Juno Awards

Juno Awards, yearly awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to honor musical excellence produced and created by citizens of Canada. In 1964 RPM, a Toronto music magazine, introduced the RPM Gold Leaf Awards to encourage the small Canadian recording industry. In 1971 organizers renamed the award, both to honor Pierre Juneau, the chairman of the Canadian Radio-Television and Communications Commission (CRTCC), and to link it with the Roman goddess Juno.

RPM readers picked award winners until 1975, when CARAS was founded and its members took over the award selection process. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and other international television stations have televised the Juno Awards since 1975. The awards show features live performances by nominated musicians and others. Juno Award categories vary slightly from year to year. They recognize many musical genres, from traditional ones such as pop, rock, country, and jazz, to newer ones such as alternative and rap. Award categories differentiate between solo acts, groups, singers, instrumentalists, songwriters, composers, designers, recording engineers and video producers. Past Juno Award winners have included prominent Canadian musicians such as Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Céline Dion, Shania Twain, and Gordon Lightfoot. By 2000 pop singer Anne Murray had collected more than 20 Junos.

In addition to the yearly awards, CARAS has maintained the Canadian Music Hall of Fame since 1978. The Hall of Fame honors artists whose entire bodies of work bring distinction to recorded music in Canada. Hall of Fame inductees include Guy Lombardo, Maynard Ferguson, Leonard Cohen, Paul Anka, and The Band.