Drake, Justin Bieber and the Canadians behind recent pop hits head to Grammys

TORONTO – Several Canadians could leave the Grammy Awards with an armful of trophies on Sunday, but most of them aren’t household names.

While Bryan Adams, Drake and Michael Buble are all contenders this 12 months, lots of the other homegrown nominees on the leaderboard are professionals behind the scenes who added pop and poo to a few of last 12 months’s biggest records.

They include Winnipeg-born mixer Jesse Ray Ernster whose work on Doja Cat’s “Woman” is up for record of the 12 months, and Bragg Creek, Alta.-raised music engineer Shawn Everett who contributed to Adele’s “30,” among the many album of the 12 months contenders.

There’s also North Vancouver’s 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 12 months.

Adele also proved a good-luck charm for visual maestro Xavier Dolan, the acclaimed Montreal filmmaker who directed “Easy on Me,” which cradles a best music video nomination.

A lot of the 91 Grammy categories will probably be awarded Sunday at an industry ceremony before the published. The premiere ceremony, because it’s called, streams live to tell the tale the Grammys website hosted by U.S. comedian Randy Rainbow, who’s up for best comedy album. The sixty fifth Grammy Awards air on Citytv and CBS.

Listed here are five other Canadian highlights to observe for on Sunday:

THE LEADERS: Audio engineer and mixer Serban Ghenea isn’t as recognizable because the pop stars he helps sound their best, but you’ve probably heard a few of his work. This 12 months’s six-time nominee was born in Romania before moving to Canada. And he has a staggering 4 projects named within the album of the 12 months category — Coldplay’s “Music Of The Spheres,” Lizzo’s “Special,” Adele’s “30” and Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous.” His studio time with Blige also secured a slot for record of the 12 months. The Grammys also recently added Ghenea to the list of names within the running for best dance/electronic recording on David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s chart smash “I’m Good (Blue).” Those nominations put him ahead of Montreal classical conductor and pianist Yannick Nézet-Séguin who has five this 12 months.

QUADRUPLE DRIZZY: Drake’s plan to sit down out the Grammys hit a snag when his collaborations with other artists locked him 4 nominations. Despite the fact that the Toronto rapper didn’t submit his own 2022 album “Truthfully, Nevermind,” consistent with his Grammys boycott in recent times, he couldn’t escape the accolades. He earned two spots in one of the best rap song category for his collaboration with Jack Harlow on “Churchill Downs” and his role on Future’s “Wait For U.” He’s also an album of the 12 months contender for his contributions to the song “Heated” on Beyoncé’s “Renaissance.” And he’s up for best melodic rap performance for Future’s “Wait For U.”

TORONTO WONDER: Speaking of Beyoncé, she’s just considered one of the various musicians who’ve benefited from the magic touch of Toronto producer Boi-1da, born Matthew Samuels. He has 4 nominations this 12 months, including two within the album of the 12 months category for Bey’s “Renaissance” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.” He also received a nod as a part of the Drake and Harlow nomination for best rap song, and his prolific work landed him within the producer of the 12 months category.

FAMILIAR WINNERS: Justin Bieber’s feature-length concert film “Our World” and Neil Young’s documentary “A Band A Brotherhood A Barn” are each chasing one of the best music film prize. Each of them have already got two Grammys to their name. 4-time Grammy winner Michael Bublé’s “Higher” is up for traditional pop vocal album, while Bryan Adams has a best rock performance nod for his song “So Pleased It Hurts.” And the Weeknd’s tour opener Kaytranada, a two-time Grammy-winning DJ and producer, could scoop a 3rd for “Intimidated,” featuring H.E.R., which goes for best dance/electronic recording. Rising Montreal star Allison Russell, who last summer played alongside Joni Mitchell on the Newport Folk Festival appearance, is on the lookout for her first win with a nomination for best American roots performance for “Prodigal Daughter,” alongside Aoife O’Donovan.

ONE SURPRISE: Montreal band Arcade Fire’s “We” landed amongst one of the best alternative music album contenders, which caused a stir in some circles because last 12 months lead singer Win Butler faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct that he has denied. While those allegations led some radio stations to tug the band’s music from the airwaves, Arcade Fire’s nod appears as a vote of support from the music industry. Arcade Fire can be nominated on the 2023 Juno Awards for group of the 12 months.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2023.

Note to readers: It is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously said Drake is nominated for 3 awards this 12 months. The truth is, he has 4 nominations.