The Juno Award for "Songwriter of the Year" has been awarded since 1971, as recognition each year for the best songwriter in Canada. It was also known as the Juno Award for "Composer of the Year" from 1975 to 1990.[citation needed]
Formerly presented for a single song, in its contemporary form the award is presented for two or three songs by the same songwriter; as long as the songwriter is Canadian, they may be nominated for songs that were recorded or performed by non-Canadian artists. Songwriting collaborators share in the nomination if they are both Canadian and common to all of the nominated songs; collaborators will be acknowledged, but not formally included in the nomination, if they did not share credit on all of the nominated songs or if they are not Canadians.
Winners
Best Songwriter (1971 - 1974)
- 1971 - Gene MacLellan (Special Award Canadian Composer)
- 1972 - Rich Dodson
- 1973 - Gordon Lightfoot
- 1974 - Murray McLauchlan
Composer of the Year (1975 - 1990)
- 1975 - Paul Anka
- 1976 - Hagood Hardy, "The Homecoming"
- 1977 - Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
- 1978 - Dan Hill (Co-composer), "Sometimes When We Touch"
- 1979 - Dan Hill (Co-composer), "Sometimes When We Touch"
- 1980 - Frank Mills, "Peter Piper"
- 1981 - Eddie Schwartz, "Hit Me with Your Best Shot"
- 1982 - Mike Reno / Paul Dean, "Turn Me Loose"
- 1983 - Bob Rock / Paul Hyde, "Eyes of a Stranger"
- 1984 - Bryan Adams / Jim Vallance, "Cuts Like a Knife"
- 1985 - Bryan Adams / Jim Vallance
- 1986 - Jim Vallance
- 1987 - Jim Vallance
- 1989 - Tom Cochrane
- 1990 - David Tyson / Christopher Ward
Songwriter of the Year (1991 - 1998)
- 1991 - David Tyson
- 1992 - Tom Cochrane
- 1993 - k.d. lang / Ben Mink
- 1994 - Leonard Cohen
- 1995 - Jann Arden
- 1996 - Alanis Morissette
- 1997 - Alanis Morissette (Glen Ballard, co-songwriter)
- 1998 - Sarah McLachlan with Pierre Marchand, "Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan
Best Songwriter (1999 - 2002)
| Year | Winner(s) | Songs | Nominees | Ref. |
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| 1999 | Bryan Adams | "On a Day Like Today", "When You're Gone" |
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| 2000 | Shania Twain | "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!", "You've Got a Way", "That Don't Impress Me Much" |
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| 2001 | Nelly Furtado | "Turn Off the Light", "I'm like a Bird", "...on the Radio (Remember the Days)" |
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| 2002 | Jann Arden | "Never Mind", "Thing for You" |
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Songwriter of the Year (2003 - Present)
| Year | Winner(s) | Songs | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Chad Kroeger and Nickelback | "Hero", "Too Bad", "How You Remind Me" |
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| 2004 | Sarah McLachlan | "World on Fire", "Fallen", "Stupid" |
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| 2005 | Ron Sexsmith | "Whatever It Takes", "Not About to Lose", "Hard Bargain" |
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| 2006 | Arcade Fire | "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)", "Rebellion (Lies)", "Wake Up" |
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| 2007 | Gordie Sampson | "Jesus, Take the Wheel", "Words Get in the Way", "Crybaby" |
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| 2008 | Feist | "My Moon My Man", "1234", "I Feel It All" |
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| 2009 | Dallas Green | "Waiting...", "Sleeping Sickness", "The Girl" |
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| 2010 | K'naan | "Wavin' Flag", "Take A Minute", "If Rap Gets Jealous" |
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| 2011 | Arcade Fire | "Ready to Start", "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)", "We Used To Wait" |
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| 2012 | Dallas Green | "Fragile Bird", "We Found Each Other", "Weightless" |
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| 2013 | Leonard Cohen | "Amen", "Going Home", "Show Me the Place" |
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| 2014 | Serena Ryder | "Stompa", "What I Wouldn't Do", "When You Know" |
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| 2015 | Afie Jurvanen | "All the Time", "Bitter Memories", "Stronger Than That" |
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| 2016 | Abel Tesfaye | "Can't Feel My Face", "In the Night", "The Hills" |
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| 2017 | Gord Downie | "The Stranger", "The Only Place To Be", "Son" |
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| 2018 | Gord Downie, Kevin Drew | "A Natural", "Introduce Yerself", "The North" |
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| 2019 | Shawn Mendes | "Lost in Japan", "Youth", "In My Blood" |
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| 2020 | Alessia Cara | "Growing Pains", "Out of Love", "Rooting for You" |
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| 2021 | Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason "DaHeala" Quenneville | "After Hours", "Blinding Lights", "Save Your Tears" |
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[1] |
| 2022 | Abel Tesfaye | "Hurricane", "Moth to a Flame", "Take My Breath" |
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| 2023 | Abel Tesfaye | "Less Than Zero", "Out of Time", "Sacrifice" |
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[3] |
| 2024 | Aysanabee | "Alone", "Here and Now", "Somebody Else" |
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[4] |
References
- ^ Holly Gordon and Andrea Warner, "Here are the 2021 Juno Award winners". CBC Music, June 4, 2021.
- ^ Holly Gordon, "Here are all the 2022 Juno Award winners". CBC Music, May 14, 2022.
- ^ Jenna Benchetrit and Arti Patel, "The Weeknd picks up 4 wins on Junos 2023 opening night". CBC News, March 11, 2023.
- ^ "Junos 2024: full list of winners". CBC Music, March 23, 2024.
This page was last edited on 24 March 2024, at 12:36