TORONTO – Five years of meticulous work on the music for the film “Maestro” led Montreal conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin to his fifth Grammy win Sunday, one of several Canadians to pick up awards at this year’s event.
And it’s an honour with a unique twist: he shares it with Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper.
The two unlikely creative partners spent an exhaustive period shaping the music of Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic, a passion project of the star released by Netflix in 2023.
The album that resulted from it, a collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra titled “Maestro: Music By Leonard Bernstein,” won best compilation soundtrack for visual media.
“We basically made it together, in terms of the music, from Day 1,” Nézet-Séguin said in a call from his Montreal home.
“Through this, we forged a friendship for life.”
Neither of them expected to be showered with Grammy glory, he said, especially since their category was stacked with other notable projects tied to films including “Saltburn” and “The Color Purple.”
“To be honest, we were very surprised,” Nézet-Séguin laughed.
“We didn’t think it would win, really.”
It brought Nézet-Séguin his fifth career Grammy, an accomplishment he was unable to accept in person due to some unforeseen circumstances. But he shared in the astonishment with Cooper over text message after they were awarded during a pre-broadcast ceremony in Los Angeles.
Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” roped in some Grammys hardware for Canadian musician Dave Hamelin in the marquee album of the year category. His role as producer, engineer and mixer on the superstar’s country-pop album made Hamelin a first-time winner as part of the creative team that brought it to life.
Hamelin is best known as a member of the Montreal band, The Stills, which split in 2011. He was the only Canadian to lock in a Grammy for “Cowboy Carter,” though several others were nominated for their work behind the scenes.
Another big surprise on Grammy night came not from one of the winners, but one of the performers on the main broadcast.
The Weeknd seemed to end his rift with Grammys organizers by performing on the show unannounced. The Toronto-raised artist sang “Cry For Me” from his new album which came out Friday, as well as “Timeless,” a song released last year with rapper Playboi Carti.
In 2021, the Weeknd pledged a boycott of the Grammys after he was shut out from the nominations, calling them “corrupt” and saying he would “no longer allow” his label to submit his work for consideration.
However, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. appeared to address some of those concerns as he introduced the performer, touting how the Academy has modernized and diversified in recent years.
The Weeknd’s appearance comes just as he’s about to start selling tickets for his North American tour, which includes stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal and two dates in Toronto.
Toronto songwriter Scott Zhang marked his first Grammy win as part of the team behind SZA’s “Saturn,” which picked up best R&B song.
Zhang accepted his Grammy alongside several of his SZA collaborators by thanking his parents and noting that he just moved to Los Angeles a day ago.
But his music career has been in motion for more than a decade. Aside from writing songs for other artists, he has recorded indie pop under the moniker Monsune.
In more recent years, Zhang has written for several acts, including Drake. He’s credited as a writer on “Race My Mind,” which appeared on the Toronto rapper’s 2021 album “Certified Lover Boy.”
Drake was not nominated this year — he has said in the past he abstains from submitting — but his presence loomed at this year’s event due to the success of his rival Kendrick Lamar’s song “Not Like Us.”
The track, which blasts Drake, earned Lamar a sweep across the five categories it was nominated in. Lamar won two top awards — song and record of the year — as well as best rap song, best rap performance and best music video.
When Sean Ono Lennon accepted a Grammy win for a re-release of his late father John Lennon’s album “Mind Games,” he emphasized a message of peace and love before changing the subject.
“I wanted to give some advice to the young people out there,” he said.
“Never get into a rap battle with Kendrick Lamar.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2025.
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