TORONTO -- After dominating the Billboard charts for many months and landing an Oscar nomination and seven Grammy nods, the Weeknd is now being recognized on home turf with a leading six Juno Award nominations.
The internationally acclaimed Toronto native, born Abel Tesfaye, is up for Junos including best album for the moody "Beauty Behind the Madness" as well as artist of the year, songwriter of the year and the fan choice award.
Next with five nominations apiece are Justin Bieber of Stratford, Ont., and Toronto rapper Drake. Both are also up for album of the year -- Bieber for "Purpose" and Drake with "If You're Reading This It's Too Late."
Breakout vocalist Alessia Cara of Brampton and pop star Shawn Mendes of Pickering, Ont., each have four nominations.
Pop powerhouse Carly Rae Jepsen of Mission, B.C., who received critical kudos for her album "Emotion" and just made a splash in Fox's live TV production of "Grease," only landed one nomination, for the fan choice award.
The Weeknd, Cara, Mendes, Bryan Adams and Dean Brody will be among the performers at the Juno Awards, which will air live from Calgary on CTV on April 3.
The best album of the year field includes Bieber, Drake, Mendes, the Weeknd and francophone Jean Leloup.
Bieber, Drake, Mendes and the Weeknd are also nominated for artist of the year along with City and Colour.
Last year was a record-breaker for Canadian performers as a handful of homegrown musicians traded spots in the upper echelons of the Billboard Hot 100.
Before Adele came calling with "Hello," the Weeknd, Bieber and Drake monopolized the top few spots on the Billboard singles chart, where Canadians rarely hit No. 1. Cara and Mendes also cracked the Top 10.
