Millbrook native Serena Ryder took home her seventh Juno award at the 2022 Juno Opening Night Awards on Saturday night (May 14) at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Ryder won contemporary album of the year for The Art of Falling Apart, which she wrote about her “journey with mental illness toward mental wellness.”
“I think one of the biggest epidemics in the world right now is mental illness,” Ryder said when accepting the award. “This is something that I feel so blessed that I have the opportunity to speak about, because I did come through the other side. I’ve learned so much about how to take care of myself. I’m honoured to be up here with this award for this record and I’m going to keep on talking about this.”
Born in Toronto and raised in Millbrook, the 39-year-old singer-songwriter won her first Juno in 2008 for new artist of the year.
In each of the following two years, she won adult alternative album of the year for Is It O.K. and video of the year for her song “Little Bit of Red.” She won another adult alternative album of the year award in 2013 for Harmony and, in 2014, won two Junos: songwriter of the year for her hit songs “Stompa” and “What I Wouldn’t Do” as well as artist of the year.
The top award winner at Saturday night’s opening night ceremony was Montreal’s pop-electro sensation Charlotte Cardin, who took home three awards: single of the year, artist of the year, and album of the year. The Weeknd followed with two awards for contemporary R&B recording of the year and songwriter of the year.
VIDEO: Serena Ryder accepts her Juno Award
Montreal singer-songwriter Allison Russell took home contemporary roots album of the year for her debut solo record Outside Child — one of 24 first-time winners this year. A full list of all the winners is available below.
The 51st annual Juno Awards continue at 8 p.m. on Sunday night with a ceremony hosted by Simu Liu and broadcast on CBC live from the outdoor venue Budweiser Stage in Toronto.
In addition to the presentation of more awards including the newest addition to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the broadcast will feature performances by Arcade Fire, Arkells, Avril Lavigne, bbno$, Charlotte Cardin, Deborah Cox, DJ Shub & Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Haviah Mighty, Lauren Spencer-Smith, Mustafa, and Tesher.
Here is a complete list of winners from the opening night of the Juno awards:
- Pop album of the year – Phoenix Charlotte Cardin
- Reggae recording of the year – Easy Now, Kairo McLean
- Jazz album of the year (group) – Worldview, Avataar
- Album artwork of the year – Mykaël Nelson, Nicolas Lemieux, Albert Zablit
- Contemporary R&B recording of the year – Take My Breath, The Weeknd
- Contemporary Indigenous artist or group of the year – War Club, DJ Shub
- Jazz album of the year (solo) – Change of Plans, Will Bonness
- Classical album of the year (solo artist) – enargeia, Emily D’Angelo
- Jack Richardson Producer of the year – WondaGurl
- Breakthrough group of the year – Monowhales
- Contemporary Christian/gospel album of the year – No Greater Love, The Color Dream
- Classical album of the year (large ensemble) – Solfeggio, L’Harmonie des saisons, conducted by Eric Milnes ft. Hélène Brunet
- Single of the year – Meaningless, Charlotte Cardin
- Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award – Denise Jones
- Comedy album of the year – Grandma’s Girl, Andrea Jin
- Dance recording of the year – Caution, Kaytranada
- Children’s album of the year – Falling in Africa, Garth Prince
- Instrumental album of the year – That Tall Distance, David Myles
- Musicounts Inspired Minds Ambassador Award – Dallas Green
- Alternative album of the year – When Smoke Rises, Mustafa
- Classical composition of the year – Arras, Keiko Devaux
- Traditional R&B/soul recording of the year – 24hrs, Savannah Ré
- Rock album of the year – Sisters Not Twins (The Professional Lovers Album), The Beaches
- Vocal jazz album of the year – Now Pronouncing: Caity Gyorgy
- International album of the year – Sour, Olivia Rodrigo
- Global music album of the year – Kalasö, Afrikana Soul Sister
- Adult alternative album of the year – Inwards & Onwards, Half Moon Run
- Humanitarian Award – Susan Aglukark
- Country album of the year – What Is Life?, Brett Kissel
- Francophone album of the year – Impossible à aimer, Cœur de pirate
- Traditional roots album of the year – Joyful Banner Blazing, Maria Dunn
- Adult contemporary album of the year – The Art of Falling Apart, Serena Ryder
- Blues album of the year – Open Road, Colin James
- Classical album of the year (small ensemble) – Beethoven: Sonates pour violon et piano/Violin Sonatas Nos. 1, 2, 3, & 5, Andrew Wan and Charles Richard-Hamelin
- Recording engineer of the year – Hill Kourkoutis
- Rap single of the year – BOLD, Charmaine
- Metal/hard music album of the year – Bleed the Future, Archspire
- Electronic album of the year – Oasis Sky, TOR
- Music video of the year – Easy On Me (Adele), Xavier Dolan
- Songwriter of the year – The Weeknd
- Contemporary roots album of the year – Outside Child, Allison Russell
- Underground dance single of the year – Shadows In The Dark ft. Elliot Moss HNTR
- Traditional Indigenous artist or group of the year – Kakike, Fawn Wood
- Artist of the year – Charlotte Cardin
