Billy Talent's Ben Kowalewicz To Host Juno Dinner Gala

By FYI Staff

As frontman of Billy Talent, Ben Kowalewicz has won seven Juno Awards. He has now been named as host of the Juno Gala Dinner and Awards at the London Convention Centre on March 16. CBC Music’s Julie Nesrallah will join Kowalewicz as co-host.

The evening features the presentation of 36 Juno Awards. This year’s special achievement award recipients will also be recognized, including the Humanitarian of the Year Award presented by Music Canada (David Foster), the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award (Duff Roman) and the 2019 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year (Kim Hastings).

Five live performances slots include 2019 Juno Award nominees Dizzy (2019 Breakthrough Group of the Year, Alternative Album of the Year), four-time Juno nominee Donovan Woods (2019 Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, Songwriter of the Year), five-time Juno winner and seven-time nominee Exco Levi (2019 Reggae Recording of the Year), and multiple nominee Hubert Lenoir (2019 Album of the Year, Francophone Album of the Year, Pop Album of the Year). One of the 2018/2019 Allan Slaight Juno Master Class winners, Port Cities, will also grace the  stage.

The event will be live streamed starting at 6pm ET on March 16, on cbcmusic.ca/junos, the free CBC Gem streaming service, and CBC Music’s Facebook,Twitter and YouTube pages. 

“The Juno Gala Dinner and Awards Presented by SOCAN is an important platform for the music industry and fans to discover the phenomenal creators we have in this country,” said Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The Juno Awards and MusiCounts. “We’re so proud of the nominees attending and performing, and we thank SOCAN for their continued dedication to celebrating the achievements of Canada’s artistic community.”

“It’s impossible to find more passion, heart and soul than what’s experienced at the Juno Gala Dinner and Awards,” said Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN. “The evening glows with the incredible talent of Canada’s greatest music creators, composers, publishers, performers and professionals as they catapult Canadian music to even greater levels of success here and worldwide, and SOCAN is honoured again to present this incomparable night.”