Nelly Furtado is inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame onstage during the 2026 Juno Awards at TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday.Cindy Ord/Getty Images
The 2026 Juno Awards, televised live from Hamilton, Ont.’s renovated and renamed TD Coliseum on Sunday night, was one for the books. Or for a series of Heritage Minutes, at least.
Joni Mitchell sang a little – and sang the praises of Prime Minister Mark Carney a lot.
Drake buried his beef with Canada’s music awards establishment for the sake of Nelly Furtado, who was being inducted in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Why Tate McRae, Justin Bieber and the Weeknd don’t care about the Juno Awards
And, without any clear enticement, Rush made their very first Junos musical appearance 58-odd years into their prog-rock career by playing the first track off the first side of their first album – with their third drummer.
The Junos may have aired with a disclaimer that the live event “contains coarse language and may contain offensive material, nudity and sexual content,” but it should have more accurately warned that this was the most wholesome event seen on TV in ages.
Mae Martin, the Canadian comedian, podcaster and creator of Netflix’s Wayward, hosted for the first time – and turned the sincerity up to 11 from their opening monologue.
Martin opted for boasts about Canada and its music industry rather than roasts of, say, dancer-singer Tate McRae for not showing up to collect awards.
“So often, when anything’s written about me in the American press, they describe me as an earnest comedian,” Martin said, pre-empting any criticism of their style. “I didn’t realize I was earnest until I left Canada. I think I’m just Canadian. I think that’s what they mean!”
That set the tone for what followed. Here were some of the best, most emotional and weirdest moments.
The best: Joni Mitchell gets happy
Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from presenter Mark Carney, Mitchell, 82, came on stage in her signature beret, with cane in hand and an outfit covered with the word “happy” in Chinese.
“Good evening, Hamilton!” she said, then explained what was printed on her dress by repeating the word “happy” at least a dozen times.
Joni Mitchell accepts the Lifetime Achievement award.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The international folk icon’s short speech was about the good things that can come from living through hard times.
“Some years ago, 10 or 12 years, I forget, I had an aneurysm which changed my life oddly for the better,” she said. “I went into a coma which helped me to quit smoking. And my house filled up with the most wonderful nurses.
“I was on the road with men for year and years and years,” she continued. “Now I live with a house full of women.”
The even better: The Mitchell musical tribute
None other than Sarah McLachlan was on hand to pull out an airy, heartfelt version of A Case of You. Then, Allison Russell, Canada’s foremost purveyor of Americana, sang Both Sides Now with McLachlan providing harmony.
Finally, the Junos stage filled with all the musicians who had performed, won awards or given them out that night for a Joni jamboree.
A Big Yellow Taxi sing-along saw mics passed around to all, even to Billy Talent. (That pop-punk band’s screamo-styled singer Benjamin Kowalewicz politely declined to join in.)
But the moment everyone had been waiting for came when Mitchell grabbed a microphone herself.
From left to right: Alyshia Grace Hobday, William Prince, Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney, Mae Martin, Joni Mitchell and Sarah McLachlan.Cindy Ord/Getty Images
After giving it a good looking over to see if it was in fact working, she sang a few lines here and there, before McLachlan fed her the high-pitched “They paved paradise” and the iconic singer nailed the song’s deep-voiced ending “…and put up a parking lot.” Tears abounded.
The weirdest: Mitchell’s induction of Carney into the Prime Minister Hall of Fame
Early in the ceremony, Martin told the crowd: “My parents are here tonight.”
But what the Juno broadcast’s cameras cut to were Carney and Mitchell in the crowd at the TD Coliseum.
It turned out Carney was on hand not just to keep Mitchell company, but to give the icon, born in Fort MacLeod, Alta., and raised in Saskatoon, her lifetime achievement award.
Prime Minister Mark Carney sits with Joni Mitchell in a photo of a live video screen at the Junos.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The Prime Minister quoted from her oeuvre in his intro – and showed off how his French has improved – in front of projections of Mitchell’s paintings.
But Mitchell seemed as eager to sing the praises of Carney as vice versa. Chalk it up to a mixture of age and genuine enthusiasm: Mitchell returned to how “wonderful” Carney is in her acceptance speech not once, but thrice. “We are so fortunate to have him,” she said. “I’m living in the States and you know what’s happening there.”
The best musical tribute: Nelly Furtado’s
Truth be told, for pure musical pleasure, the highlight of the Junos was the tribute to Furtado.
An appropriately eclectic lineup of artists sang a medley of her genre-jumping songs, from Lido Pimienta (Say it Right) to Tanya Tagaq (Powerless), and Shawn Desman (Do It) to Alessia Cara (I’m Like a Bird.)
But the part I hope will pop upon my TikTok feed for the next few week was rapper and Canada’s Got Talent host Kardinal Offishall and R&B singer Jully Black performing Promiscuous from the 2006 album of the same name. Offishall took on Timbaland’s verse, of course, and it was like watching two of Canada’s best musicians joyfully let loose at the karaoke bar.
The weirdest video call: Drake buries the hatchet – in his own inimitable style
The Canadian rapper born Aubrey Graham finally ended his Junos boycott, which began after he hosted the 2011 ceremony in Toronto and was rewarded by not winning any of the awards he was nominated for.
The occasion for the Drake detente was the hall-of-fame induction of Furtado. “You are our North star, the proof that it was possible,” he said, in a heartfelt recorded speech about how her success inspired a young actor on Degrassi to imagine he could make a successful transition to rapper.
Drake gives a video message to Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Nelly Furtado.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Of course, Drake being Drake, he took a moment in his tribute to rehash how Shad had won all those awards back in 2011 – and he hadn’t. “To the Junos, because you are honouring one of my dearest friends tonight, I will spare you,” he said, in what seemed more like self-deprecating humour than true grudge. “Tonight we’ll let it go... This is about Nelly.”
The best Canada boosterism: Whoa, Nelly nationalism
From host Martin to Carney, everyone on stage seemed eager to pump Canada up, a change in tone from last year when many artists made political points in their musical performances or speeches.
“I just feel like I’m with my people, you know,” Martin said in an opening monologue as aw-shucks as anything Stuart McLean ever put on the radio. “People who care more about which hockey team I support than which gender I am.”
But most convincing Captain Canuck of the evening turned out to be none other than Furtado. “Who loves living on Turtle Island?” she asked the crowd, getting cheers back. “Canada is a dream. I’m literally a product of the Canadian dream.”
Nelly Furtado speaks after being recognized as the 2026 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
“Honestly, I’m just really proud to be Canadian,” The Victoria, B.C., native continued, free of cynicism. “I live in Canada. I make my music in Canada. And I work with Canadian musicians, songwriters, producers, because I totally believe in the Canadian dream. Please believe in it too.”
The best-in-show: The opener
While the Junos built up to Nelly and Joni, it was still worth tuning in from the start.
First, Rush made their Junos debut playing Finding My Way from their first, self-titled album, with their new German drummer, Anika Nilles, who showed she has what it takes to prog rock along side Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. (The power trio was augmented by keyboardist Loren Gold.)
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson reflected backstage on their song choice, their forthcoming tour and the addition of drummer Anika Nilles to their band following the death of Neil Peart.
The Canadian Press
This performance was quickly topped by Daniel Caesar, the winner of contemporary R&B Recording of the Year, performing from a seat in the audience, singing his 2025 song Who Knows? “I’ll probably be a waste of your time, but who knows?”
Caesar wasn’t a waste of time at all: The camera slowly panned out to show back-up singers in seats around him and an arena full of fans holding up what looked like candles.
It was a humble performance that highlighted what Mustafa – the rapper and poet who had introduced him – called “the most important Canadian quality” in Caesar’s artistry: stillness.
The worst overall: Nothing?
I could make fun of announcer Odario Williams, who delivered the cheesiest lines of the evening with the least enthusiasm. But he wasn’t there often enough to actually sour the show.
Heck, even the CBC was smart enough to hold The National to let Mitchell sing, after cutting too quickly away from Sum 41 to Ian Hanomansing last year. The Junos put on a heck of a show.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the band Rush performed with their second drummer. They performed with their third drummer.