HAMILTON \u2014Most Juno Awards trophies are on the line tonight, with The Weeknd, Tate McRae and Justin Bieber among the top nominees \u2014 however none of those A-listers are expected to attend the ceremonies.<\/p>\n
McRae and Bieber lead the field with six nominations each, including artist of the year, album of the year and single of the year \u2014 putting them head-to-head across categories set to be awarded at an industry gala in Hamilton.<\/p>\n
McRae is recognized for her album \u201cSo Close to What\u201d and her Y2K throwback single \u201cSports Car,\u201d while Bieber is up for his LP \u201cSwag II\u201d and his lo-fi track \u201cDaisies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Weeknd follows closely with five nominations, including album of the year for \u201cHurry Up Tomorrow\u201d and single of the year for \u201cCry For Me.\u201d Already one of the most decorated artists in Juno history, he enters the weekend with 22 trophies \u2014 just two shy of Anne Murray\u2019s record 24 \u2014 and could claim first place tonight.<\/p>\n
One of this year\u2019s biggest surprises is country newcomer Cameron Whitcomb, who racked up five nominations \u2014 including album of the year for his debut \u201cThe Hard Way\u201d and single of the year for \u201cOptions.\u201d He\u2019s also up for best country album, breakthrough artist and the fan choice award, which will be handed out at Sunday\u2019s televised ceremony.<\/p>\n
Hosted by comedian Mae Martin, Sunday\u2019s show will feature performances by Whitcomb, R&B star Daniel Caesar and Hamilton rockers Arkells, plus a rare public appearance by Joni Mitchell to accept a lifetime achievement award. The broadcast will also include a tribute to Nelly Furtado, who is being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
Junos organizers confirmed The Weeknd, Bieber and McRae are all expected to miss the celebrations.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s nominations also introduce a new category: Latin music recording of the year. The inaugural nominees include Alex Cuba, Lido Pimienta, Andy Rubal, Isabella Lovestory and Mario Puglia.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HAMILTON \u2014Most Juno Awards trophies are on the line tonight, with The Weeknd, Tate McRae and Justin Bieber…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-370871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}