Juno Awards

The Juno Awards began as a reader poll conducted by Canadian music industry trade magazine RPM Weekly in December 1964. A similar balloting process continued until 1970 when the RPM Gold Leaf Awards, as they were then known, were presented for the first time during a ceremony at Toronto's St. Lawrence Hall. The following year the awards were renamed the Junos after the Roman goddess and in tribute to Pierre JUNEAU. Juneau was the first chairperson of the Canadian Radio-Television and Communications Commission and was responsible for the introduction of the 30% Canadian content regulation to AM radio.

A video clip from a TV show featuring The Rankin Family singing "Flower Of Scotland." From YouTube.

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The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) was formed to oversee the annual Juno awards ceremony in 1975, the same year the Junos were broadcast on CBC-television for the first time. Membership in CARAS was open to everyone involved in the recording industry, thus broadening the voting base for the Junos. The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established by CARAS in 1978, and Oscar PETERSON and Guy LOMBARDO were the first inductees to be honoured for their achievements. RPM publisher Walt Grealis was recognized for his efforts in launching the Junos when The Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award was inaugurated in 1984 to acknowledge members of the Canadian music community who have played a significant role in building a viable and growing domestic industry.

The Juno Awards ceremony grew significantly in 1995 when it moved from being primarily an industry function at Toronto's O'Keefe Centre to a public event at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum, which attracted more than 10 000 fans. The 25th anniversary of the Juno Awards was celebrated in 1996 with the release of both a book and a four-disc box set entitled Oh What a Feeling. The box set was the first in Canadian history to be certified diamond for total sales of 1 million discs.

The Junos were held outside of Toronto for the first time in 1991, at Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Vancouver hosted the awards show for a second time in 1998, moving it to the much larger GM Place. The Junos' growing popularity made the move to arenas permanent, and they alternated between Hamilton and Toronto from 1999 to 2001. CARAS introduced the new approach of taking the event to music fans across the country when St. John's, Nfld, hosted it in 2002. This also marked the first time that the awards were given out over 2 evenings: most awards were presented in front of an industry audience on Saturday and then a select few were given out on the nationally televised show on Sunday in between an increased number of performances in a much larger venue. A multi-night music festival, autograph signings and other activities were added to further raise the profile of the Junos. That format has been maintained ever since, and the event has been held in Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Regina and Saskatoon. Celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2011, the Juno Awards were held in Toronto.

Author STEVE McLEAN

Links to Other Sites
JUNO AWARDS
The CTV JUNO AWARDS show website. View feature videos, photos, lists of winners, and more.

JUNO Awards
The website for the JUNO Awards and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Scroll down the page to check out the latest award winners and music clips. Sample the latest JUNO Awards CD. From the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Canadian Music Hall of Fame
The website for the Canadian Music Hall of Fame from the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).

Tommy Hunter
The official website for Tommy Hunter, Canada's "country gentleman," features a biography, a discography, and much more.

Rita MacNeil
The official website for Rita MacNeil features her biography, discography, album notes, lyrics, and audio clips.

Urbanology Magazine
Urbanology Magazine features the latest news and videos about the lively urban music scene in Canada and the US.

David Walter Foster
David Foster's official website features news about his latest projects and audio music clips.

David Clayton-Thomas
The official David Clayton-Thomas website offers a biography, discography, reviews, and audio clips of his music.

Tom Cochrane
The Tom Cochrane.com website features a discography, biography, and music videos.

Corey Hart
This Corey Hart website features a biography, discography, videography and an audio clip of his music. From Sony Music Canada.

The Four Lads
Take a trip down memory lane with this famous four-part harmony singing group from Toronto. Their website features audio clips, brief biographies, and a concert calendar.

Canadian Musician
The Canadian Musician magazine covers prominent Canadian artists, the latest gear, and the business of music. Check out their online articles and directory of Canadian musicians’ websites.

RPM
With this online collection of digitized charts from RPM, visitors can check out the rankings of their favourite tunes of yesteryear. From Library and Archives Canada.

Music Canada
Check out the Music Canada site for the latest news about major companies and key issues in the Canadian music industry. See also music videos featuring some of Canada's leading performers.

Yahoo! Music Canada
Check out the latest music featuring Canada's top performers at Yahoo! Music Canada.

JUNO Awards
Search the grigorian.com site for JUNO award-winning recordings.

Pierre Juneau, former CRTC and CBC chief, dies
A CBC News obituary for Pierre Juneau, first chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and a former head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

JUNOTV
The JUNOTV website.