Country performer Josh Ross reached a personal Juno Awards milestone on Tuesday and he did it in good company with breakout pop singer Tate McRae.
Both rising Canadian stars led the contenders at this year鈥檚 Junos with five nominations each, and Ross says he鈥檚 delighted to have done it alongside McRae.
鈥淚鈥檓 a huge Tate fan,鈥� Ross said while en route to a Nashville songwriting session.
鈥淪he鈥檚 just killing it internationally, so it鈥檚 really amazing having as many nominations as her.鈥�
The Burlington, Ont. country singer landed several nods in the same marquee categories as the Calgary-raised dancer-turned-pop singer. They鈥檙e both up for single and artist of the year, as well as for the viewer-voted fan choice award.
The pair will also go head-to-head for album of the year 鈥� McRae is nominated for her sophomore record 鈥淭hink Later,鈥� and Ross for 鈥淐omplicated.鈥�
They鈥檙e trailed by fellow fan choice contenders Shawn Mendes and the Weeknd who hold four noms each.
The Junos will air on CBC live from Vancouver鈥檚 Rogers Arena on March 30. Pop crooner Michael Bubl茅 marks his third time as host.
McRae has been a favourite of the Junos since she picked up her first nomination in 2021. She won two awards last year 鈥� artist of the year and single of the year for her hit 鈥淕reedy.鈥�
Ross is newer on the Junos scene, having only previously been nominated for the fan choice prize.
Other big nominees this year are Karan Aujla and AP Dhillon, two breakout stars of the burgeoning Punjabi music world. They鈥檙e both nominated three times, including in the newly minted South Asian music recording of the year category.
Fellow South Asian category nominee Jonita Gandhi, who performs under her first name, said seeing her song 鈥淟ove Like That鈥� listed beside some of the genre鈥檚 biggest stars is meaningful.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time coming, but I feel really happy that there are so many big strides being made to have South Asian representation on the global platform like the Junos,鈥� she said.
鈥淭his is something I grew up watching, you know, watching Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, all of my favourites get up on that stage. And now, to be nominated for an award, that鈥檚 crazy to me. I feel so empowered.鈥�
This year鈥檚 nominees were announced without the usual splashy Toronto press conference. Organizers opted to trickle out details of some categories on morning radio shows before they fired out details on all of the contenders through social media.
Some nominees then participated in a virtual press conference ahead of a planned evening soiree in Toronto.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying something different,鈥� Junos head Allan Reid explained to kick off the virtual conference.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing our standard press conference for a number of years, and one of the things is that so few artists can even attend that, especially some of the key artists who are major nominees.鈥�
The album of the year contenders represent an array of languages, with Elisapie鈥檚 鈥淚nuktitut鈥� recorded in the Inuk singer鈥檚 native tongue, Quebec singer Roxane Bruneau鈥檚 鈥淪ubmerg茅鈥� in French and Sukha鈥檚 鈥淯ndisputed鈥� in Punjabi. McRae鈥檚 鈥淭hink Later鈥� and Ross鈥檚 鈥淐omplicated鈥� are both in English.
For single of the year, the nominees are Ross for 鈥淪ingle Again,鈥� Aujla鈥檚 鈥淲inning Speech,鈥� 鈥淢endes for 鈥淲hy Why Why,鈥� McRae with 鈥淓xes鈥� and 鈥淭imeless,鈥� a collaboration between the Weeknd and Atlanta rapper Playboi Carti.
Rock band Sum 41, which recently wrapped a farewell tour, was previously announced as the Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee.
Matthew Samuels, better known as Toronto producer Boi-1da, will receive the international achievement award for a career that includes working on Drake鈥檚 first mixtape.
Burlington, Ont.-native Sarah Harmer is this year鈥檚 humanitarian award recipient for her support of environmental and human rights issues.
