Sound CheckPast Juno stars: Where are they now?
Winning a Juno Award or landing a nomination doesn’t guarantee that you will have a long-lasting career in music. After being named alongside the Canadian music award, some musicians flourish while others fade away.
Check out these artists who appear on both ends of the scale.
Bif Naked
Since her nomination for Best Rock Album for “Purge” at the 2002 Juno Awards, “I Love Myself Today” hitmaker Bif Naked has continued to release music, survived breast cancer, and acted on television shows like “The L Word.”
She’s also become a motivational speaker and cancer care advocate, sharing her story in the hope of helping others.
"I love speaking and I love all of the patients and families I am privileged to meet and work with, she said. “I believe in the power people have through compassion and effort. I am in love with my life, now more than ever."
Last year, she debuted her album “Bif Naked Forever: Acoustic Hits & Other Delights" featuring a mix of old tunes and new like “Spaceman” and "So Happy I Could Die."
Snow
It might shock you to learn that Canadian rapper Snow, also known as Darrin O’Brien, has been nominated for ten Juno Awards, winning Best Reggae Recording for “Informer” in 1994.
In 2012, the reggae artist played himself in the comedy “The Movie Out Here” and in February, he tried his hand at creating an answering machine song for Yahoo! with the Jingle Punks.
Edwin
Former I Mother Earth frontman Edwin was nominated for Best Male Artist and Best Rock Album for “Another Spin Around the Sun” at the 2000 Juno Awards and picked up the honour for Best Video at the 2001 Canadian music awards show for “Alive.”
Today, he is part of the Toronto band Crash Karma, which features former Our Lady Peace guitarist Mike Turner, The Tea Party’s Jeff Burrows, and Zygote’s Amir Epstein.
According to their Facebook page, Crash Karma is currently in the studio recording their new album “Rock Musique Deluxe” and teased us with a song sample on April 6.
Chantal Kreviazuk
Winnipeg singer and classically trained pianist Chantal Kreviazuk has had her music featured in films like “Armageddon” and “How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.” She also has five Juno Award nominations under her belt, with two wins.
In 2000, she took home Best Female Artist and Best Pop/Adult Album for “Colour Moving and Still,” which features the single “Before You.”
She and husband Raine Maida received the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award at the 2012 Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards gala in recognition of their charity work.
Over the years, artists like Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson and Gwen Stefani have sought out Kreviazuk’s writing talents. Most recently, she was part of the writing team responsible for Pitbull’s “Feel This Moment” featuring Christina Aguilera.
Last year, Kreviazuk also released her latest effort “In This Life” and could be changing musical directions on her next record.
“I go back and forth between making an album that’s on the same path as my other albums, or an album that is leaning to more jazz or soulful,” she told Up Magazine in 2012. “Part of me just wants to go crazy and do this rock/boho Florence and the Machine-type thing, and part of me wants to do something that’s really poppy-soulful, so I am trying to figure that out right now.”
Holly McNarland
“Numb” hitmaker Holly McNarland was nominated for three Juno Awards in 1998, winning Best New Solo Artist.
After that, she dropped of the Juno radar, but is still kicking in the music industry.
In 2012, she released her first independent album “Run Body Run” and seems like McNarland is enjoying not having as many strings attached to her career.
“When I was with a label, I felt very far from and separated from my fans outside of playing shows,” she says on her website. “Now there’s no separation—I’m not using an agent, a manager, or a record label… I love the way things have changed. I don’t want to be signed. I like calling the shots and I’m not really comfortable being told what to do, what to wear, what I can and can’t say in the press.”
Fans can see McNarland next when she performs at Ottawa’s Westfest on June 7, 2013.
Check out her acoustic performance of “Run Body Run” below. She’s still got it!
Remy Shand
Winnipeg R&B musician Remy Shand had his debut album “The Way I Feel” certified platinum in Canada in 2002 and was nominated for four Juno Awards in 2003, winning R&B/Soul Recording of the Year and also earning four Grammy Award nominations. (Fun fact: He was also married to former Sugar Jones member Maiko Watson until 2009. Maiko appeared in his "Take a Message" video.)
Since then, Shand has disappeared from the public eye -- so much so that fans have created a Twitter account and a blog dedicated to looking for him. One of the last official pieces of news we’ve seen about the artist is that his mother passed away in 2010.
If we look at tweets, it seems like the last song Shand released was called “Day In The Shade” (which might be this tune on YouTube), and rumour has it that he completed his second album, but lost it in a computer crash.
Tune in to CTV on April 21 at 8 p.m. ET to see 2013 Juno Awards live from the Brandt Centre in Regina, Sask. Stick with Yahoo! Canada Music for all of your Juno news!
