Junos cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns

Saturday, March 15 was supposed to see Saskatoon overrun with some of the most luminous stars in Canadian music as the 49th Juno Awards doled out statuettes that look sorta like The Oscar dude doing a ribbon dance.

Instead, the doors of the SaskTel Centre will be closed, as CBC Music says the awards are being cancelled amidst growing concerns of COVID-19. The Canadian equivalent to The Grammys is not the first arts-related event to be shelved as public concern grows: earlier this week music festivals South By Southwest and Cochella were cancelled and postponed, respectively.

CBC quotes a press release from The Junos and the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, saying "We are devastated to cancel this national celebration of music, but at this time of global uncertainty, the health, safety and well-being of all Canadians must stand at the forefront of any decisions that impact our communities."


Toronto's biggest musical export since Drake, Alessia Cara, was set to host the show—but Halifax fans can take solace in her upcoming Jazz Fest gig this July (details here).

Local names were fairly well-represented in the nominee list, meanwhile, with EDM-rock hero Neon Dreams in the running for Breakthrough Group Of The Year (read why the duo's been making our music dreams come true ever since its 2015 collab with trap god Waka Flocka Flame here, here, here aaaaaand here).

Classified, meanwhile, still managed to snag a spot in the Rap Recording of The Year category, despite Tomorrow Could Be The Day Things Change having dropped in 2018. (Read more about all the reasons why Classified is a still a hometown hero here, here and here.)

Is this the time to point out that The Junos are still sleeping on Halifax gems like T. Thomason and Mo Kenney (to name a few)? No? Fine. In solidarity with the nominees, let's play this one out to Neon Dreams' last single, "Walk Away":