Several Canadians could leave the Grammy Awards with an armful of trophies on Sunday, but most of them aren鈥檛 household names.
While Bryan Adams, Drake and Michael Buble are all contenders this year, many of the other homegrown nominees on the leaderboard are professionals behind the scenes who added pop and fizz to some of last year鈥檚 biggest records.
They include Winnipeg-born mixer Jesse Ray Ernster whose work on Doja Cat鈥檚 鈥淲oman鈥� is up for record of the year, and Bragg Creek, Alta.-raised music engineer Shawn Everett who contributed to Adele鈥檚 鈥�30,鈥� among the album of the year contenders.
There鈥檚 also North Vancouver鈥檚 Tobias Jesso Jr., a musician who found success writing songs for others, including Adele and Harry Styles who together earned him three nods, including one for songwriter of the year.
Adele also proved a good-luck charm for visual maestro Xavier Dolan, the acclaimed Montreal filmmaker who directed 鈥淓asy on Me,鈥� which cradles a best music video nomination.
Most of the 91 Grammy categories will be awarded Sunday at an industry ceremony before the broadcast. The premiere ceremony, as it鈥檚 called, streams live on the Grammys website hosted by U.S. comedian Randy Rainbow, who鈥檚 up for best comedy album. The 65th Grammy Awards air on Citytv and CBS.
Here are five other Canadian highlights to watch for on Sunday:
THE LEADERS: Audio engineer and mixer Serban Ghenea isn鈥檛 as recognizable as the pop stars he helps sound their best, but you鈥檝e probably heard some of his work. This year鈥檚 six-time nominee was born in Romania before moving to Canada. And he has a staggering four projects named in the album of the year category 鈥� Coldplay鈥檚 鈥淢usic Of The Spheres,鈥� Lizzo鈥檚 鈥淪pecial,鈥� Adele鈥檚 鈥�30鈥� and Mary J. Blige鈥檚 鈥淕ood Morning Gorgeous.鈥� His studio time with Blige also secured a slot for record of the year. The Grammys also recently added Ghenea to the list of names in the running for best dance/electronic recording on David Guetta and Bebe Rexha鈥檚 chart smash 鈥淚鈥檓 Good (Blue).鈥� Those nominations put him ahead of Montreal classical conductor and pianist Yannick N茅zet-S茅guin who has five this year.
TRIPLE DRIZZY: Drake鈥檚 plan to sit out the Grammys hit a snag when his collaborations with other artists locked him three nominations. Even though the Toronto rapper didn鈥檛 submit his own 2022 album 鈥淗onestly, Nevermind,鈥� in line with his Grammys boycott in recent years, he couldn鈥檛 escape the accolades. He earned two spots in the best rap song category for his collaboration with Jack Harlow on 鈥淐hurchill Downs鈥� and his role on Future鈥檚 鈥淲ait For U.鈥� He鈥檚 also an album of the year contender for his contributions to the song 鈥淗eated鈥� on Beyonc茅鈥檚 鈥淩enaissance.鈥�
TORONTO WONDER: Speaking of Beyonc茅, she鈥檚 just one of the many musicians who鈥檝e benefited from the magic touch of Toronto producer Boi-1da, born Matthew Samuels. He has four nominations this year, including two in the album of the year category for Bey鈥檚 鈥淩enaissance鈥� and Kendrick Lamar鈥檚 鈥淢r. Morale & The Big Steppers.鈥� He also received a nod as part of the Drake and Harlow nomination for best rap song, and his prolific work landed him in the producer of the year category.
FAMILIAR WINNERS: Justin Bieber鈥檚 feature-length concert film 鈥淥ur World鈥� and Neil Young鈥檚 documentary 鈥淎 Band A Brotherhood A Barn鈥� are both chasing the best music film prize. Both of them already have two Grammys to their name. Four-time Grammy winner Michael Bubl茅鈥檚 鈥淗igher鈥� is up for traditional pop vocal album, while Bryan Adams has a best rock performance nod for his song 鈥淪o Happy It Hurts.鈥� And the Weeknd鈥檚 tour opener Kaytranada, a two-time Grammy-winning DJ and producer, could scoop a third for 鈥淚ntimidated,鈥� featuring H.E.R., which is going for best dance/electronic recording. Rising Montreal star Allison Russell, who last summer played alongside Joni Mitchell at the Newport Folk Festival appearance, is looking for her first win with a nomination for best American roots performance for 鈥淧rodigal Daughter,鈥� alongside Aoife O鈥橠onovan.
ONE SURPRISE: Montreal band Arcade Fire鈥檚 鈥淲e鈥� landed among the best alternative music album contenders, which caused a stir in some circles because last year lead singer Win Butler faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct that he has denied. While those allegations led some radio stations to pull the band鈥檚 music from the airwaves, Arcade Fire鈥檚 nod appears as a vote of support from the music industry. Arcade Fire is also nominated at the 2023 Juno Awards for group of the year.
鈥擠avid Friend, The Canadian Press
