30th ANNIVERSARY SOCAN AWARDS
@ THE SHERATON CENTRE HOTEL, TORONTO
APRIL 1, 2019
Music icon Buffy Sainte-Marie, and B.C. native Carly Rae Jepsen dominated the 30th Anniversary SOCAN Awards red carpet tonight. The annual awards ceremony, hosted by CBCβs Amanda Parris, was a whoβs who of Canadian music talent, celebrating the achievements of music creation, publishing, and licensing. It was held in downtown Torontoβs Sheraton Hotel.
SOCAN is a rights management organization that connects more than four million music creators worldwide, and more than a quarter million businesses and individuals in Canada. Nearly 160,000 songwriters, composers, music publishers, and visual artists are its direct members.
The evening opened with an unforgettable performance of βCall Me Maybe,β written by Carly Rae Jepsen,Β as well as Josh RamsayΒ andΒ Tavish Crowe of Marianaβs Trench. The song received the award for Most Performed Song in the history of SOCAN.
Other notable moments of the evening were Sainte-Marieβs induction into the Canadian Songwriterβs Hall of Fame for her life’s work, now spanning almost 60 years.Β Melissa McClelland,Β Fred Penner,Β andΒ Josh QΒ all delivered unforgettable performances of Sainte-Marie’sΒ “Universal Soldier,” “Up Where We Belong” and “Til It’s Time For You To Go,” while media personalityΒ George StroumboulopoulosΒ made the presentation.
Chad KroegerΒ of Nickelback scooped up the award for Most Performed SongwriterΒ in SOCAN history, and Ed RobertsonΒ of Barenaked Ladies was presented with theΒ Cultural Impact awardΒ for the influence that “The Big Bang Theory” theme has had on pop culture worldwide. The audience was treated to a show-stopping rendition of the song, followed by fan favourite “One Week” by Barenaked Ladies.
Songwriter of the Year β ProducerΒ was awarded toΒ Frank Dukes, his second consecutive win in the category for his work on hits like “Havana” (Camila Cabello), Β “Better Now” (Post Malone), and “Pray For Me” (The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar). Dukes also took home three awards in theΒ Pop MusicΒ category and one in Rap Music.
Jessie ReyezΒ was presented withΒ theΒ Breakout Songwriter award, and received two Dance Music awardsΒ for her work with Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa, and Sam Smith. Ralph MurphyΒ was honoured with theΒ Special Achievement AwardΒ for his prodigious achievements in songwriting and his lifetime commitment to passing along his great wisdom to aspiring music creators.
For the third consecutive year,Β Keith PowerΒ earned theΒ Composer of the Year awardΒ for his work in television and feature films, such asΒ Hawaii Five-0; Heartland; MacGyver;Β andΒ Magnum, P.I.
And Toronto favourite Β Jack LenzΒ was honoured as theΒ Most Performed Screen ComposerΒ in SOCAN history. Over his career, Lenz’s music has been featured inΒ Due South,Β Designer Guys,Β The Passion of the ChristΒ andΒ Goosebumps, to name only a few.
Lastly, Grammy-nominated producerΒ Murda BeatzΒ accepted the International Achievement award and an award in the Rap category for “Nice For What,” co-written and performed byΒ Drake. Though unable to attend as he is currently on tour in Europe, Drake received the award forΒ Songwriter of the Year β Performer. He is also busy promoting Top Boy, an original series from the UK now globally available on Netflix.Β DrakeΒ and his business partnerΒ Adel βFutureβ Nur, along withΒ Maverick CarterΒ andΒ Jamal HendersonΒ are the executive producers of ten new episodes.
The SOCAN Awards Ceremony also featured additional performances, including numbers by Elijah Wood X Jamie Fine (Pop Award winners), Meghan Patrick (Country Award winner) and 2019 Juno nominee anders.
It was a memorable night, dedicated to the success of Canadian music talent which only continues to rise on the global stage.
(Photography by Devina Browning)
SOCAN Red Carpet Photos
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