Cohen, Cara And The Weekend Lead Canadians At Grammys

By FYI Staff

The Canadian charge at the 60th annual Grammy Awards in New York City last night was led by Alessia Cara, Leonard Cohen, and The Weeknd.

The pride of Brampton, Ontario, Cara won the coveted Best New Artist award, beating out strong competition in the form of Khalid, Lil Uzi Vert, Julia Michaels, and Sza. The clearly surprised singer began her acceptance speech by confessing "holy cow, I'm shaking." "I've been pretend-winning Grammys since I was a kid," she continued, then dedicated the trophy to her fans. Cara also declared "there are incredible artists out there. Support real music and real artists." She is the first Canadian artist to win this category.

Later on the broadcast, Cara joined Logic and Khalid for a rendition of their hit "1-800-273-8255."

Presented prior to the televised show were Grammys for Leonard Cohen and The Weekend. Cohen's posthumous win was for Best Rock Performance for "You Want It Darker," the title track of his final album. Cohen was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2010, but had not won any other Grammys prior to last night.

On learning of the victory, Cohen's biographer, Sylvie Simmons, posted on Facebook that "I always said he was a rockstar!" Sure to have been equally thrilled was Montreal cantor Gideon Zelermyer. He sings with the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue choir, one featured on the Cohen track. He was in attendance at the Grammys, and in a recent interview with the Montreal Gazette's Bill Brownstein, he reflected that "To be in that [rock] category is mystifying. Bon Jovi, it ain’t. But who’s going to quibble about a Grammy nomination in any category?"

The Weeknd took the Best Urban Contemporary Album award for his smash release, Starboy. In 2015, he won both this category and the Best R&B Performance Grammy for his second album, Beauty Behind the Madness. 

Another Canadian winner was Nova Scotia soprano Barbara Hannigan, in the Best Classical Solo Vocal Album category for Crazy Girl Crazy – Music By Gershwin, Berg & Berio. It is the first Grammy for Hannigan, who served as both a vocalist and conductor for the Amsterdam-based Ludwig Orchestra on the album.

Charles Moniz of Burlington, Ont. shared a Grammy win for 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (the night's biggest victor), which scored Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The engineer had previously won Grammys for work on Adele’s album 25 and Mark Ronson’s megahit “Uptown Funk.”

Also recognized on the Grammys telecast was Gord Downie, included in the In Memoriam segment honouring major artists and industry figures who passed away over the last 12 months.

For a complete list of all the 2018 Grammy Award winners, go here