Year, while Sarah McLachlan’s Better Broken was named Adult Contemporary Album of the Year. Canadian pop star Tate McRae was the big winner, receiving awards in four of the six categories in which she was nominated: album of the year, artist of the year, single of the year, and pop album of the year.

For more information on Canada’s top music awards, including a complete listing of winners and the 248 nominees across 47 categories, visit https://junoawards.ca.

A Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Joni Mitchell (pictured), the widely acclaimed Canadian-American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is known for such songs as “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Both Sides, Now,” “Chelsea Morning,” “Help Me,” and “River.”

In the running for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year are Strange Trip Ahead (Mariel Buckley), The Hammer & The Rose (Matt Andersen), Purple Gas (Noeline Hofmann) These Dark Canyons (The Young Novelists), and Further From The Country (William Prince). Traditional Roots Music Album of the Year nominees include I Lost My Heart on Friday (Aerialists), Gold And Coal (Cassie and Maggie), The Moon’s Daughter (Heather MacIsaac), Heal The Divide (Morgan Toney), and Folk Signals (The Southern Residents).

Also of potential interest to AcousticMusicScene.com readers are the nominees for Blues Album of the Year. These include Sing Pretty Blues (Crystal Shawanda), Ooh Yeah! (Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne), The Medicine (Miss Emily), Answer The Call (Secondhand Dreamcar), and Hear My Heart (Steve Mariner).

In addition to her Contemporary Album of the Year nomination for Purple Gas, Noeline Hofmann is among the 10 nominees for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. . Among the five nominees for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year are Conditions of Love Vol. 1 (Rose Cousins) and Better Broken (Sarah McLachlan, while Children’s Album of the Year nominees include Little Leaf (Chris McKhool).

In total, there are 248 nominees in the running across 47 categories for Canada’s top music awards. Eight-time JUNO Award-winner Justin Bieber and Tate McRae lead the pack with six nominations each.

A soulful Nashville, Tennessee-based, Montreal-born Scottish Grenadian Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and activist, Allison Russell is also a co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago and was part of Po’ Girl. Outside Child is her debut solo album and was also recently chosen as Contemporary Album of the Year in the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Awards, while she was named English Songwriter of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year in recognition of it.

Wrought with emotion, Outside Child features 11 original songs “about resilience and survival, transcendence and the redemptive power of art, community, connection, and chosen family,” says Russell, who faced abuse and trauma during her youth that music has helped her to overcome. She is also among the nominees for both Album and Artist of the year in the International Folk Music Awards to be presented by Folk Alliance International on May 18 in Kansas City, Missouri on the opening night of its annual conference.

Maria Dunn is a Scotland-born, Edmonton, Alberta-based singer-songwriter who describes herself as a storyteller through song and accompanies herself on both guitar and accordion. She writes melodic, often socially aware, songs about ordinary people, while her music fuses Celtic folk with elements of bluegrass and country.

Joyful Banner Blazing is Dunn’s first release in four years and her seventh in a career spanning more than 20 years. Produced by Sharon Johnson of the Juno Award-winning band The McDades (as were her six previous independent releases), Joyful Banner Blazing celebrates resilience, grace, gratitude, solidarity, joy, and the love that fires our actions to make the world a better place. Thrice nominated for Junos, Dunn won an Edmonton Music Prize for her previous album, 2016’s Gathering. Her songs have been recorded Niamh Parsons and The Outside Track, among others, while one of them (“God Bless Us Everyone”) appears in the Rise Again songbook.

A complete list of Juno Awards winners can be found, along with additional information, on line at junoawards.ca.

In the running for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year are The Family Album (Matthew Barber & Jill Barber), Why You Wanna Leave, Runaway Queen? (Lisa LeBlanc), Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (Corin Raymond), Strange Country (Kacy & Clayton), and Earthly Days (William Prince).

Traditional Roots Album of the Year nominees include Gathering (Maria Dunn), Someday the Heart (The High Bar Gang), The Original (Jenny Whiteley), Aupres du Poele (Ten Strings and a Goat Skin), and Secret Victory (The East Pointers).

Buffy Sainte-Marie, whose musical career spans more than 50 years, is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose songs have also been covered by hundreds of other artists. She is known for her thought-provoking lyrics and her passionate advocacy for Aboriginal people. Also a social activist, educator and philanthropist, Sainte-Marie has sought to protect indigenous intellectual property and championed indigenous artists and performers. It is in recognition of the latter that she will receive the Alan Water Humanitarian Award.

Sarah McLachlan, a ten-time JUNO and three-time Grammy Award-winning artist, is one of Canada’s most celebrated artists. She created Lilith Fair 20 years ago – a festival dedicated to showcasing and supporting female artists. McLachlan was the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2015 and of the Alan Waters Humanitarian Award in 2006.

A complete list of JUNO Awards nominees can be found, along with additional information, on line at www.junoawards.ca.

Young, who was named Artist of the Year and the recipient of the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award, also was recognized for Adult Alternative Album of the Year (Le Noise). As one of Canada’s most respected and influential artists from the past 40 years — along with Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and The Band — Young also was paid homage to during a televised Sunday night all-star tribute featuring such young, up-and-coming artists as Sarah Harmer, Justin Rutledge, Serena Ryder and The Sadies. The tribute also saluted Toronto, this year’s host city, where each of the artists first made their mark and where the first JUNOs were presented in 1970. Young, who began performing in the 1960s, is a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He’s also a co-founder of Farm Aid and of a school that educates children with serious speech and physical impairments.

To view video excerpts of live performances from Le Vent du Nord’s award-winning album and more, simply click on this link:http://www.leventdunord.com/english/pages/videos.php