Rush and tributes to Nelly Furtado and Joni Mitchell among the best of the Juno Awards
· Toronto Sun
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Calgary’s Tate McRae out ran Justin Bieber of Stratford, Ont., at Sunday night’s 2026 Juno Awards held at Hamilton’s newly renovated TD Coliseum.
Heading into Canada’s biggest night of music, they were tied with six nods each — a career high — and while neither pop star was in attendance, McRae won four awards for Single of the Year (Sports Car), Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year (So Close to What), and Artist of the Year, beating Bieber in all those categories.
The surprise winner for the TD Juno Fan Choice was bbno$ (pronounced Baby No Money) beating out the likes of McRae, Bieber, and The Weeknd.
Speaking of which, close behind with five nominations each were The Weeknd of Scarborough, who was also absent and primarily taken down by McRae, and country music newcomer Cameron Whitcomb of Nanaimo, B.C., who won Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Country Album of the Year for The Hard Way.
Other multiple winners were Toronto’s The Beaches, who won Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year for No Hard Feelings, and Daniel Caesar, who won best Contemporary R&B Album of the year for Son of Spergy, and Songwriter of the Year — under his real name Ashton Simmonds — and was also the recipient of the International Achievement Award.
Here’s the best and worst of the Junos broadcast.
THE BEST
Feel the Rush: Toronto’s prog-rock icons Rush opened the show with Finding My Way, the first song on their 1974 debut, as singer-bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson gave fans their first glimpse of new German female drummer Anika Nilles, who is filling the big shoes of the late Neil Peart before they tour later this year.
Joni and Mark: Junos host Mae Martin jokingly said her parents were in the crowd as the camera zoomed in on Joni Mitchell and Prime Minister Mark Carney: “A round of applause for my parents. Thank you for believing in me guys.”
Caesar in the seat: Daniel Caesar strumming an acoustic guitar and singing the beautiful ballad, Who Knows, after receiving his International Achievement Award. He later brought his dad up on stage to get his Contemporary R&B Album of the Year Juno: ‘This is Spergy!”
The Beaches didn’t rock: Instead, they performed with a string quartet their ballad, Lesbian of the Year, which contains the lyrics, ‘How the hell did I get here?”
The Whitcomb effect: Fresh-faced Cameron Whitcomb enthusiastically performed his song, Options, including doing a backflip. The singer said of his Breakthrough Artist Of The Year Award. “I will not squander this opportunity. I promise you I’ll keep working hard and I’ll stay sober.”
Sofia Camara brought flowers: While singing Girls Like You, the big voiced Camara of Toronto, by way of Portugal, handed off a bouquet to Nelly Furdado in the crowd.
Furtado got her dues: In a taped tribute, everyone from Anne Murray to Missy Elliott to Drake welcomed the Victoria, B.C., native to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame while everyone from Tanya Tagaq to Alessia Cara took part in a medley of her songs. “We shared the same wild dream of making it out,” said Drizzy in his taped speech. “The difference is while I was still dreaming, I used you as my motivation and proof that it was possible. You are our north star.”
Joni’s return: Mitchell, the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, walked out on stage with a cane after everyone from Graham Nash to Annie Lennox to Carole King paid tribute on tape to the folk icon who was introduced by Carney. She even joked of her 2015 brain aneurysm: “I went into a coma which helped me to quit smoking.” Later she joined in on an all-star version of her song Big Yellow Taxi.
The WORST
As the night’s biggest winner it would have been nice for McRae to show up. Especially since in February 2026, she rightly received backlash for promoting Team USA in an NBC ad which prompted her to weakly defend her Canadian roots on Instagram, saying: “…y’all know I’m Canada down.” Sunday night? Not so much.
Mae who?: Non-binary comic Mae Martin isn’t exactly a household name. However, she was and is proudly Canadian and said she was happy to be back in Canada: “Where people who care more about which hockey team I support than which gender I am.”
Those Michael ads: There were an awful lot of commercials for the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, starring his nephew in the lead role and Miles Teller in a really bad wig.
Promiscuous they/them: Martin’s joke about remaking Furtado’s Promiscuous Girl fell flat: “It doesn’t have the same ring to it. The video is me in sensible jeans trying to decide which washroom to use.” (Jully Black and Kardinal Offishall would later do a mighty duet of the song on the broadcast.)
Get over the 15-year-old Junos shutout Drake: “To the Junos because you are honouring one of my dearest friends tonight, I will spare you. Even though I know you’re still thinking about those six awards you gave to Shad in 2011 when you snubbed, Take Care, as I hosted the 40th anniversary of your awards show.”
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