The Beaches and Charlotte Cardin each doubled their honours at the 2024 JUNO Awards Broadcast, at the Scotiabank Centre on March 24 in Halifax. The Beaches added Group of the Year to their previous award for Rock Album of the Year, while Cardin complemented her earlier win, for Pop Album of the Year, by adding an Album of the Year honour.
Having been handed their second award by Nova Scotia-based legend Anne Murray at the beginning of the televised show, The Beaches also ended the night, with a raucous performance of “Blame Brett.” Cardin – who previously won six JUNO Awards, in 2022 – also performed, offering a sultry version of “Confetti.”
Kardinal Offishall inducted Maestro Fresh Wes into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the first rap artist to be so honoured, after which he tore up the stage with a medley of his hits. Actor Elliot Page, originally from Halifax, presented the Humanitarian Award to Tegan and Sara. After an ethereal but earthy version of “Run Away to Mars,” TALK won the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award. Similarly, after Karan Aujla wowed the audience in a high-energy performance with Ikky, he won the JUNO Fan Choice Award.
Backstage in the media room for brief Q&A sessions, the winners had much to say.
Said Jordan Miller of The Beaches, “It was a high [to close the JUNOs broadcast show]. It was amazing. It’s very important for us to take stock in these really important moments in our career, and to feel grateful, show the gratitude in the levity of the moment. We all really felt it tonight, we really enjoyed the experience. We didn’t get nervous, we just felt very grateful and very proud.”
Charlotte Cardin discussed receiving a phone call from the subject of her song, “I Want to marry Jim Carrey.” “It was just such an elegant thing for him to do,” she said. “It was such a beautiful conversation, too. We spoke on the phone for 20 minutes. It was really elegant and graceful of him. Jim Carrey forever. I asked him to marry me for a reason, y’know?”
Maestro Fresh Wes said, “I just met Anne Murray. I wanted to give her a big hug. She looked at me and said, ‘Choclair…?’” After the assembled journalists collapsed in laughter, he added, “I was just jokin’! That didn’t happen! But shout out to Anne Murray, man. She’s a legend.”
Tegan and Sara talked about the through line of their work in music, books, TV, and activism. “Tegan and I think of ourselves almost more like storytellers, more than anything, at this point,” said Sara Quinn. “We find that the most profound, acute way to affect people is to tell them a story. I sit on airplanes, and in boardrooms, and at dinner parties, and if I can tell someone a story, I know that I can connect with that person. And vice versa, to be able to hear stories. As human beings, it’s the way we’ve always done it. Tegan and I just want opportunities to tell stories.”
TALK spoke about playing shouted-out requests during his live performances. “It’s kind of a crazy thing, that you probably won’t see anywhere else,” he said. “And I have an incredible band, and a guitar player that just knows every f___in’ riff, ever. So, I like to challenge us. And it keeps it fresh. Every night, we go, and we don’t know what we’re going to play at that part of the show. It could be anything. And people love it.”
Karan Aujla commented on the current moment for Punjabi-Canadian music. “We never really expected we would reach this far, making music back in Punjab,” said Aujla. “We’re really happy to be out here, man. People are accepting us. The world is more open to new languages. Music is music, right, so it’s really working out amazingly. Canada really gave us a lot of opportunities, played a big role in my career.”
For a full list of winners and nominees, visit the winners page on the JUNOs website. Congratulations to all our nominated and award-winning SOCAN members at the 2024 JUNO Awards!