Hamilton band Arkells breaks Junos record with sixth Group of the Year award
The band has won the award for the third year in a row
Arkells, the alternative-rock band from Hamilton, won group of the year for the third year in a row at the 2023 Juno Opening Night Awards in Edmonton on Saturday.
This is also their sixth win of the award, breaking the record of most group of the year awards held by a band.
According to the Juno Awards, this award puts them ahead of Toronto country rock band Blue Rodeo's five awards, but also matches with Blue Rodeo and Calgary rock band Loverboy's record for three consecutive group of the year awards.
The other candidates for the category this year included Arcade Fire, Billy Talent, Metric and The Reklaws.
How we made it to the Junos, and who got left behind <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJUNOAwards?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheJUNOAwards</a> <a href="https://t.co/tbO7HRKvoS">pic.twitter.com/tbO7HRKvoS</a>
—@arkellsmusicArkells' front man Max Kerman accepted the award along with guitarist Mike DeAngelis and drummer Tim Oxford.
In their acceptance speech, Kerman thanked his team and bandmates Nick Dika and Anthony Carone who were still in Newfoundland following a concert they performed in earlier last week. He joked about leaving his bandmates behind to get "wasted on George Street" while getting on the last three available plane seats out of the province "in the spirit of teamwork."
Arkells had also received the 2022 Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour award in 2022, according to the Canadian Walk of Fame.
Tuning into the 2023 Juno Awards
The Juno Awards are Canada's music recording industry awards, administered by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences since 1975.
This is the first time the Juno awards returned to Edmonton since 2004 and features events and shows in full festival fashion, from March 6 to the big award ceremony on March 13.
Saturday was the first awards evening of the 2023 Junos weekend — the Opening Night Awards, where the majority of the Junos are handed out each year. On Monday evening, Simu Liu is back to host the broadcast for his second year in a row.
The award ceremony will be begin at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. and you can tune in on CBC, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Listen and streamed globally on cbcmusic.ca/junos.
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